Converting 10 speed to 5 speed

In article <[email hidden]>,

Vincent M said:

Hey. I'm new to customising bike, but I enjoying it. I have a
question that I hope doesn't sound too stupid. 🙂 I have an older
cruiser bike that I am about to finish, but I've come across some
parts from a damaged Huffy Savannah 10speed. I'd like to use the
wheels, shifters and brakes from the huffy on the cruiser and replace
the old worn-out coaster hub. My question, besides how difficult
would it be to do this, is would it be possible to just use this as a
5 speed instead of a 10 speed, using the same real wheel? I'm not
knowledgeable on the mechanics of the gears. I'm trying to find
information on-line about this, but haven't had any luck.

Yes if you have a 5-speed freewheel and only one chainring in
front you will have a 5-speed bike.

However it is possible/probable that the front chainring on the cruiser
is 1/8" pitch, whereas the freewheel requires a 3/32" chain. If
that's true then you will need to replace the chainring on the cruiser.
If it's a one-piece crank you'll probably end up overhauling the
bottom bracket to make the change.

Personally I would be thinking about rebuilding the coaster
brake hub and cutting up the Savannah to go in the trash. :-)
But to each their own... enjoy the tinkering.

Vincent M said:

Hey. I'm new to customising bike, but I enjoying it. I have a question
that I hope doesn't sound too stupid. 🙂 I have an older cruiser bike
that I am about to finish, but I've come across some parts from a
damaged Huffy Savannah 10speed. I'd like to use the wheels, shifters and
brakes from the huffy on the cruiser and replace the old worn-out
coaster hub. My question, besides how difficult would it be to do this,
is would it be possible to just use this as a 5 speed instead of a 10
speed, using the same real wheel? I'm not knowledgeable on the mechanics
of the gears. I'm trying to find information on-line about this, but
haven't had any luck.
Vincent

1..Does your frame have a rear derailer hanger, and frame fittings for
the derailer cable?// you can likely tie-wrap a continous housing if
need be, but you will need a derailer hanger on the frame.

2. What is the Over Locknut dimension of the wheel? and the between the
drop-out spacing on the frame? //If not the same or the frame isn't
steel, I wouldn't try it

3. Will the derailer chain fit your current crank chainwheel? This
could be a " show stopper" due to costs and complexities.

4. Is the wheel the same diameter, so that it will properly fit and
work with the existing brake?

--

Quoted message said:

Personally I would be thinking about rebuilding the coaster
brake hub and cutting up the Savannah to go in the trash. :-)
But to each their own... enjoy the tinkering.

🙂 Well, considering I'm doing this at the local bike project (
http://planb.bikeproject.org ) I figured they could use whatever
donations I can bring - plus I'm building a bike there from scratch
for like, $25... I'm not exactly expecting a performance bike to come
out of it - nor can I afford one at the moment. Just want to get from
point A to B for now.

In article <[email hidden]>,

daveornee said:

Vincent M said:

Hey. I'm new to customising bike, but I enjoying it. I have a question
that I hope doesn't sound too stupid. 🙂 I have an older cruiser bike
that I am about to finish, but I've come across some parts from a
damaged Huffy Savannah 10speed. I'd like to use the wheels, shifters and
brakes from the huffy on the cruiser and replace the old worn-out
coaster hub. My question, besides how difficult would it be to do this,
is would it be possible to just use this as a 5 speed instead of a 10
speed, using the same real wheel? I'm not knowledgeable on the mechanics
of the gears. I'm trying to find information on-line about this, but
haven't had any luck.
Vincent

1..Does your frame have a rear derailer hanger, and frame fittings for
the derailer cable?// you can likely tie-wrap a continous housing if
need be, but you will need a derailer hanger on the frame.

There is undoubtedly no derailleur hanger, but a bolt-up derailleur
hanger should work fine.

Paul Southworth said:

In article <[email hidden]>, daveornee <usenet-

Quoted message said:

Vincent M said:

Hey. I'm new to customising bike, but I enjoying it. I have a
question that I hope doesn't sound too stupid.
🙂 I have an older cruiser bike that I am about to
finish, but I've come across some parts from a damaged Huffy
Savannah 10speed. I'd like to use the wheels, shifters and brakes
from the huffy on the cruiser and replace the old worn-out coaster
hub. My question, besides how difficult would it be to do this, is
would it be possible to just use this as a 5 speed instead of a 10
speed, using the same real wheel? I'm not knowledgeable on the
mechanics of the gears. I'm trying to find information on-line
about this, but haven't had any luck. Vincent

1..Does your frame have a rear derailer hanger, and frame fittings for
the derailer cable?// you can likely tie- wrap a continous housing if
need be, but you will need a derailer hanger on the frame.

There is undoubtedly no derailleur hanger, but a bolt-up derailleur
hanger should work fine.

Yes, my point was not that it is impossible, but the more things you
need to add, change, rearrange, etc. makes the project less practical.

--

(Vincent M) said:

I'd like to use the
wheels, shifters and brakes from the huffy on the cruiser and replace
the old worn-out coaster hub. My question, besides how difficult
would it be to do this, is would it be possible to just use this as a
5 speed instead of a 10 speed, using the same real wheel?

