Ivanrf1

Hey guys,
I know i am sort of a noob at all of this but hey you gotta learn somehow. I have a 1985 raleigh prestige and i was originally thinking of getting some new wheels for it ( old ones are bent) and i wanted to get these ones because they were 7 speed compatible.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/400491768974...84.m1423.l2649

Then i noticed that it was only shimano cassette compatible so i then thought about taking my old suntour 7 speed cassette off and replacing it with one of these possibly
https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Shimano-...item23295e4507

Would all these parts work together? Are there any better wheels i could possibly buy because i was told these were not very good. But they have to work with 7 speed also. Thank you for your time to read this!

Ivan

Ivanrf1

I just called up my bike shop and they said there are very limited cassettes and wheels that work with my style bike. Is this true?

Ronno6

Where does one begin with this??
First, your Raleigh probably has rear dropout spacing of 126mm (6 or 7 speed.)
The wheels you referenced are at least 130mm, as they will handle up to 10 speed cassette.
7 is useable, but you need a spacer to take up excess freehub body length.
Your frame rear dropouts would require spreading a bit in order to fit in this wider wheel.
Not a big deal as your Prestige appears to be steel.
You may also have the frame adjusted or cold set to permanently accept this wider spacing permanently.
That is not something I recommend you try yourself.

The other item you referenced is a freewheel, not a cassette.
That would require a wheel utilizing a hub designed to take the threaded-on freewheel rather than the freehub/cassette
style of the wheels you referenced.

Would they all work with your Suntour stuff??
They should as long as your Suntour system is not indexed.
If it is indexed, then I do not believe things would play too nicely, as sprocket spacing is a bit different between the two manufacturers.
Maybe there are others who can answer that one more definitively.

Ronno6

I actually have seen some 7speed wheels listed new on Ebay. I will have to check when I get a chance to see if can find any of those.
Chances are good that they will be either freewheel style or Shimano Cassette style.
Are your shifters indexed (click shift) or friction?

wrk101

Total, complete nonsense. To be fair, a lot of shops focus on the latest and greatest. I have been told by more than one shop that any bike over five years old is obsolete and should be discarded.

Also, that ad you linked to as some creative writing going on. Most modern wheels can handle a seven speed cassette with a spacer. I do that all the time, and it is nothing unique about those particular wheels.

Myself, I have never bought a single new wheel as I find higher end used wheels for a lot less money. This is in over 500 bikes. Someday, I will probably buy a new wheel or two. But I have a two year supply of wheelsets for future projects, so I don't see it happening anytime soon.

Sellers tend to dump 7 speed wheels cheap as they upgrade to 8/9/10 speed.

Also, MAKE sure your Suntour cassette is a cassette, and not a freewheel (I highly doubt it is a cassette). Totally different technology, and mount totally different (and require different wheels!, so that ebay wheel is a non-starter). Google will show you the difference.

Certainly, your bike originally came with a Suntour 7 speed freewheel.

If your bike has its original equipment, it came with top of the line, Suntour Superbe Pro parts.

+1 To below, if you do pick up used cassette compatible wheelset, avoid Uniglide, as Uniglide cassettes are long out of production, and NOS ones sell for a lot on fleecebay.

T-Mar

First thing you have to decide is if you want to stick with a freewheel or go to a freehub with cassette. The fomer is the cheapest option, as you use your existing wheels.

However, going freehub has several advantage. The axles are less prone to bending, there is better cog selection and easier mantenance. While you're at it, you can go to a different rim style, spoke count, etc. Of course, this all costs more, sometimes a lot, depending on what you choose.

If you want to stick to a 7 speed freehub, your options are fairly limited. Almost everything has gone 8/9/10 speeds. This means you're looking primarily at used and I 'd stick with Shimano for cost and parts availability. However, you have to be careful that you buy a HyperGlide compatible freehub, as opposed to Uniglide. These use different cassettes and the latter are becoming difficult to find. They also don't shift as well. Regardless of whether you go freewheel or caseette, the total cog width is slightly wider and you may have to insert a washer on the drive side so that the chain will clear the seat stay in the small cog.

Of course, you can just commit to 8/9/10 speed and while it's just possible to manually spread the stays the extra 4mm to pop the wheel in, you're best off cold setting the rear triangle and realigning the dropouts.

Ivanrf1

Ok Yeah so i read up on this topic and found this on sheldon browns website

It says i have a suntour 7 speed freewheel that has a ratio of 13-24
can i step outside that ratio? Will it still shift right?

For the rear dropout if around 126mm are there any wheels that will fit this
without the frame having to be messed with? Thanks

Ivanrf1

My shifters are downtube shifters

eschlwc

look up your rear derailleur model on the disraeli gears site to determine the cog count it can reach.

i suggest keeping it all simple: if your bike came with a 6-cog freewheel, keep it that way (like using a new, ramped, shiny, sunrace 14-28 freewheel). but, then again, i often think 'less is more.' my personal preference is perfectly functional 12-speed gearing.

Ivanrf1

I looked it up and it said
•Maximum cog: 23 teeth
•Total capacity: 26 teeth

i have 24 teeth right now so the cog count that it can reach is 26 right?

