I have a new old bike!!! (raleigh usa grand prix)
 

Yesterday I inherited a BEAUTIFUL and VERY CLEAN 1985 ish Raleigh Usa Grand Prix (the red one with crome stem tube and triangle). I LOVE it, it is so gorgeous.

I must say, however, that I am not too good with the non-indexed downtube shifters. I am considering buying an ultegra group to make this a ripper of an older steel frame. Any thoughts? Will this work?

Here is the group I am looking at:


http://www.totalcycling.com/index.ph...urrency&id=USD



While I am mechanically inclined, I am new to bikes, so I am not to clear on the history and compatibility of bike and components.

Thanks, and Im very happy to be able to join the classic crowd!

Don't forget the wheels.

Yes, you'll need a new set of wheels with a freehub that will accept a ten speed cassette (as opposed to the threaded freewheel that's probably on there now).

Also, depending on its age, your Raleigh may or may not have been built for 700c wheels. This means that when you fit your brand new wheels to that frame, those Ultegra calipers may not reach far enough to hit the braking surface. Thankfully, there are a range of longer reach brakes available from manufacturers like Tektro. Here's an example:
http://www.tektro.com/02products/10rb-1.php

Of course, if its built for 700c wheels in the first place, you'll be fine. :thumb:

Finally, if they don't come with your group, you'll want some of these to cover up the downtube shifter bosses and route your shift cables.
http://www.lickbike.com/productpage....=%270588-00%27

Good luck!

thanks guys! BTW, they are luckily 700c wheels. It seems that at least by the time of this bike, Raleigh was using metric parts.

Ok, how can I tell if a 9/10 speed cassette and wheel can fit? The standard is 135mm, right? I really am unfamiliar with the standards. I figure that the wheels might be a better place to start.

Another option is wheels, cassette, rear derailer and right hand STI, rather than a full group. I dont know.

What would you guys do?

Are you sure you want to go through all that, if your only concern is friction shifters? How long have you ridden with them? I bet it wouldn't take more than a couple weeks to get comfortable. It's kind of like playing a string bass vs electric. Once your fingers know where to go you don't need to worry about the frets.

-- You may have to widen the spacing on the rear dropouts to accomodate a 9/10 speed hub. 130 mm is the standard for road bikes. I would imagine the Raleigh is 126 or 130 mm. 126>130 is not a hard stretch.

-- You could also get brand new Shimano Sora 7 speed STI brifters, presuming your bike is 7 speed, or some used downtube index shifters.

-- I consistenly ask myself similar questions re my 1987 Paramount, and have so far stuck with the original C-Record drive train, downtub shifters and Phil Wood hubs (7 sp freewheel).
One possible conversion I keep coming back to is bolting on a Campy Racing Triple and keeping the DT shifters, to give expanded hill gearing without having to replace the hubs. I could always add new wheels and index shifters later.
Any kind of full drive-train conversion would probably have to be justified as an aesthetic, rather than cost-effective decsion -- not that there's anything wrong with that.
But so far I have been reluctant to shell out the coin or to break up the C-Record group. And I enjoy my riding thoroughly -- about 700 miles on it this year so far, plus another couple hundred on my Nuovo Record-equipped 1978 Chris Kvale. (And a few hundred on my twist-grip shifting commuter.)

its a 6 speed (12 speed). I suppose if the shifters were at least indexed I could get used to it. What about barend shifters? I just find downtube so uncomfortable.

If it's a 6-speed, you are probably 126 mm dropout spacing.
For bar ends, try trawling e-bay for a set of Shimano SL-BS50, for 6- or 7-speed clusters.

I suggest you give it a bit of time, you may come to like the friction.. its realman equipment ha! ActuallyI dont like DT shifters myself all that much, im a bar end kinda guy. I think old indexed bar cons are pretty hard to come by, 9 and 10 are readily available however.. couldn't the guy just use those? I mean isnt the spacing between the cogs still the same, or cloe enoughit should work in practise once you get the barrel adjuster dialed in? you'll just have a buncha extra clicks at the end that wont do anything.

If that is true, then I could pick up,as suggested, the sora 7, and have an extra click at the end. Would that require a new rear derailer?

I don't think so. What's on the rear currently?

I am not near the bike now, but if my memory serves, it is a suntour arx rear derailer



These would be the shifters:
http://www.jensonusa.com/store/produ...Speed+Sti.aspx

I'm not 100% certain, but I think it's likely your Sun Tour rd will work fine with them.

Another thing you might want to consider is getting a new, modern freewheel before you splurge. Doing so would almost certainly smooth out the shifting.

THATS WHAT MY BIKE LOOKS LIKE. lol

are you talking about this?

http://harriscyclery.net/itemdetails.cfm?id=1724

YES SIR!!!

http://a361.ac-images.myspacecdn.com...ffd07f2060.jpg


http://a640.ac-images.myspacecdn.com...272ebf202f.jpg

So anyway, I ordered the sora 7 spd brifters. If I get that up and running well, I will look into a new free wheel and derailer.

I am psyched! I love this bike!

From an owner of the matching '84 Competition/Super Course that make up the 1984 Raleigh red/white/blue threesome:

Jealous! Jealous! Jealous! Jealous! Jealous! ;)

http://www.jaysmarine.com/84_raleigh_CSC_1.jpg

-Kurt

The Sora 7 speed would be the way I would go. I love old road bikes, but I like new technology too. IMHO, brifters are the way to go and will add enjoyment to your ride. If you buy a Shimano 7-speed freewheel, (not cassette for a freehub), you can replace the six speed freewheel and have the correct alignment with the Sora shifters. If you replace the 6 speed freewheel with a 7, you will have to redish the wheel to accomodate the new freewheel, but you should not have to spread the stays because the 126 mm spread will work fine with the 7 speed. As USA Zorro said, try the Suntour derailer, it may work fine with the index system. If not you can replace it later.
Keep us posted on your progress. I'd like to see that bike after the upgrades, I'll bet its gonna look really sharp.

Ok, so I got in the Sora 7 shifters. I will be attmepting the install tonight.

The guy at my LBS was saying that I wont be able to get the rear derailer to work, as it is not an "indexing" derailer. I didnt say anything at the time, but it is my understanding that the derailer has a spring and two stops. It could care less were in space it is, it simply does what the cable and shifters tell it.

in other words, I dont see how this wont work. Any thoughts?

ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i especially love the single side lever/tape look!!! Excellent!

Well, it so happens the single-side look is only because I'm short a Campagnolo Victory lever :lol:

I guess I'm hip without trying to be ;)

-Kurt

I haven't been in the vintage bike game as long as many of you, btu the full chrome rear triangle is AWESOME. Very attractive.

^bump, in case it got lost:D

Havent been in the vintage game long? I have been in this game for all of 5 days now!!! You're not alone!

Some deraileurs work better than others, but a lot of people have been successful getting indexing to work, sometimes even mixing brands. Mostly, if the deraileur is of good quality, and the cables and housings are in good shape, you can get indexing to work. Sometimes a lever and deraileur aren't compatable because the amount of cable pulled per gear is different between two brands. I have converted two bikes to indexing for my kids, one with a grip shift, and one with thumb levers. I gave up on a third attempt, only because I ran out of time and I only had cheap cable housing to use. I may give it another go sometime using better housing, but since my son learned how to shift friction in two days, I might just leave it as is.