shifter question
 

if i get a road bike that has index shifter, will i b able to change it to gear lever?

Will i b able to do it by myself? I dun really know anything about bicycles, but i am a newbie mechanic highschooler. So i know lil bit about cars.

What components do i have to get to swap it to gear lever???


thank you!

Gear lever?

like....you tap the brake lever then works as gear shifter..

The gear shifter lever thing right behind the brake lever..

The gear levers are included with the bike, you shouldn't have to get new ones very soon. It is all included inside the brake lever if you get anything multispeed and modern.

Those "gear levers" are STI shifters. They are indexed. Indexed means it clicks each gear shift where friction it just slides. Not sure what you are trying to say. But will STIs work? Yes, if you have the right amount of gears, 8+, or you could always get a new wheel.

They arent bad to set up if you know what you're doing. But for what they sell for, might not hurt to pay the $20 or so to get 'em put on right.

i'm thinking of getting a old road bike that has a shifter on the frame.

Let's say I get a 10spd bike and a STI shifter will i be able to use the STI shifter on 21 spd drivetrain?

if a shifter on the frame the chances are, its a friction shifter, which means that its not indexed, which means that you probably can't put an STI shifter on it. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure thats correct.

Also those levers are going to be fairly expensive, talk to a local bike shop about pricing before you make any decisions.

21 spd would be a 7-cog freewheel and a triple-chainring. I think you might have problems finding a shifter to handle this. If you were to go with a 7spd cassette, then you'd need to find a 7spd shifter with a 3spd for the front. This could be doable - but may take time.

What would be simplest if to go with friction-shifters. They don't care how many cogs in back, or if it's a freewheel or a cassette.

You need to be far more specific with your information. 10spd bike? As in 10 total (2 in front / 5 in back)? Or a more modern version as in 10spd in back and 2 or 3 in front? A 10 spd is not a 21 spd. Not really sure what you mean. If you can't describe it, post some pictures.

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i'm thinking of getting a old one.

so...2 in front and 5 back.

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what if the friction shifter is not on the frame? I saw some old bikes that have shifters on the center of the handle.( front and back shifter)
I dun think that kinda friction shifter is drilled into the frame. it's just wrapped around the bar.

+1 Agreed.

Cho, I understand what you are talking about. STI shifters are the shifters that are part of the brake grips. They are tricky to install and maintain even for good mechanics. You might want to leave it up to a bike shop.

Bicycle maintanance isn't really difficult. A good bike mechanic really applies more art and feel to the job than straight mechanics.

If you don't like the STI shifters, then YES, you can change to other types of shifters.

Good luck.

Cho, where are you? In the USA or Korea or some other place? The reason I ask is that the old friction shifters go back to maybe the 1980's and earlier. When I travel overseas, I don't usually see many of these old friction shifter bikes like we do in the States. Old bikes seem to get thrown out faster overseas.

Anyway, there are several different mounting styles of the old friction shifters. The better bicycles had frame brazed posts that the frictions shifters mounted to. The cheaper bikes had wrap-around designs that went around the frame (usually the down-tube) like a ring or band and tightened with a bolt.


The cheapest bikes had the these shifters mounted to the stem of the handlebars.

All of them work satisfactorily. Perhaps the best aspect was their simplicity and ease of maintanance.

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I'm living in america. irvine,CA

I dun have money to buy the one that already has STI shifter... so i wanna get a bike that has downtube shifter and just swap it with used STI shifter...is that ok?

If i swap it at a shop, will it cost me more than $20?

STI shifters (also known as brifters) are expensive. Even 10 year old models tend to go above $80 on ebay.

Upgrading an old road bike to STI shifters is certainly possible, but it tends to be a little costly, as in $150 or more for all the necessary parts.

If you don't like downtube shifters and would prefer indexed shifters, but are willing to go with non-integrated shifters that would be installed on the flat part of the drop handlebars, consider the $15 Shimano SL-A050 shifters - 7 speed indexed, would allow for an affordable conversion of an old road bike - but they're not brifters, they're still separate from the brake levers.

There are no 5spd brifters (brake/shifters).

^ +1

You'd need to get a new wheel, cassette/freewheel, and then the STIs. You don't find them used much.. The cheapest fully integrated STIs new, Tiagra, cost well over $200.