Ivanrf1

I think i finally have this figured out! This is an awesome feeling. These are the wheels i plan to buy
https://www.performancebike.com/bikes...551_1119232_-1

https://www.performancebike.com/bikes...551_1119234_-1

And this cassette
https://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-Shimano-...item3f253d1ea4
this one is a freehub right?

eschlwc

you can often get away with the 'max' count, but not always. it's not an exact science, or, if it is, it has escaped me. they say the max for a campy record rd is 26t, but i have it working just fine at 28t on two bikes. you sometimes need to pull the axle back into the drops a bit if the rd doesn't pull over far enough.

RobbieTunes

There is no problem simply putting one of those wider 130mm wheels into a 126mm Raleigh steel frame. You'll have to use your hands to pull the rear apart a bit when installing the wheel, but it goes in just fine. Been there, done that, on an '85 Raleigh.

A 7-sp cassette is no biggie, just get a spacer to take up the extra space.

If you want to use the same drivetrain, no problem, you may need to do some adjusting on the RD to line everything up.
I thought the '85 was friction shifting 6-sp, but I could be wrong. The '85 I worked on was friction shifted; we moved to 8-sp with a wheel change and cassette, no problem. Kept the cool Raleigh crankset and everything else.

If you stick with DT stuff, you can go 8, 9, or 10 without a ton of expense, but there will be expense. Good luck with all of it.

old's'cool

fify!

Ivanrf1

What do you mean DT stuff?

Dave Mayer

Nope. The wheels are not designed to fit into a frame built for 7-speed spacing. You can force them into your frame, but it would be better and cheaper to get a used 7-speed specific rear wheel. I don't think I've ever paid more than beer money for these. Any kind of volume shop will have several of these in the back gathering dust left from folks looking to 'upgrade'.

You should also drop the idea of the low-spoke count deep-dish wheels that are so 'kewl' to inexperienced buyers. Good luck finding replacement parts when you break a spoke. There are about 100 better choices out there, especially wheels with real Shimano hubs and not cheap cartridge bearing hubs.

Next, the cassette you've specified, is not compatible with any cassette hub made in the last 20 years. Plus it features clunky, slow-shifting Uniglide cogs. A 7-speed replacment freewheel, like the $20 HG37 will perform far better. Finally, at $150, this Ebay seller is dreaming in technicolor.

I suggest you get a shop to look at your current wheels. They probably just need a true-up. I know the shop will be highly motivated to sell you another set of wheels, but push back. Since you already have a freewheel (not a cassette), change the chain (obviously), the freewheel (to a $20 HG37), spend $20 to get them true, and call it a day.

pastorbobnlnh 

DT=Down Tube (shifters).

I hope you didn't buy the DuraAce Uniglide cassette for your new wheels! They won't work as Dave Mayer mentions above. If you did, try to return it to the ebay seller for a refund of the purchase price less the shipping. Better hurry with the return!

The wheels you bought need a "Hyperglide" cassette. Any Shimano, SRAM, Sunrace, etc., 7, 8, 9 or 10 speed cassette will be compatible. The 7 speed models will need a spacer behind it in order to bring it outboard to the "top" of the freehub. If you don't, it will be loose on the freehub and slide back and forth.

kunsunoke 

Your Superbe Pro rear derailleur should work with a 28t rear freewheel. My PX-10 is set up that way currently.

kunsunoke 

I have a feeling those wheels are gonna look goofy on an '85 anything. You might be better off digging around for some Dura Ace cassette hubs on decent hoops with higher spoke counts.

20grit

It's also possible to get one of the Uniglide and hyperglide compatible freehub bodies. Just throwing that in to the previous discussion about the bodies. They don't seem to be as common, but I have one. Not quite sure how that happened.

Dave Mayer

No. Agree that deep-dish, low spoke count wheels will look goofy on an older frame.

But the last thing that anyone wants is an older Dura-Ace cassette hub (6, 7 and 8-speed vintage). Most of these hubs require a custom cassette that is now rare and expensive, the old Uniglide cogs feature clunky slow-shifting performance, and they have a unique & obsolete freehub that is impossible to replace.

Ebay is cluttered up with these old hubs for a reason: they are orphaned and obsolete.

Going back to my original recommendation: get your old wheel professionally trued, and install a new $20 HG37 7-speed freewheel.

kunsunoke 

Which is why finding the eight speed HG capable versions is so gratifying and so incredibly cheap. I've just managed to do that twice in a row. It's great to be able to get DA quality at Exage pricing.

That approach works pretty well, too. It's how I have the PX-10 set up, in fact.

cehowardGS

Robbie,the 85 Grand Prix, as listed in the catalog was a 6sp, but you coverted to the 8 sp like you said above. I think I told the OP that his 85 Raleigh Prestige is exactly the same frame as the Grand Prix, what you did on the Grand Prix, he can do on the Prestige..

Also, add the $100 wheels which somebody said were too heavy,and the OP would have a fine looking and riding 85 Raleigh Grand Prix..

bikemig 

Slow down a bit. Why do you want a 130 mm rear if your bike is spaced for 126 mm? Also why go to a cassette? There are some advantages to going with a cassette if you want to spread your frame and/or simply push the drop outs outwards when you put in your rear wheel. The axle on a cassette is better supported but I've never broken an axle on a hub set up with a freewheel. There are lots of decent 126 mm rear wheels out there for less. Seven speed freewheels are readily available. I'd keep this as simple and cheap as possible. You have a nice bike and you don't need to spend a bomb to get it running again.

RobbieTunes

No one said he had to do it, they just said it could be done.