Yeah, I know I should go to an lbs, but I'm one of these guys who has a dad who could fix everything, but grew up in the age of disposable everything and never learned myself, so I like tinkering around with my hands. A co-op would be ideal if I knew of one handy, instead I ask strangers on the internet for free advice and screw things up myself until I have it fixed eventually (because I don't want to be that guy who bugs the mechanics at the lbs for advice and then doesn't pay them for it. Probably more expensive in terms of my time and parts my way, but I think I'm learning stuff this way, which makes me feel good. Good to know that the 130 mm spacing does make sense.

I read several places that I could get the shimano 8 speed bar ends to shift 7 speeds, is that right? Or is that only when you're working with the 7,8,9 cassettes and the spacing would be different. I ask because I see you can get bar ends from from niagara through amazon for like $50-60 and didn't see any 7 speeds in a quick search of ebay. I also saw this 9 speed freewheel

on jenson. Would that make it easier to use more modern stuff or would it not fit on my setup? Given that it's the only one that appears to be made and it's so cheap, I'm imagining it's not very high quality, but what do I know.

Again, thanks random internet dudes for being my sounding boards while I try to teach myself a bit of bicycle maintenance. I'll have to read Sheldon's site a bit more to make sure that I do indeed have a freewheel and make sure what kind of tool I'll need to remove it. Probably what I should have done in the first place.