Schwinn 754 upgrades?
 

I've got a late 80s-early 90s Schwinn 754 Aluminum with the Paramount stickers on it. It's in rideable shape as I've taken it out for 30-40 mile rides during the summer for the past several years. It's the only bike I've got.

The problem is, I find that it fits me great, except for the bar height/riding position. So I got to thinking about raising the bars up higher to keep from getting a really sore neck and tight shoulders after about 7-10 miles. Then when I started thinking about that, I starting thinking about how much I HATE the downtube shifters.

I thought I'd love to have an old but reliable set of brifters on it, but the 7 speed GPX freewheel and drivetrain may limit my options on shifters. And I don't really feel like dishing out several hundred bones to replace the crankset, FD, RD, BB, cogset and who knows what else to get shifters where I can reach them quickly and comfortably.

And since there are some paint/small rusting/corrosion spots, I heard some people have had their frames powdercoated. That would be a sweet change to freshen up this baby.

This bike has the quill stem and quill seatpost. I've seen the quill stem to threadless adaptors. The seatpost is solid save for one small stress crack near the top which has been there since I bought it about 8 years ago. But it feels like it weighs about 8 pounds alone.

I want to use it to start riding it to work but still leave it capable to do a friendly longer ride on the weekend with some buddies.

I thought about buying a new bike altogether, around 500-600 bucks, but figured I may be getting worse quality than I already have. And I don't really have that kind of money anyway.

So I thought "why not fix the bike I have to get what I want? It may be cheaper and easier."

So is this bike worth the work? I don't want to spend more than a couple hundred bucks total, but not sure which way to go with it.

I've considered adding flat or risers bars to it, but that would compromise the hand positions on the longer weekend rides, necessitating the need for another bike. But a flat bar bike would accommodate some Shimano trigger shifters more easily without changing out the rest of the drivetrain (I assume).

So what do you think I should do with it?

http://s1237.photobucket.com/albums/...20road%20bike/

This is the kind of upgrade that can cascade into real money pretty quickly. Your current freewheel and 7-speed gearing definitely limit your brifter choices and new derailleurs and a new freewheel and chain would almost certainly be needed to accomidate any current indexing system.

The cheapest way to replace the downtube shifters is with barends which can be used in friction mode. Quill-to-threadless adapters do work but would require a new stem and possibly new bars. The quill seatpost is going to be hard to replace unless your seattube has enough space above the top tube for a collar and you can cut a relief slot in it.

Shimano RSX brifters came in a 7spd set up, I would think they would work fine on the bike without you having to swap any derailers. Being that they will be used, you shouldn't have to pay too much for them either.

If you ever want to get rid of the 754 though, it looks about my size, and I'd take it off of your hands :D

The OP's bike has Sun Tour components. The RSX brifters are highly unlikely to index with any of them. That's why I mentioned barends used in friction mode. Making his bike index compatible will get into major, and expensive, changes.

As for the shifting, it has indexed RD shifting on the downtube, and it's pretty darn accurate. It pretty much always indexes correctly. The FD is friction and needs to be trimmed occasionally when going from big cog to little. Bar ends are one of the options I'm considering, but it would be nicer to have STI.

But am I just wishing for something I can't realistically have?

Does anyone think I should just switch to a flat bar with trigger shifters (which I don't know if they will even work) or bullhorns with barends and get another bike down the road for longer road rides? This will primarily be a commuter/chill out/fun to ride bike.

+1 Shimano STI will not work with a Suntour drivetrain. Shimano trigger shifters won't work either, without changing freewheel and possibly/likely the derailleurs.

You can realistically have what ever you want, but the cost effective way to do it, is sell this bike and use the proceeds to buy what you want.

If you want those changes, I would just sell this bike, and buy a nice used hybrid. You should end up with extra left over $$. So the changes will make you money, rather than cost you money. And you don't have to worry about compatibility, will these shifters work with those derailleurs, etc. Used hybrids go cheap around here. New trigger shifters are not going to index with your Suntour bits. You can find used Suntour stuff out there, but that can be a headache.

Hybrids are just fine for commuter/chill out/fun to ride bikes. Ditto rigid frame MTBs with smooth tires.

Anytime someone asks me about one of these early aluminum Schwinns with the quill seatpost and whether they should buy it, upgrade it, whatever.....I always advise against it. Those seatposts are notoriously problematic, and there are plenty of nice old bikes out there with conventional seatposts. There's nothing about those bikes that make them worth the trouble of the weird, notoriously problematic seatpost IMO. Some '80's Peugeot's used that type of seatpost, too, and IMO this puts those bikes in the same category as the aluminum Schwinns with those posts. Just my opinion.

Stem extender/tall stem would probably solve the height issue. Not terribly expensive.

Friction bar-end shifters would put the shifters in a better location but if you want STI you'll need brifters, RD, (probably) FD, new rear wheel, and a cassette to go on it. This would be an extremely expensive change for that bike and go well above "a couple hundred bucks" unless you get a bunch of low-end used stuff.

Cracked quill seatpost is the final nail in the coffin for me. Either live with it as-is or sell it and get what you really want.

Amen to this. Not only are you stuck with the crazy seatpost from the land of weird, but it doesn't even have a replacable RD hanger and it's spaced for 126mm hubs too, IIRC. Get rid of it and pick up a bike that fits the way you like (and has a viable upgrade path).

I appreciate the honesty, FastJake. I think I may do just the latter, sell it and put a couple hundred on top of the sale price for something new, or new to me.