Upgrading 7sp cassette to 8/9?

Hi,

This is probably an oft asked question, but I'm looking at upgrading my old
'winter' bike's 7sp set to something a bit more modern, mainly so I can
throw some Ergo levers on there.

At the moment, I have a fairly generic (in that I can't remember what it is)
7speed block on the back, with a Mirage '97? rear mech. I understand the
rear mech will have to (obviously) be upgraded too. The chainset is a
Mirage job of the same year, probably '97, (52,42 if that helps at all) and
a Veloce front mech, again probably 1997. Brakes are Shimano RX100s if
that's relevant.

Now, what do I have to change, am I looking at replacing the whole
chainset/cassette/rear hub etc? I understand I also need 130mm between rear
dropouts to fit these modern hubs in, some pointers on where to measure ths
from would be much appreciated. The frame is about 6-7 years old, Reynolds
CR(o)MO tubing.

Sorry for the incredible vagueness in my post, but this bike has sat in my
shed for a long time being neglected, I got it out the other day to clean it
and decided it needed a little modernising. Any advice will be welcomed
with opened arms.

Thanks, Tom

Tom Williams wrote:

This is probably an oft asked question, but I'm looking at upgrading my old
'winter' bike's 7sp set to something a bit more modern, mainly so I can
throw some Ergo levers on there.

At the moment, I have a fairly generic (in that I can't remember what it is)
7speed block on the back, with a Mirage '97? rear mech. I understand the
rear mech will have to (obviously) be upgraded too. The chainset is a
Mirage job of the same year, probably '97, (52,42 if that helps at all) and
a Veloce front mech, again probably 1997. Brakes are Shimano RX100s if
that's relevant.

Now, what do I have to change, am I looking at replacing the whole
chainset/cassette/rear hub etc? I understand I also need 130mm between rear
dropouts to fit these modern hubs in, some pointers on where to measure ths
from would be much appreciated. The frame is about 6-7 years old, Reynolds
CR(o)MO tubing.

If you want to do it on the cheap, look for a used pair of 8-speed
brifters. Shouldn't be too hard to find.

Campagnolo 8-speed spacing is the same as 7-speed, so 8-speed shifters
will index perfectly with a 7-speed setup.

I don't believe you'll need to change anything else but the handlebar tape.

If 7-speeds isn't enough for your winter beater, skip 8 and go to
9-speeds. That will need a new rear wheel, chain & cassette.

Sheldon "Cheaper Than You Think" Brown
+--------------------------------------------+
| Never worry about theory as long as the |
| machinery does what it's supposed to do. |
| --Robert A. Heinlein |
+--------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com

Oh, that's nice, I thought all the indexing would be off for 7 speed, that's
put me in a good mood now. The only reason I was looking at a new cassette
was for the Ergo shifter ability, I can't put up with downtube levers
anymore, after riding my other bikes with Ergo levers.

Handlebar tape eh

Thanks,

Tom

"Sheldon Brown" wrote in message
...
Tom Williams wrote:

This is probably an oft asked question, but I'm looking at upgrading my
old
'winter' bike's 7sp set to something a bit more modern, mainly so I can
throw some Ergo levers on there.

At the moment, I have a fairly generic (in that I can't remember what it
is)
7speed block on the back, with a Mirage '97? rear mech. I understand
the
rear mech will have to (obviously) be upgraded too. The chainset is a
Mirage job of the same year, probably '97, (52,42 if that helps at all)
and
a Veloce front mech, again probably 1997. Brakes are Shimano RX100s if
that's relevant.

Now, what do I have to change, am I looking at replacing the whole
chainset/cassette/rear hub etc? I understand I also need 130mm between
rear
dropouts to fit these modern hubs in, some pointers on where to measure
ths
from would be much appreciated. The frame is about 6-7 years old,
Reynolds
CR(o)MO tubing.

If you want to do it on the cheap, look for a used pair of 8-speed
brifters. Shouldn't be too hard to find.

Campagnolo 8-speed spacing is the same as 7-speed, so 8-speed shifters
will index perfectly with a 7-speed setup.

I don't believe you'll need to change anything else but the handlebar
tape.

If 7-speeds isn't enough for your winter beater, skip 8 and go to
9-speeds. That will need a new rear wheel, chain & cassette.

Sheldon "Cheaper Than You Think" Brown
+--------------------------------------------+
| Never worry about theory as long as the |
| machinery does what it's supposed to do. |
| --Robert A. Heinlein |
+--------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com

Tom- This is probably an oft asked question, but I'm looking at upgrading my
old
'winter' bike's 7sp set to something a bit more modern, mainly so I can
throw some Ergo levers on there. BRBR

At the moment, I have a fairly generic (in that I can't remember what it is)
7speed block on the back, with a Mirage '97? rear mech. I understand the
rear mech will have to (obviously) be upgraded too BRBR


Nope, not if it not worn out..It will work fine with ERGO...any of them.

I understand I also need 130mm between rear
dropouts to fit these modern hubs in, some pointers on where to measure ths
from would be much appreciated. The frame is about 6-7 years old, Reynolds
CR(o)MO tubing. BRBR

If 6-7 years old, made about 1995 or so, it should be 130mm..if not, easy to
'cold set'-

Get a Campagnolo 9/10s rear hub, build a wheel, get some ERGOs, match the
cogset to the ERGO speeds(9s or 10s) get a chain, go ride.

Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

I asserted:

Campagnolo 8-speed spacing is the same as 7-speed
so 8-speed shifters
will index perfectly with a 7-speed setup.

Pete Biggs demurred:

I've found a small inconsistency between the Campagnolo 8-speed spacing
info on www.sheldonbrown.com/k7.html#spacing and
www.campagnolo.com/pdf/ruote98.pdf (page 18):

Sheldon, you say: sprocket = 1.8, spacer = 3.2mm, Campag say 1.85 and 3.2,
so c-c would be 5.05 not 5.0.

Then:

Correction: you say spacer = 3.1.

Actually, I say 1.9 for the sprocket, not 1.8.

I got these numbers from the Quality Bicycle Products catalogue.

I have here a brand new Campagnolo Ultra Drive 8-speed cassette and a
decent dial caliper.

I actually measure the sprockets in the range of 1.86-1.88, and the
spacers a bit thicker than 3.1. Given the low precision of the parts
involved, rounding to the nearest tenth seems reasonable to me.

Sheldon "The Plastic Spacers Will Vary Depending On How Tight The
Lockring Gets" Brown
+--------------------------------------------------------+
| As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, |
| they are not certain; and as far as they are certain, |
| they do not refer to reality. --Albert Einstein |
+--------------------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com