Vintage Trek with 9-speed Ultegra possible?
02-19-11, 01:42 PM
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Vintage Trek with 9-speed Ultegra possible?
Hi everyone,
I have a 1977 Trek TX770 that I just picked up and I just so happen to also have a complete 9-speed Ultegra Groupo, minus the wheels and cassette. I know I would need long reach calipers instead of the ones I have, and I'll need to increase the width of the rear dropouts to fit the wider hub. Will I need to do anything to make the RD work since it has the brazed on hanger? Is there anything else I would need to do?
I have a 1977 Trek TX770 that I just picked up and I just so happen to also have a complete 9-speed Ultegra Groupo, minus the wheels and cassette. I know I would need long reach calipers instead of the ones I have, and I'll need to increase the width of the rear dropouts to fit the wider hub. Will I need to do anything to make the RD work since it has the brazed on hanger? Is there anything else I would need to do?
02-19-11, 02:13 PM
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The derailleur-cable setup may require some adapt-&-overcome if it's like the bike in these photos: https://www.vintage-trek.com/Trek_galleryRH.htm Add an under-the-BB cable guide, since your Ultegra FD won't have a housing stop. If your chainstay housing stop is on top of the stay as shown there, then also rustle up a clamp-on housing stop for your chainstay, since the cable will be below the stay instead of above it.
A clamp-on downtube cable stop with adjuster barrels would be ideal, but second-best is to use a non-adjustable stop, and add an inline barrel adjuster to allow precise adjustment of the FD indexing.
Anyway, been there, done that with a vintage Trek:
It was a bit too whippy for my tastes, switched to a Soma Smoothie ES.
A clamp-on downtube cable stop with adjuster barrels would be ideal, but second-best is to use a non-adjustable stop, and add an inline barrel adjuster to allow precise adjustment of the FD indexing.
Anyway, been there, done that with a vintage Trek:
It was a bit too whippy for my tastes, switched to a Soma Smoothie ES.
Last edited by mechBgon; 02-19-11 at 02:16 PM.
02-19-11, 02:22 PM
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In that era, braze-ons were by special order. Whatever the cable arrangement that it came from the factory with will still work. I didn't really understand the OP, does it have a brazed on cable stop for the RD? If so, you need an above the bb cable guide. If there are braze-ons at the bb, you are set. Otherwise I would get a vintage Campagnolo clamp-on guide, they aren't that expensive.
02-19-11, 02:22 PM
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Thanks! That's very helpful. I'm still not 100% sure if I want to do it.. I'm torn between modernizing or keeping it all original.
02-19-11, 02:23 PM
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I would also look for some 8 speed 600 or 105 hubs, wheels as they were available in 126 and 130 spaced, 7 or 8 speed. Remove the 5mm spacer on the non drive side of a 130mm hub and redish the wheel and this will make it 126m spacing.
02-19-11, 02:23 PM
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It has a clamp on cable stops for the rear derailleur on the downtube and a braze on cable stop on the chainstay
02-19-11, 04:08 PM
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I wouldn't ride a bike that had 126 mm spacing and an 8/9 speed freehub body farther away from home than I was willing to walk back.
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