ypsetihw

For those of you who are the least bit interested (I also need to type this out to wrap my head around it): I'm rebuilding a late 80s? roadace 10 speed to be a 1x7 or 8 speed grocery/commuter/trailer/bar/rain/gravel/cross bike. 58cm steel frame.

I have decided to install a modern 130mm spaced RS10 wheelset with a shimano 11 speed hub (because they are sitting there on the shelf). I'm using an 8 speed sunrace? 11-28 (11-12-13-15-18-21-24) cassette that fits on the hub with a spacer (also because it is on the shelf). the front wheel fits like buttah (spacing is the same at 120mm).

the rear dropouts appear to be 126mm, so the 130 rear hub fits if I spring the rear dropouts open by hand, but there isn't clearance for the chain by the right seatstay on the 11 tooth cog if I run it all the way down, so I think I'll have to set the limits on the RD to keep make it a 12-28 7 speed on friction with the OG derailleur and stem mounted friction shifter. This setup will use the original 5spd chain, derailleur, bottom bracket, and shifter. The 5 speed chain appears to fit the spacing of the cogs on the 8 speed cassette. interestingly, the 8 speed cassette uses the same spline pattern as modern shimano 11 speed hub, and fits the hub perfectly with the provided 10 speed spacer that came with the cassette and the same lockring tool. this will all be setup with a fixed 33T single front chainring, giving me a 1x7 with a pretty low climbing/towing gear(33x28) and a reasonable top speed of over 20mph on flat (33x12). hopefully the drivetrain comes together as long as the old crank spindle has decent spacing for the new cassette. If not, I'll probably replace it with a more appropriately sized sealed square taper bb.

Utilizing 7 out of the 8 cogs on the cassette, it'll still giving better spacing than the 14-28 5 speed freewheel, I can also use modern 700c tires which allows me to run a gatorskin 25 in the back and a rubino 25 up front (again, on the shelf) on QRs (also facilitating trailer hitching and adjustment). at least one of the stock brakes will fit, but I might need a long reach caliper for the other wheel.

Should I l leave it all as a general workhorse, adapt it to commuting/towing the toddler trailer, make it a gravel bike while I have it stripped, or go all cross with it? I think the commute/trailer/goingtothebar road bike variant is most appealing, but I'm curious as to the outcomes of previous builds.

AlmostTrick

Since you're piecing it together with parts you already have, just start riding and see how it goes. For me all the bike styles you named are nothing but labels and could be pretty much the same.

Retro Grouch 

Man, you are doomed!

You're got the disease now and there's no cure. You've got "Compulsive Screwing Around With Bicycles Disease". It's pretty benign but for a couple of exceptions: "Toddler trailer" means you are a family man. You need to have a place other than your living room to work and you need to avoid the temptation to buy "just this one" high dollar component.

Oh - and you need to find a way to work the word "frankenbike" into your posts.

indyfabz

Leave/make it how you want.

kzin

Pull the 12 off and put the 11 and a spacer back on to not lose anything off the top end.
Or pull the second biggest out to give more of a granny effect.

thought you needed more options

wphamilton

That's going to mess with the cassette lockring isn't it?

While a 12-28 seven speed is fine it's hard to not worry about giving up that extra gear. Sheldon Brown on his site mentioned the cog bolts protruding from the back - maybe pushing against the spacer? If so could you grind them down and possibly gain just enough room to have enough clearance at the other end?

ypsetihw

In the words of Ella . . . "I got it bad, and that ain't good"

Yes family man (1yo in tow), and while I do have a basement storage unit, a lot of wrenching does get done on the porch and in the living room LOL. My lady HATES it. This is definitely a frankenbike, and I have pieced it together so far managing to spend less than $150 including paint. So far so good! Can't wait to see how it rides.

ypsetihw

more options is the last thing I need

not a bad idea except that the grooves on the 11 tooth don't go all the way through, and if I were to remove the 12 it wouldn't slide all the way onto the splines on the hub. also the lowest 5 cogs are riveted together. honestly this will be my "slow roll" bike anyway, and with the 33/12 at 100 rpm I'll still be over 20mph which is WAY too fast for the toddler trailer

ypsetihw

At first I couldn't wrap my head around what you were saying here but then it clicked . . . It does seem like I only need a couple more mm to get the clearance I need. I'll have a better idea once I have the BB reinstalled and can see the actual chain line.

