That is a sweet frame.

I'm building an old Rossin RLX Frame, which still has 126mm spacing for the rear hub. I have a set of Shimano 105 10 speed brifters that I'd like to use. My current derailleurs are tri-color Shimano 600 (front and rear). Any chance of getting them to work together with a 7 speed Shimano freewheel (Dura Ace/Sante)?

Probably not. You would need to use something like a Jtek Shiftmate to extend the cable pull of the shift lever to make the derailleur move the correct distance. There doesn't appear to be a Shiftmate that does this.

Ok. So, going with the assumption that I am keeping the rear spacing at 126mm, what are my options? Shimano 7 speed freewheel with RSX brifters?

Any other options?

why not use a 10speed freewheel?

Assuming you have a freewheel and not a cassette your options are limited and you are unable to use the brifters. If you have a 10 speed cassette compatible freehub rear wheel then all you need to make things work on the rear is a 10s cassette and a 10s chain. But, your front end will probably skate with the 10s chain trying to shift over the 7s spaced rings(or worse the chain could pinch between the rings)

You are best off trying to find 7s brifters or rocking the dt's (the dt's are the proper option if you're into proper options)

10 speed freewheel requires 130mm rear spacing, and my bike is 126mm. Yes, I could cold set the frame to 130mm but I was looking to avoid that path.

My Vitus 979 is my faithful time capsule (and my Eroica build). DT shifters, toe clips, exposed brake cables, and all in a nice matching Dura-Ace package (which is what it was sold with).

This build is a late 80's Rossin with Columbus SLX and Sante parts, although now only the original headset and bottom bracket remain. So, it is a clean slate. Since I found a bunch of matching tri-color Shimano 600 I was hoping to go in that direction. IMHO the two greatest advances since 1980 are brifters and clipless pedals and I'm planning on bringing both to this ride. 2x7 is plenty of gearing.

As I mentioned above, I think that the 7 speed Shimano RSX is the only brifter that will work with the 7 speed 600 RD. Now, to find a uniglide 7 speed freewheel. Unless someone has another option.

I'm not allergic to Campy, for what its worth. :lol:

You could probably just squeeze a 130mm wheel in there. I've had good success with that, though I do generally need to realign the derailleur hanger. That may just be because hangers are so frequently out of alignment and non-indexed shifting didn't require tight tolerance.

Me neither :)

Never thought about that before, but I think you're exactly right that going from 126 to 130 spacing in the rear can throw off the derailleur hangar alignment enough to cause problems with indexed shifting.


I just finished converting my 650B Bianchi from 9-speed friction to 10-speed indexed. That frame was cold set to 130mm years ago, but I never examined the hangar because the 9-speed friction worked great. On my initial setup of the 10-speed, the indexing worked but I could not get the chain to run smoothly for the largest couple rear cogs when on the small chainring. Using the Park hangar tool, I found the derailleur hangar was just slightly angled inwards toward the BB. So I fixed that and the drivetrain runs just right!

As the OP I give my full, wholehearted blessing to the Sram bikes on this thread.
I own bikes with Campy Ergo and Sram Double Tap, no STI's in my stable.


While we are at it, I give my blessing to Microshift, FSA and whatever other brands of integrated brake/shift levers for drop bars that might exist now or in the future. :)


I do sometimes laugh at some of the bikes that show up on here, not because I dislike the bikes but because I wonder how some people equate them with this thread (the flat bar, friction DT shifting Cramerotti on the page for instance).

Well, I'm not sure how this happened but I think I lucked into a solution. Picked up a set of wheels on Craigslist (Campy Omega rims, DuraAce 7400 hubs). Amazingly, the rear hub is 126mm with an 8-speed freewheel! I know Andy Hampsted's Giro bike had this setup but it was experimental in '88. Anyway, my tri-colored Shimano 600 derailleurs and brifters (8-speed) should, in theory, work! I need to get a chain and some cable housing to test it, but I have something that resembles a plan.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/XO...Y=w720-h960-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/lK...o=w720-h960-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/jK...=w1280-h960-no

Yeah, that one (apparently indexed, not friction) is a little off-topic :)

Freewheel or freehub?

Shimano'a first generation of 8s DA had 130 spacing and a rounded lock nut so it could be "finessed" into 126mm dropouts. 10s spacing my be tight enough to cause sensitivities in RD alignment whereas 8s spacing may allowed for a little more "slop."

Sadly your pictures aren't working, but it still sounds like a good plan ;)

Freewheel. No "hump" on the axle.


https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/cM...w1164-h1550-no

In that case, let me put my 1982 Specialized Sequoia with Gevenalle brake/shift levers on the thread. :thumb:

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/634/32...ae99510d_b.jpg

https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2464/3...1e2d1232_c.jpg

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/631/32...712590f7_c.jpg

Perhaps you need to adjust the sharing settings? I just right click and "copy image address" then paste that in.

Thanks for the vindication.

I think I posted the links to the pictures that were not in the album, which is public. They should be visible now.

Can't see the link either :(

I see the pictures now, though I didn't earlier.

How do you like the Gevenalle set-up, Andy? Wouold you recommend it?

Not one cold set in probably 50 "upgrades.". No issues, ever,...Yet.

I'll throw this in here too for the heck of it.

A pre-production PDG Paramount that I picked up recently and am trying to sort out. It's got a nice Shimano 600 groupset being shifted by newer Sora Brifters.

http://www.pbase.com/jhuddle/image/165104781.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/jhuddle/image/165101133.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/jhuddle/image/165101128.jpg