UO8 simplex shift lever upgrade
10-30-09, 04:56 PM
#1
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UO8 simplex shift lever upgrade
oops...
...darn shifter lever busted right off.
fixt! Now way more better, too. Took her for a spin and these have a better tension feel than the Derwin originals, shifting feels more precise, plus these don't have the annoying idiot stop on the back the old ones had.
I replaced just the levers, well obviously the RD cable too, and the old RD cable went on the FD. LBS had just the plain unsheathed shifter cables for $2.50 ea., so now I have a spare. But all the brackets and washers etc. are still the originals. The cast levers fit with no mods, only diff is the lack of the stop when the levers are full forward.
...darn shifter lever busted right off.
fixt! Now way more better, too. Took her for a spin and these have a better tension feel than the Derwin originals, shifting feels more precise, plus these don't have the annoying idiot stop on the back the old ones had.
I replaced just the levers, well obviously the RD cable too, and the old RD cable went on the FD. LBS had just the plain unsheathed shifter cables for $2.50 ea., so now I have a spare. But all the brackets and washers etc. are still the originals. The cast levers fit with no mods, only diff is the lack of the stop when the levers are full forward.
10-30-09, 05:48 PM
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Those levers will look amazing if you polish them. I have a set, but the lack of a stop kept me from using them. They must require different hardware
10-30-09, 07:58 PM
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The cast shifters didn't have the frame mounting bracket with them; perhaps that provides a stop, but I'm not sure against what on the lever.
The other washers and the slip-on Delrin wingnut were all identical to the original Prestige HW, with the exception of the square hole washer that goes onto the square boss. The originals have a hole for the cable to pass through, the ones with the cast levers just had a notch for the cable to pass through. I used the originals with the hole, and the cable lines up perfectly.
Even without the positive stop of the delrin levers, you can still only push these just a little farther forward, as the straight shft of the lever provides a stop. The advantage to this, as I see it, is that when you tension the cables properly with the levers parallel to the down tube, you can then push them a little farther forward to slacken the cable a bit if the derailleur needs that extra nudge to compensate for chain position on the other derailleur.
I took to it right away and found that little extra slack made it easier to adjust the derailleurs so they would shift quickly and dependably. And tweaking down the delrin tension wingnut "just so" was much easier with the cast levers than had been with the plastic ones, so shifting all around feels much more precise, positive, and intuitive.
If anybody else tries this, I'd love to hear what your impressions are.
The other washers and the slip-on Delrin wingnut were all identical to the original Prestige HW, with the exception of the square hole washer that goes onto the square boss. The originals have a hole for the cable to pass through, the ones with the cast levers just had a notch for the cable to pass through. I used the originals with the hole, and the cable lines up perfectly.
Even without the positive stop of the delrin levers, you can still only push these just a little farther forward, as the straight shft of the lever provides a stop. The advantage to this, as I see it, is that when you tension the cables properly with the levers parallel to the down tube, you can then push them a little farther forward to slacken the cable a bit if the derailleur needs that extra nudge to compensate for chain position on the other derailleur.
I took to it right away and found that little extra slack made it easier to adjust the derailleurs so they would shift quickly and dependably. And tweaking down the delrin tension wingnut "just so" was much easier with the cast levers than had been with the plastic ones, so shifting all around feels much more precise, positive, and intuitive.
If anybody else tries this, I'd love to hear what your impressions are.
10-31-09, 06:42 AM
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Your upgrade is logical and looks great - nice work....
Mark
