I purchased this bike new from Performance in Chapel Hill, NC in 1995. It's been in my attic as I haven't ridden in years and want to start riding again. I didn't check things our before I bought a new Serfas seat and 2 new Michelin Pro 3 tires and new Shimano pedals.

It has Shimano 105 equipment and the right STI is not working. I am in the process of "degreasing" it hoping it will "click" back to life.
For the sake of this discussion, let's just say the shifter is dead and I have to replace it. The bike shop mechanic suggested I could go vintage and put some downtime friction shifters on it. The brazings are there.

I know I will either fix this bike up or buy a vintage/classic bike and it will have a steel frame. I know nothing about the frame quality of my bike so I don't know how far to go in fixing it up. I'll probably convert it over to more of a touring bike. I'm in my mid fifties so I think Im gonna be more of an upright rider. I sorta like the looks of some of the old Bridgestone X0's.

Can you shed some light on this matter for me? I'm stuck right now not knowing which way to go.

I have a frame from an old Performance bike (I forget the model, and as I recall it is built with True Temper tubing. Does yours have a tubing label that you can get that info. It is likely that the tubing sticker will be a good indicator of the quality of the frame. Mine looks to be a pretty decent frame. I don't even recall where I got it at this pount...

If you are looking to be a fairly casual rider, then in my opinion there are a couple of things to look for to see if the frame is right for you. First, does it have good tire clearance? You may want to move to a wider tire, either now or in the future, and so the extra space would be nice. Additionally, overall quality (frame & components come into the mix, but there is some latitude there, as long as the components are reasonable.

With the bike pretty much one from the mid 90's, when brifters were well on their way of becoming the norm, I would not hesitate considering brifters for it, if it will help you enjoy riding it.......

Private label bikes like this one from the 1990s tended to be pretty decent but do not hold their value. Assuming you are 8 speed, right? There is an endless number of new 8 speed options and Jim McVey fixes 8 speed shifters at a reasonable cost (do a search on Facebook). Personally, I am not a fan of the WD40 flush. Sure, it removes the old dried out grease. But it also removes all lubrication inside your shifter. You decide, endless discussions of this "fix" out there.

My recommendation is to have the shifter repaired, its your cheapest option. I would not go backwards technology wise to DT shifters.

Upgrading an old bike is all about WHO does the work. If you have a bike shop do all the work, it will get pretty expensive. If you do the work yourself, not so much. Of course, doing it yourself requires time/tools/aptitude/space. Nothing is free. The more resourceful you are, the more affordable it becomes.

There are also new Shimano options out there such as Claris group or SORA. This 3 x 8 SORA set is cheap.

https://www.bikewagon.com/road/shifte...rake-lever-set

I just did a look, and your bike does use True Temper RC2 tubing, which I believe would be fine for us casual riders... After a brief search, it is a seamed chromoly tube set, that is pretty decent based on some comments I read...

Frame says "True Temper AVR chrome moly double butted made is USA"

It is an 8 Speed

I was just given an old Performance R203 frame, with the donor in hopes that I would resurrect it into a nice road bike. I promised him that it will be returned to its original functionality, even though I may have to replace some old components with new. It is good to know that a Shimano 105 group can be used in place of the worn RX100 parts that are currently on it. If I can unseize the derailleurs and linear-pull brakes, I'll be half way there. I have yet to deal with the crank that has the left-side arm missing. The seat post is stuck in place, so I'm allowing it to sit with some penetrating oil, in hopes that it will come out eventually. I will not have a choice but to locate a new wheel set, but I think it should be worth it in that it has True Temper AVR double-butted tubing. That is a rarity in our local market for bikes, so I may have got lucky. But who knows?

I also wouldn't go back to downtube shifters despite that I have bikes with both...Campy 11spd Ergo, Sram Red, Suntour barcons and Campy friction shifters. If it's something your planning on riding on a normal basis just get the shifter rebuilt or replace it with a good STI shifter.

It's a decent frame so spend the few extra bucks to treat it right and get some enjoyable miles out of it. I would spray it out with a degreaser or brake cleaner and then run some Teflon based lube into it. It's what we normally did at the shop for old stuck shimano shifters and usually brought them back to life for folks who didn't want to splurge on new shifters. Wasn't always a sure fire fix but 75% of the time it worked.

Actually, I just got mine back from the bike shop yesterday. The addition of the Brooks B 17 saddle is the best move I have made. I replaced the handlebars with Nitto Noodle 48 cm, added a Nitto Talux Stem and added MKS Grip King Pedals. Henry III's advice on fixing the stuff Shimano shifters is "spot on." After a little test riding yesterday, I believe I'm gonna need a lower gear...Any ideas on what will work with my Shimano 105? It's an 8 Speed with 39 and 53 on front and a 12-23T cassette.

The tubing is True Temper AVR, so to buy a new frame with that caliber of material will cost at least $800.00, if not more. I ran into a problem with a stuck alloy seat post. The bottom bracket is very badly gummed up, but it moves. It has seen better days. I may have to use a saw for the seat post, but I would be willing to sacrifice that if I can save the frame. I will upload a photo when I can.

I think any Shimano 105 RD would be able to accommodate a 28T cog easily, a 30T cog probably and a 32T cog maybe. I always manage to get RDs to run bigger cogs than the spec sheet says they can. It depends partly on the length of your derailleur hanger, axle position in the dropouts, chain length, position of the B-screw, etc. So that's where I'd start; with a new cassette with bigger cogs.