Originally Posted by
T-Mar
What you have is 1986 Nishiki Prestige. The rear derailleur is circa 1988-1991. It looks like Athena but could also be Xenon stripped of it's painted finish, which might be why the Campagnolo logo is missing from the parallelogram. The front derailleur is the OEM SunTour Cyclone.
Going to a 9 speed would require cold setting the rear triangle to 130mm. This is not a big deal. However, I'm not sure if you just want more gears but also wider gears. If it's the latter, another alternative would be a triple crankset.
Yep, I researched and thought Athena too. I want wider gear range so thought to go cassette. I really don't like triples, having recently switched Mtn bike from 3 to 2x front. Probably get 46/36 rings for current crank, then new hub/wheel - rode hill yesterday that was 15 % (Mtn bike on road), so cassette 11-34 or so. No problem cold setting, did it on another cheap frame so aware of technique and getting drops parallel.
Rode bike more yesterday. The more I ride it the better it feels. It's a 58 cm frame and I'm 5'9+, and seems to fit peachy. Thanks for the considerate replies. Will post better pics when I get ride completed.