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.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Vincent M
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 (
planb.bikeproject.orgplanb.bikeproject.orgOpen ↗ ) 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.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Paul Southworth
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.

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 sheldonbrown.comframeOpen ↗
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

sheldonbrown.comderailer adjustment.htmlOpen ↗

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: bikepartsusa.comproduct info.phtmlOpen ↗
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: bikepartsusa.comproduct info.phtmlOpen ↗
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. sheldonbrown.comarticles.htmlOpen ↗

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.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via
e-mail. Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature. 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?