pgoat

Hi guys & gals

I have an old mid 80s trek 12 speed - Downtube friction shifters.

I have already been through the whole 'upgrade' debacle - meaning agonizing over what to tweak, what to leave alone, trying to make it into something it's not, etc etc. I already dumped more $ into it than I should have but it fits me well and I like it, so no major harm done.

I will mention I also have a nice recent racing road bike for weekends as well as an old rigid mtb for commuting.

The Trek is basically a backup for commuting or on long slow rides with friends, and I have two wheelsets, respectively -

the originals (Rigida 36h/Malliard 600s with 6 speed freewheel) for the commuting,

and a nicer hodge podge (Front: 1980s Ambrosio 32h/Campy Record cup & cone.....Rear: Brand new Mavic Open Pro Ceramic 32h/Ultegra 8 speed, fitted with 7-sp cassette) for the charity ride weekend stuff

The current friction DT shifter set up lets me use either wheelset with no tweaking - both sets work fine with the same chain and derailleur settings.

Here's the question:

I see I can buy These shifters to replace my downtube shifters. With the cable guide bosses for the downtube, it would run me about $50, assuming I do all the work myself. I was planning to sell the original wheelset, which is in great shape, figuring I am more likely to use the Trek for fun weekend stuff, and hoping I could get $50 or so to cover the parts for the shifter conversion.

I assume they'd slide right on, as I have converted this bike to flat bar with bar ends and have regular mtb brake levers (BR36 Shimano BL-R440) on there now. Not sure if they'd be too crowded on the bar, or need to be placed inconveniently far away from my fingers?

The other down side is, These shifters would be (I think) indexed for 3 Chain rings up front, whereas I have a 53/29 double. They'd also lock me into 7 speeds in back, whereas the new 8 speed wheel, with a new cassette and chain could take me to 8 or even 9 speeds with the current friction DT shifters as needed in future. Mind you, I would never do this unless I needed a new rear wheel and 7 speed cassettes were no longer available...

Basically I am weighing benefits between keeping the current setup (for the extra wheelset and the flexibility to go between both, as well as expandability for future) or saying screw it, go for easier shifting now and be done with it.

I don't know anything about those shifters btw - are they ok, or crap to be avoided? I have Ultegra level shifters and mechs on my old Trek, albeit old dated mid 80s 600 series.

smiller

If you're going indexed, the first thing you have to consider is the rear der. if it isn't a later, indexing unit, you won't have much shifting luck anyway. That aside, you shouldn't have too much front der trouble, triple shifters are often called to double duty. i have Sram gripshift 9sp running a '80's Dura ace 7/8sp der setup with a 9sp cassette and the front shifts fine, the rear just needed a Jtek shiftmate. Once you get set up, why not just throw a cheap 7sp HG freewheel on the old wheels? you should be able to set it up so that both wheelsets work fine indexed 7sp. you could bump it up to 8sp, but then you'd have to find an 8sp fw(notoriously unreliable) plus buy a new cassette, adding $$ to a low buck project.

pgoat

yeah, i wanted to keep costs down - by selling the old 6-spd wheels I'd essentially be doing this for free, minus the labor.

I forgot about the rear der. possibly not indexing. Is there a way to know whether mine will or won't? It's a 1986 Shimano N-600.

pgoat

According to Vintage Trek, looks like the old rear derailleur may not be able to index?

https://www.vintage-trek.com/refurbish.htm

capwater

Why not ride that classic Trek as it was intended? I've got a mid-80's Trek and enjoy the simplicity of the ride sometime just to be different, much like folks that occasionally get on a single speed.

pgoat

I have been...although I already perverted it with a stem adapter and flat mtb bar - though that is easily reversible, and if I find the right handlebar cheap someday I'll possibly go back to classic drops (the original drop bar was too narrow; I put it on my wife's bike - since sold- and went to the flat bar for the commuting factor).

I guess I would prefer the indexed bar shifters more for the commuting (which kinda negates my earlier thinking, dumping the heavier wheels and using the Trek more for weekend rides). I don't mind the DT shifters so much when we're tooling around laid back on a nice country road.


I am mainly tempted because i found the Alivio shifters for cheap enough that selling one wheelset should cover it...I'm not interested in putting anymore parts money into this bike at present (I may have sunk around $500 already, with cost of purchase - add another few hundred if my Brooks Swift and clipless peds are on there, as they are now)

pgoat

Never mind - turns out my dérailleur (Shimano RD 6207) is friction only....I'm sure I could rig it up with the index shifters, but I am guessing performance will be spotty at best, so prolly not worth the time and trouble.

Great online resource here; assuming they are accurate, this was a big help:

https://www.velobase.com/Default.aspx