Joined: Apr 2014
Posts: 538
Likes: 0
From: Minneapols, Minnesota
Bikes: 89 Raleigh Technium PRE, 92 SP 1000 ti, '09 Team Pro, 72 International, 63 Hercules 3-spd, '81 Vitus 979, 2 Kabuki Submariners, 2 C. Itoh Submariners, Gary Fisher Big Sur, Skyway 3-spd, Robin Hood w/ S-A IGH 5 speed.
I love these kinds of discussions! I am a relative newbie but I am very mechanical and work as a machinist. I have mixed and matched stuff to suit my needs and run really old components with great results. My Raleigh Technium has a 8 spd mountain bike cassette(I spread the stays and have FSA wheels on it) and an Altus derailleur. It just spins up hills! I ran it for a year with the original 6 spd downtube shifters! I just put Sora STI on it. I also have put 5000 miles on a mid 80s Raleigh Olympian with it's original Suntour derailleurs just fine. I have an old Kabuki with Shimano Titlist derailleurs that I am sorting out right now.
The key point is maintenance and adjustment. All but the very sleaziest components will work pretty well if you take care of them.