Budget drivetrain upgrade.

(Vincent M) said:

Hey there. I recently built a bike at our local Bicycle
Project out of recycled parts - and after riding for a
few weeks on the mish mash of parts I'd like to
standardize my drivetrain. I am currently using a Falcon
6-speed freewheel, a Shimano 7-sis derailer and shimano
5-speed shifter - so you can probably guess how sloppy my
shifting is. 🙁

Without getting into a religious debate, I'd like to hear
comments about a set of derailier/shifter/freewheel set I'm
thinking about. While I'm very concerned about price, I
don't want to use the most inexpensive/cheapest either. The
C201 seem be reasonably priced, while also being midrange
in terms of their product range.

Currently I am not using a front derailer, nor do I really
think I need one. 6 or 7 speeds will be more than enough
for the flat roads of New Orleans. 🙂

For the derailer/shifter/freewheel set, I'd like to keep it
between a $60-$100 range.

I've been reading the sheldonbrown/harris cycles set, and
Iam thinking about the following combo:

Freewheel: 11-34 "Megarange" "C" Type

Derailers: MegaRange C201

Shifter: Shimano Tourney (Is the Tourney line any good? It
makes me apprehensive that they're only $7)

Would the STX/Alivio SL-MC40 Rapidfire work? I dont see any
other Shimano 7-speed shifers for under $90, which I cant
really afford right now. 🙁

Thanks for any help!

Vincent

What are you using for chain?

Right now, I think it's a Pyramid chain for derailers. What
would you reccomend? to use with the above?

(Vincent M) said:

Right now, I think it's a Pyramid chain for derailers. What
would you reccomend? to use with the above?

Try a chain with some good lateral stiffness with your
current setup. I switched from a relatively stiff KMC Z
chain to a cheapy chain and found the shifting became a lot
less forgiving.

"Vincent M" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hey there. I recently built a bike at our local Bicycle
Project out of recycled parts - and after riding for a
few weeks on the mish mash of parts I'd like to
standardize my drivetrain. I am currently using a Falcon
6-speed freewheel, a Shimano 7-sis derailer and shimano
5-speed shifter - so you can probably guess how sloppy my
shifting is. 🙁

Without getting into a religious debate, I'd like to hear
comments about a set of derailier/shifter/freewheel set
I'm thinking about. While I'm very concerned about price,
I don't want to use the most inexpensive/cheapest either.
The C201 seem be reasonably priced, while also being
midrange in terms of their product range.

Currently I am not using a front derailer, nor do I really
think I need one. 6 or 7 speeds will be more than enough
for the flat roads of New Orleans. 🙂

For the derailer/shifter/freewheel set, I'd like to keep
it between a $60-$100 range.

I've been reading the sheldonbrown/harris cycles set, and
Iam thinking about the following combo:

Freewheel: 11-34 "Megarange" "C" Type

Derailers: MegaRange C201

Shifter: Shimano Tourney (Is the Tourney line any good? It
makes me apprehensive that they're only $7)

Would the STX/Alivio SL-MC40 Rapidfire work? I dont see
any other Shimano 7-speed shifers for under $90, which I
cant really afford right now. 🙁

Thanks for any help!

Vincent

If you're riding where its flat, you probably don't need the
megarange freewheel. Something a little smaller (up to about
28t) is fine.

If you are trying to get index (clicks = gears) shifting out
of your system now, yes it'll probably be a little sloppy.
If you are running friction it shouldn't matter too much.
Friction is much more forgiving, but you'll have to learn
how to shift smoothly.

If you don't mind keeping friction, you can probably go all
the way to a 7sp freewheel without any other equipment
changes. You may have to move some spacers around on your
axle and possibly re-dish the rear wheel, but that's not a
huge thing to do.

HTH,

M

Quoted message said:

If you're riding where its flat, you probably don't need
the megarange freewheel. Something a little smaller (up to
about 28t) is fine.

Yeah, but we have a lot of overpasses and levees that I
sometimes cross, so I figure it may help to have the 34.
I'm not dead set on it, but it seemed to make sense at
the time. 🙂

Well, the shifter I have now is a 5-speed Shimano SIS, I
assume it's an index shifter? I definately get a click when
I change gears. (From the shifter, not from the derailer.)
I'd rather the indexing, since I can be sure everything is
aligned correctly. I think I would get the indexing 7-speed.
Do I have to get an indexing derailer as well? Is the C201
not a good choice?

Thanks!

(Vincent M) said:

Quoted message said:

If you're riding where its flat, you probably don't need
the megarange freewheel. Something a little smaller (up
to about 28t) is fine.

Yeah, but we have a lot of overpasses and levees that I
sometimes cross, so I figure it may help to have the 34.
I'm not dead set on it, but it seemed to make sense at
the time. 🙂

Well, the shifter I have now is a 5-speed Shimano SIS, I
assume it's an index shifter? I definately get a click when
I change gears. (From the shifter, not from the derailer.)
I'd rather the indexing, since I can be sure everything is
aligned correctly. I think I would get the indexing 7-
speed. Do I have to get an indexing derailer as well? Is
the C201 not a good choice?

Thanks!

I am using a Shimano six speed shifter with a falcon 7 speed
freewheel and it indexes the top six gears. To get the 28
tooth granny gear I just drop the shift lever down to the
bottom of the lever travel. My shifter has a little button
on the side to select friction mode but it seems to work
better in index mode for some reason. You may need what's
called a long cage derailer if you go larger than a 28 tooth
granny gear but most 7 in the space of 5 freewheels should
work OK once you get a compatible shifter.