Originally Posted by
ksryder
When you upgrade shifters does it always require a new cassette & derailleur or can you make new shifters work with 6 & 7 speeds and just adjust the limit screws? What do you guys do?
For example, I have a bike with 126 mm dropout spacing and a 6 speed freewheel. I don't want to cold set it to 130 mm and I'm fine with a 6 or 7 speed, but it might be cool to upgrade to a 105 group in the future.
Not always, I saw you got a lot of explanation as to why you'd move fully to a newer group so my advice is going to swing in the opposite direction. At 6 speed, you're pretty much assured you already have the dropout spacing for 7 speed, shimano currently makes 7 speed brifters (they're on the low end of the spectrum) that work very well, assuming your drivetrain is already shimano 7, that means you'd just need the STI's and the STI barrel adjusters (can be had for just under $100(USD) new. Assuming you have 6 speed, odds are it's a freewheel and you can simply pull it and replace with a modern 7. If it were my build and I didn't have "quality" FD/RD, I'd look into a set of Shimano Tri-Color 600(Ultegra) Derailleurs, which can be had for fairly cheap and perform amazingly well and will play nice with modern 7 speed STI's.