upgrade to index question

"Rob" <[email hidden]> wrote in news:vT6Gc.26963$WB5.17625@pd7tw2no:

Quoted message said:

I have an old bike that is friction... a friend of mine gave me some what
he says are index shifters. He also says that if I put them on my bike..I
would then have index shifting... I pretty sure there is more to it than
that...would I not need a newer de-railer and maybe another type of chain
? by the way it is a old Cannonade road bike.

Depends on what derailleurs you have now, but you may need a new derailleur
and cassette.

Rob said:

I have an old bike that is friction... a friend of mine gave me some what he
says are index shifters. He also says that if I put them on my bike..I would
then have index shifting... I pretty sure there is more to it than
that...would I not need a newer de-railer and maybe another type of chain ?
by the way it is a old Cannonade road bike.

Thanks again

Rob

You may or may not already have the requisite gear:
-Index-compatible freewheel/cassette with the same number of
sprockets as your levers have detents.
-some suitable chain that fits those sprockets and isn't
badly worn.
-a rear changer that's modern enough to be index-compatible
and not too worn out
-If your buddy gave you "STi" shifters you will probably
need an index-compatible front changer as well. If the set
you received is Ergo, BarCon, downtube or GripShift, the
front shifter is quite forgiving of pretty much all changers.
--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

"Rob" wrote ...

Quoted message said:

I have an old bike that is friction... a friend of mine gave me some what

he

Quoted message said:

says are index shifters. He also says that if I put them on my bike..I

would

Quoted message said:

then have index shifting... I pretty sure there is more to it than
that...would I not need a newer de-railer and maybe another type of chain

?

Quoted message said:

by the way it is a old Cannonade road bike.

Thanks again

Rob

You're quite right, there usually is more to it than that. How many
cogs/chain rings is your friend's set of index shifters designed to handle?
7, 8, 9 or 10 in back? 2 or 3 in front? How many cogs / chain rings does
your old bike have? 5, 6, 7 or 8 in back? 2 or 3 in front? What make are
your friend's index shifters? What make are the derailleurs on your
Cannondale?

Newer derailleurs (after about 1988) are indeed shaped differently than
older ones (you don't say how old your Cannondale is), just as you surmised.

The combined index shifters/brake levers on modern road bikes are nice for
road racers, but otherwise index shifting is just not that big a deal, IMHO.

If you're happy with your Cannondale, keep riding it, and keep it in good
repair as long as you can. If you really feel the need for index shifting,
buy a new bike.
HTH,
--
mark

Quoted message said:

"Rob" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<vT6Gc.26963$WB5.17625@pd7tw2no>...

Quoted message said:

I have an old bike that is friction... a friend of mine gave me some what he
says are index shifters. He also says that if I put them on my bike..I would
then have index shifting... I pretty sure there is more to it than
that...would I not need a newer de-railer and maybe another type of chain ?
by the way it is a old Cannonade road bike.

Thanks again

Rob

There is more to it.

The indexing built into the shifters must match the cable pull
required to move the derailleur across one sprocket worth.

The amount of cable pull required varies with derailleur manufacturer,
it also varies with sprocket spacing (see
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gloss_sp-ss.html).

As a general guide, if your indexed shifters match your rear sprockets
in make and number of gears then you are in business. If not, then it
probably won't work, or at least, not properly.

(There are exceptions to this rash generalisation, e.g. shimano 8s
cassette has the same sprocket spacing as 7, so 8 speed shifters will
work with 7s cassette, Campagnolo 10s can be made to work with Shimano
9s derailleur and sprockets - see
http://www.hubbub.com/ergoleverswshim9.htm).

Sheldon Brown has a compatibility chart for Shimano at
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/dura-ace.html

If your friction shifting works then why change it? I know people
brought up with indexed shifting recoil in horror at friction
shifters, but if (as I presume) you have already learned use friction
shifters competently then there isn't a lot to gain from changing
unless you are racing.

Andrew Webster

Rob said:

I have an old bike that is friction... a friend of mine gave me some
what he says are index shifters. He also says that if I put them on my
bike..I would then have index shifting... I pretty sure there is more to
it than that...would I not need a newer de-railer and maybe another type
of chain ? by the way it is a old Cannonade road bike.

Thanks again

Rob

I'm assuming your Cannondale has a 6 speed freewheel. If the shifter is
also 6 speed, I'd go ahead and try it. 6 speed is pretty forgiving. If you
can't make it index, you can switch the shifter to friction mode and it
will work just like the old shifter. Best bet is if everything is the
same brand, but I've made odd mismatches work in 5 and 6 speed bikes.

Some of Shimano's parts from before index work with index shifting. I've
used many Uniglide freewheels in cheap index conversions, and I can't see
the difference between them and the index-specific ones. Light action
derailleurs are another part that was common on both friction and index
bikes.