Thriftstore: Why do I see so many 8 speed bikes with 7 speed rear wheel?
01-29-18, 07:33 AM
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Thriftstore: Why do I see so many 8 speed bikes with 7 speed rear wheel?
I come across numerous 26 mtb bikes with 8 speed RD, shifters and drivetrain but with a 7 speed wheel and cassette. This is now like my 4th time coming across this set up. Most of these bikes were 80s and 90s bike...what´s the deal?
01-29-18, 08:12 AM
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Bikes are okay, I guess.
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I'd expect broken original shifters to have been replaced. Might even work.
01-29-18, 08:19 AM
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I haven't noticed the configuration, but I don't pay a lot of attention to the low-end MTBs.
Do the front and rear wheels match?
7 speed freewheels are much more common than 8 speed freewheels, so if the freewheel gets replaced, it likely is with a 7 speed freewheel.
However, my guess is that if the bike began with 8 speed, it likely also began with a cassette. Then, if the wheel was damaged, a freewheel rear wheel would have been cheaper or easier to find, and the wheel got replaced with one with a freewheel, and 7 speed configuration.
Shifting precision would have been reduced, and the bike ends up being given to the thrift store.
Do the front and rear wheels match?
7 speed freewheels are much more common than 8 speed freewheels, so if the freewheel gets replaced, it likely is with a 7 speed freewheel.
However, my guess is that if the bike began with 8 speed, it likely also began with a cassette. Then, if the wheel was damaged, a freewheel rear wheel would have been cheaper or easier to find, and the wheel got replaced with one with a freewheel, and 7 speed configuration.
Shifting precision would have been reduced, and the bike ends up being given to the thrift store.
01-29-18, 08:25 AM
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Pokemon Master
Wheels get stolen, yo.
01-29-18, 08:27 AM
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01-29-18, 10:34 AM
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I suspect that you're seeing these conversions because the original was damaged or stolen.
The Bike Kitchen place where I used to volunteer in the UK had a lot of people coming through the door with bikes where the back wheel had 'walked'.
We would set them up with a second-hand wheel to keep the price low, but the number of 8-speed cassette wheels that we needed meant that we had to order in some new wheels (much of the donated stuff was 6-7 speed).
We stocked cheapo ones and some better double-walled rims to give people some choice.
One poor chap came in and they'd stolen his back wheel, the saddle and the handlebars. We had to virtually rebuild him from donated second-hand parts. A lot of our customers were running their bike son a shoestring, as they didn't want expensive bikes when they were so likely to go missing.
We would sell refurbished cheap MTB's and hybrids for about £30-45 and that was about the most that people were willing to spend.
The Bike Kitchen place where I used to volunteer in the UK had a lot of people coming through the door with bikes where the back wheel had 'walked'.
We would set them up with a second-hand wheel to keep the price low, but the number of 8-speed cassette wheels that we needed meant that we had to order in some new wheels (much of the donated stuff was 6-7 speed).
We stocked cheapo ones and some better double-walled rims to give people some choice.
One poor chap came in and they'd stolen his back wheel, the saddle and the handlebars. We had to virtually rebuild him from donated second-hand parts. A lot of our customers were running their bike son a shoestring, as they didn't want expensive bikes when they were so likely to go missing.
We would sell refurbished cheap MTB's and hybrids for about £30-45 and that was about the most that people were willing to spend.
01-29-18, 10:47 AM
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Early 1980s MTBs were predominantly 5 speed, then 6 and 7 eventually worked their way in. Late 1980s really nice MTBs would have seen 7 speeds.
I see a lot of slapped together MTBs, basically whatever was handy at the time.
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