Brisbane bike build

[quote="Andrew Bell"]Happy Bike Week to all Bris Vegans!

Quoted message said:

The shifters are not indexed and are located, as they
were in those days, on the downtube. I'd really like to put
a combined brake/ shifter on the bars and keep using this
old bike. With Suntour out of business this seems to be a
problem for the LBS I asked. Can it be done, with say
Shimano gear? Where is the best place to enquire?

Andrew Bell said:

Happy Bike Week to all Bris Vegans!

1. Can anyone in Brisbane point me in the right direction? I have an
old (1986) tourer (Nishiki Cresta) with a chrome moly double butted
tange frame which uses Suntour Mountech components. I like the
arrangement of the cluster and chain gear which gives a very broad
range from a high high to a low low. The shifters are not indexed and
are located, as they were in those days, on the downtube. I?d really
like to put a combined brake/ shifter on the bars and keep using this
old bike. With Suntour out of business this seems to be a problem for
the LBS I asked. Can it be done, with say Shimano gear? Where is the
best place to enquire?

Okay, I don't understand what is special here.
To me it is just a case of
1)locating a L & R combo handbrake/gear shift lever, preferrably not
indexed,
2) two long brake cables (inners and sheath)
3) two long gear cables (inners and sheath)
4) a down tube gear cable guide/sheath stop fitted near old levers,
and
5) a bit of tape or cable clips for the brake cable along the top
tube.

suzyj said:

Quoted message said:

What's wrong with downtube shifters? Since I put my old downtube
shifters back on my bike (originally only to bait Hippy), I've really
come to appreciate them. Light, simple, positive, fuss-free. What
more could you want?

Indexing is over-rated. Racing-wise I'd hate to go back to DT shifters
but for touring, commuting, whatever, indexed/non-indexed DT's are cool.
Think of all the weight you'll save!! 🙂

hippy

hippy said:

Indexing is over-rated. Racing-wise I'd hate to go back to DT shifters
but for touring, commuting, whatever, indexed/non-indexed DT's are cool.
Think of all the weight you'll save!! 🙂

hippy

how does one put indexing on a SS, hmmmm? 😉

flyingdutch said:

hippy said:

Indexing is over-rated. Racing-wise I'd hate to go back to DT shifters
but for touring, commuting, whatever, indexed/non-indexed DT's are
cool.
Think of all the weight you'll save!! 🙂

how does one put indexing on a SS, hmmmm? 😉

Faux-Shifters(tm):

Revolutionary product designed to stop boredom from lack of lever
flicking and confuse your riding buddies.

"I thought he was riding a single speed, but then he changed gears?! It
doesn't make any sense. I was so confused he beat me to the cafe and
scored the last quadruple-choc-drowned muffin of infinite calories.
Where can I get Faux-Shifters(tm)?"

hippy

"Andrew Bell" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:2005031623350016807%nospam@ozemailcomau...

Quoted message said:

Happy Bike Week to all Bris Vegans!

1. Can anyone in Brisbane point me in the right direction? I have an
old (1986) tourer (Nishiki Cresta) with a chrome moly double butted
tange frame which uses Suntour Mountech components. I like the
arrangement of the cluster and chain gear which gives a very broad
range from a high high to a low low. The shifters are not indexed and
are located, as they were in those days, on the downtube. I?d really
like to put a combined brake/ shifter on the bars and keep using this
old bike. With Suntour out of business this seems to be a problem for
the LBS I asked. Can it be done, with say Shimano gear? Where is the
best place to enquire?

Do you want to keep the SunTour Mountech? If so, your brake/shifter will be
an STI set I'd guess, and you'll find it pretty tricky to setup the Mountech
to work with STI. No cable tesion adjuster, and no floating top jockey wheel

If you're changing the derailleur, then simply put a complete Shimano
drivetrain on. I don't expect there will be any problems fitting this to an
old Nishiki.

Cheers
Peter

suzyj said:

In order to make your bike index, you're likely going to have to change the shifters, rear derailleur, and freewheel. That means considerable cost.

and brakes, or at least an adapter.

How about barend levers, they don't need to be indexed and are more convenient than on the downtube.