Allegheny Jet

I'm in the process of restoring my 1973 Raleigh Super Course TT back to her original grace. In the early 90's I had the bike converted from tubulars to clinchers, switched the original 14 x 28- 5 speed to 14 x 28- 6 speed freewheel, and had the solid steel Stronglight crankset converted to a more modern Shimano RSX. After purchasing vintage tubular wheels, NOS seat post, stem and bars I hope to retain the RSX crankset for the time being. The RSX cranks have Shimano SG 52 - 42 chainrings. I also purchased an Atom 14 x 22 freewheel to use with the drive system. Although I'll be using the bike for fun rides, the 51.5 gear inches in the 42/22 will be a little tall. Switching the 42 chainring to a 39 will give me a little help on hills with 47.9 gear inches. Looking on line for a GS 39 tooth chain ring it seems the GS line was/is made for 9 speed systems. The bike will have DT mounted friction shifters. The original work was done by a local LBS that is no longer in business which leads me to the BF experts. Since the orginal GS 42 tooth chainring worked with my 6 speed system can I assume that a currently availabe GS 39 tooth chainring will also work with a 5 speed freewheel? The bolt pattern is 130 on both the original and available options. I will buy a new chain that is good for 5/6/7 speeds. Am I right to assume that the 9 speed chainring will work properly with friction shifting and a wider chain?

HillRider

Shimano narrowed their chainring spacing when 9-speeds were introduced to compensate for the narrower chain by offsetting the inner chainring slightly toward the big ring so you might have some problems with a wider chain.

However, pre-9-speed chainrings should be readily available in 130 mm BCD. Check with any older bike shop to see what they have left over. The selection should be quite good and they will be overjoyed to get rid of one. Loose Screws has them too:

https://www.thethirdhand.com/index.cg...id=41837359153

Friction shifting will work with almost ANYTHING.

Allegheny Jet

So, I don't need to worry about Shimano bolt diameters and can use some off brands? Thanks for the link.

HillRider

Any 130 mm BCD ring will work. They are not brand-specific.