Ultegra & Shimano 600
 

Saw a wheelset with Ultegra hubs advertised locally. Just wondering whether I can just throw these on my Shimano 600 bike (w/out modifications)? It's a 1989 Centurion Ironman Master model and currently has a 7-speed rear freewheel thingy and tricolor hubs.

Are those ultegra wheels 8/9/10speed? do they come with a cassette? If they are, you can always throw your shifters into friction mode and they should work?? You might have to adjust the b-setting on your rear derailleur if the cassettes largest cog is bigger than the one that you have on your 7speed setup. Oh wait, you might need a thinner chain??

they don't come with a cassette, only ultegra hubs & qr skewers

I'm pretty sure you can only find 8/9/10 cassettes for this wheelset. With that said, once you figure out the cassette you are going to want, you will have to get the accomanying chain and throw the shifters into friction. If you ever want to go sti, you can use your 600 sis rear derailleur without a problem. Are you thinking STI?

FYI.. i think that your current 7speed wheels might only be a freewheel and not a cassette??

The front will fit fine. The rear will fit with some slight qualifications. The Ultegra rear hub will be spaced at 130mm while your old rear wheel is most likely 126mm. Since your frame is steel you can just spread the stays a bit to insert the new wheel or you can respace the rear dropouts to 130mm. You could run a 7-speed cassette with a spacer on the new wheels or you can use a 8/9/10 speed cassette in friction mode or with new shifters.