The sprocket width, as has been pointed out, could be an impediment.
"1/8 inch" sprockets run about .110" wide, but "3/32 inch" sprockets
are more like .080". If your cruiser has a suitably thin sprocket,
then no problem. Try meshing the derailleur bike's chain onto the
cruiser's sprocket to find out.

Most derailleur-equipped Huffys use an axle-slot-mounted derailleur,
which can be switched over. The installation will be compromised if
the cruiser uses rear-opening dropouts. If so, the derailleur will
have to be remounted every time the rear wheel is removed. If the
cruiser uses front-opening dropouts, then the derailleur can be
installed on the frame ans left there.

Coaster brake hubs measure 110mm across the inside of the dropouts,
but 5-speed hubs measure 120mm. You may be able to just spring the
frame open to mount the wheel, or you may have to bend the frame open
a bit. Sheldon Brown gives some good advice on how to do this at
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/frame-spacing.html

You may need to use a longer or shorter chain than the one from the
Huffy. More good advice on this from Sheldon Brown at

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/derailer-adjustment.html#chain

A little too long is OK, much better than a little too short. The
rest of that web page is instructions on setting up your derailleur,
which you should read and follow.

Chalo Colina

daveornee <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Vincent M wrote:

1..Does your frame have a rear derailer hanger, and frame fittings for
the derailer cable?// you can likely tie-wrap a continous housing if
need be, but you will need a derailer hanger on the frame.

Perfectly servicable low end (or old) derailers are available with
built in bracket precisely for this kind of setup, like this one:
http://www.bikepartsusa.com/product_info.phtml?p=01-102072

Quoted message said:

2. What is the Over Locknut dimension of the wheel? and the between the
drop-out spacing on the frame? //If not the same or the frame isn't
steel, I wouldn't try it

I suspect the frame mentioned is steel and wouldn't mind respacing.

Quoted message said:

3. Will the derailer chain fit your current crank chainwheel? This
could be a " show stopper" due to costs and complexities.

New 3/32" chainwheels for one piece cranks are very cheap. And come in
sizes from about 36t to 52t. Such as this:
http://www.bikepartsusa.com/product_info.phtml?p=01-78773
Replacing chainwheels one one piece cranks does require a bottom
bracket overhaul. The good news is that this whole operation is pretty
easy and most likely only requires a big wrench.

Quoted message said:

4. Is the wheel the same diameter, so that it will properly fit and
work with the existing brake?

This is a possible concern. Though not necessarily insurmountable. I
have a old Murray cruiser in the back yard that I suspect will
accomodate 27" (630) wheels (Currently has 26x2.125" balloon tires).
Maybe even nice short reach brake calipers to go with them.

Really, I don't don't think there'll be any problems that'll keep this
project from happening. Though I do agree with Paul Southworth.
Rebuilding the coaster brake hub is easier and will result in much
less of a hassle in the long run.

Go to Sheldon Brown's site for lots of info on stuff like this.
http://sheldonbrown.com/articles.html

On 2 Jun 2004 10:20:12 -0700, [email hidden] (Vincent M) may have

Quoted message said:

Hey. I'm new to customising bike, but I enjoying it. I have a
question that I hope doesn't sound too stupid. 🙂 I have an older
cruiser bike that I am about to finish, but I've come across some
parts from a damaged Huffy Savannah 10speed. I'd like to use the
wheels, shifters and brakes from the huffy on the cruiser and replace
the old worn-out coaster hub. My question, besides how difficult
would it be to do this, is would it be possible to just use this as a
5 speed instead of a 10 speed, using the same real wheel? I'm not
knowledgeable on the mechanics of the gears. I'm trying to find
information on-line about this, but haven't had any luck.

If the 5-speed wheel will fit into the frame without having to lever
the tubes apart, and if the derailleur mounts in a manner that's
compatible with the cruiser frame, then it's easy to do what you want.
If the wheel won't go in, you may be able to spread the stays enough
to make it fit; there's information on this in several places
including www.sheldonbrown.com. You may still have a problem with the
5-speed's sprockets hitting the frame, though; you'll want to check
that out before you get too far into bending things. If the der
mounts to a threaded hole in the frame, you'll probably need an
adapter braket to make it work; many bike shops have them. Beware,
though, your axle may not be long enough to use one. That just leaves
the shift cable and the hand brakes; presumably, if you get to that
point, you can figure out how to deal with those.

--
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Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

Thanks. I'm in the process of doing this now. Decided against using
the huffy parts in favor of using a smaller wheel (the huffy was 27
inches and too big for the frame.) I just donated the parts to the
bike project.

I was triny to install a Sturmey-Archer 3 speed with coaster, but none
of them had the chainor pin (is that like the clutch?) coming out the
side of the axle. I'd still like to try that out, since I don't
particularly want the whole derailleur and brake system on such an
classic looking bike - I couldn't find any info on where the little
pin/chain could be or where to get one to fix the axle... any ideas?