I might also be able to respace the axle or add a washer outside the lockring, but then it would make squeezing the wheel in even more of a PITA, and I don't much feel like actually cold setting the stays and messing with parallelism and all that. as it sits now the wheel slides in pretty easily with a little coaxing, and I'm willing to deal with it.

ypsetihw

here's a mockup of the build, basically ready for paint . . .



I'm gonna roll the 25mm road tires I have (gator rear/rubino front) on the rs10 rims for the summer for errands and trailer towing. I'm gonna use the OG 27" rims with cheap sunlite cross tires for cross purposes, that will be a 1x5 setup.

JohnDThompson 

126MM OLD for a grocery-getter? Why do you need more than 6 cogs in the back?

ypsetihw

because I have been working and reworking this bike for 7 months and have the rs10 wheelset just sitting there on the shelf. same with the 8 speed cassette, which works with the chain, shifter, and derailleur, and won't cost me money. I't an 8 speed 11-28 limited to a 7 speed 12-28 because there isn't clearance for the chain on the 11t cog. the frame was free, fits me, and all the other parts were lying around.

I am using it to pull my toddler trailer (instead of my MTB with slicks) and to go on local errands, to the bar, grocery store, and maybe commute. I will ride my primary bike mostly for commuting and all sporty cycling events (training events, races, , charity rides, most commuting).

ypsetihw

finally got back to working on this project. I bought another bike to flip and saved the rack and fenders off of it, and I bought a lightly used serfas tuono 700x32 for the rear tire (i'll run the gator ultra 25 up front instead of the rubino). now I have all the parts lined up and I'm done with the other flipper (will be listed for sale shortly on local CL) which means I can get back to work on my build.

I am thinking that with everything else basically being brand new/modern, I should just get a new square taper sealed bb, but I guess I'll see how the chain angles look with the current spindle once it's mocked up.

Miele Man

You can grind down those bolts/rivets completely to the point you can drive out the bolts/rivets and separate the cogs and spacers so that you can build a custom cassette. If you decide to pull a trailer you might decide that you want a 32 cog behind that 28 one.

Here's an image of a UNIGLIDE cassette that i disassembled. Not the three round holes where the long bolts holding the cogs/spacers together went. Hyperglide are assemble very much the same way but sometimes they used rivets instead of bolts. Another thing about removing those long bolts/rivets is that you can then clean the individual cogs and spacers VERY thoroughly and easily.

IMG_3377 by Miele Man, on Flickr

Cheers

GravelMN

I've got a 1990s Trek 720 (at least that's what it started out as) that I call "The Mutt" because it is a little bit of everything. In various configurations it is a flat-bar light touring bike, my winter bike, a grocery-getter/commuter, or a gravel bike.

Nothing wrong with having a general purpose bike around.

ypsetihw

cool blown up pic.

I'm gonna end up needing a new freewheel for my flipper because it is skipping with the new chain badly, which lead me to realize half the cogs are shot. I dunno if disassembling would be worth it though, since a whole new freewheel is $12 on ebay

ypsetihw

finished another flipper in the meantime, and finally had enough nice weather to prime today! man it feels good to paint after spending so long sanding!

I got a 32mm serfas tuono for the rear and the rest of the parts are lined up. Just need to touch up the primer, lay some color and clear, and then start assembly!

ypsetihw

frame is painted, and I got the garage sale find of the year, a pair if vintage dorcy panniers in perfect shape, for $5!