Strayhorn said:When last we met, I was looking for help in putting a new freewheel on
the mid-80s Raleigh Super Course I found at a yard sale. I ended up
getting a Shimano Mega-7 (14-28) which has proven to be excellent in the
hilly terrain I ride through.Saturday's mail brought a refund check - a whopping $250. Let's spend
that on some further upgrades. I had a pair of Look 247 clipless pedals
I had bought at a swap meet, so I've put those on the bike. I also had a
better headset lying around, installed that. The original saddle was
tattered, so it was replaced by a Performance Contour I got at their
spring sale. And, of course, I have the new freewheel.So, let's think about new derailers front and rear, and some new
brake/shifters.I was thinking of the Shimano SORA 7 brifters since they can be found as
an upgrade kit for older bikes (includes the cables and cable stops for
the downtube, etc) for around $130.
Hah, beat you to them. A couple months ago Bikeman.com had them listed on his
site for $69.95. I emailed him to see if this was for real, it was indeed a typo
and they immediately fixed the site, but did let me have 'em for that price.
Yeah me! Yeah bikeman! He now lists them for $105 I think.
Quoted message said:That means I need some derailers - anyone have suggestions of
economical, dependable units for my setup? I'm sticking with the double
crank, no real need to go to triple. So my needs are double crank,
7-speed freewheel, economy. I do 10 miles a day during the week, 20-30
miles a day on weekends averaging 13 MPH on hilly back roads. And I have
about $150 to spend.
Anything from the SIS 7speed era on should work fine. My ancient 7s 105s shift
perfectly, though the front was a freeking pain to adjust. You'll need a rear
der that can handle that cogset so you'll probably need something with a long
cage.
Quoted message said:If you can think of a cheap way to upgrade the derailers and have a
suggestion as to what to spend the balance on, I welcome all suggestions.
I'd target sales. Just be sure the rear der can handle your largest cog and can
wrap the total difference. Probably be a long cage tourer or MTB piece - hit the
online sales. Have you got stylish bar wrap and color coordinated cycling garb?
Helmet or at least an appropriate hat? Shoes? Would Fabrizio approve?
Ron