First road bike Schwinn Traveler III
 

Hello all,

I'm new to the bike world and just purchased my first bike, it is a mid 80's Schwinn Traveler III 10 speed. The bike is in great condition and rides excellent. The only thing is, I hate the friction shifting. I have been reading about upgrading to indexed shifting, but I am just not knowledgeable enough about compatibility issues and what is all exactly involved.

Ultimately, I'd like to keep the upgrades as budget friendly as possible. It has stem mounted shifters now that I wouldn't mind keeping but would prefer to have the shifters up on the handlebars. What do I need to do? Specific product recommendations? Am I going to need to replace the freewheel, cassette, derailleurs, and shifters? Or can I get away with just the shifters and rear derailleur?

Thanks in advance.

Hi roadie04 - and Welcome!

If you really dislike friction shifting and want to "upgrade", it would be easier and probably cheaper to buy a bike that came so-equipped.

Indexed shifting is sensitive to tolerances on DR's FW's cables, shifters, etc and everything needs to work in concert with it, right down to the little loop of cable housing at the rear DR. Even when all the components are matched, I find that it doesn't work especially well.