Upgrading some Vintage Gearing?
04-23-07 | 08:59 AM
#1
Upgrading some Vintage Gearing?
So, I've got this vintage road bike (does an 80s bike with downtube shifters qualify as "vintage?" 
).
The gearing is, for my grouchy knees at any rate, kinda gnarly: 52T-42T x 13T-26T. The front is a Biopace double with 170mm cranks, the rear is a 6-speed Shimano freewheel. So that's a gearing range of about 43" - 110" or so. Perfectly fine on the flats and small hills, potentially murderous for long climbing days. The downtube shifters are indexed/friction (SIS?), rear derailleur is a Shimano "Light Action." The components themselves seem to be in pretty good shape.
What are my options for upgrades? Ideally I'd like to get something more like 35" or 38" on the low end, so I'm assuming that means swapping out the freewheel -- maybe a 13-30? And how do I figure out what components are compatible with this bike?
Thanks....
B
).The gearing is, for my grouchy knees at any rate, kinda gnarly: 52T-42T x 13T-26T. The front is a Biopace double with 170mm cranks, the rear is a 6-speed Shimano freewheel. So that's a gearing range of about 43" - 110" or so. Perfectly fine on the flats and small hills, potentially murderous for long climbing days. The downtube shifters are indexed/friction (SIS?), rear derailleur is a Shimano "Light Action." The components themselves seem to be in pretty good shape.
What are my options for upgrades? Ideally I'd like to get something more like 35" or 38" on the low end, so I'm assuming that means swapping out the freewheel -- maybe a 13-30? And how do I figure out what components are compatible with this bike?
Thanks....
B
