I have a 1994 hybrid that I converted to drop bars. I changed the shifters from twist grip shifters to Suntour Bar-Cons. The setup, driving ramped gears with the friction shifters, works great. The shifting action back at the derailleur is just like indexed shifters. Once in a while I need to trim the Bar-Con, but other than that it is just like indexed shifting.
I also put Bar-Cons on my 1983 Raleigh Super Course. It has Suntour aRX derailleurs, 6-speed freewheel, etc. I see that Shimano ramped 6-speed freewheels are readily available. I wonder if anyone has replaced a non-ramped freewheel with a ramped one, on a bike that was originally outfitted for friction shifting. If I dropped in the ramped Shimano freewheel, would I see the clean shifting similar to on my hybrid?
Last question... how do you feel about mixing the Shimano freewheel into the Suntour drivetrain? C&V
faux pas, or just a replacement of a wear item? I guess it irks me that Shimano visibly brands their freewheels:
The SunRace freewheel is a little more nondescript and doesn't call attention to the mix & match, so maybe a better option for that reason:
One last question... would a
7-speed freewheel fit into the same width as the
6-speed and work as a drop-in replacement?
Note that I've already updated the handlebars and put aero brake levers on when I put the bar-cons on the bike, so it's no longer stock as it is.