Triple conversion and Deore XT for my road bike

(David Chung) said:

Greetings,

I currently have a Bridgestone RB-1 with a Phil Wood rear hub, seven speed
freewheel and Ultegra 7-speed down tube shifters. My derailleurs are Deore XT
short-cage rear and Ultegra front.

I want to switch my to an Ultegra 6503 triple crank up front and leave the
rear alone (7-speed)

Questions:

Will my 7-speed shifters and freewheel work with newer XT/Ultegra derailleurs?

Yes. One of the nice things about Shimano rear derailleurs is that
they've kept the same cable pull/cage movement ratio over the years.
The derailleur doesn't care how many cogs you have- it's the shift
lever that controls the indexing.

Quoted message said:

Will an older XT front derailleur handle the 52 tooth ring?

Probably. If it's of the same era as the 7-speed shifters, it was
designed for 48-tooth large chainrings. A 52-tooth isn't *that*
different.

Quoted message said:

Thank you
Dave

You're welcome.
Jeff

David Chung said:

Greetings,

I currently have a Bridgestone RB-1 with a Phil Wood rear hub, seven speed
freewheel and Ultegra 7-speed down tube shifters. My derailleurs are Deore XT
short-cage rear and Ultegra front.

I want to switch my to an Ultegra 6503 triple crank up front and leave the
rear alone (7-speed)

Questions:

Will my 7-speed shifters and freewheel work with newer XT/Ultegra derailleurs?

Yes, particularly if the F. shifter is a friction shifter.

Quoted message said:

Will an older XT front derailleur handle the 52 tooth ring?

Probably not, the curve will be wrong and the rear of the deraileur will
be low and short. But the Ultegra front deraileur you've go ton there
now should handle a triple OK.

Quoted message said:

Thank you
Dave

Cheers

Joel

--
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(David Chung) said:

Greetings,

I currently have a Bridgestone RB-1 with a Phil Wood rear hub, seven speed
freewheel and Ultegra 7-speed down tube shifters. My derailleurs are Deore XT
short-cage rear and Ultegra front.

I want to switch my to an Ultegra 6503 triple crank up front and leave the
rear alone (7-speed)

Questions:

Will my 7-speed shifters and freewheel work with newer XT/Ultegra derailleurs?

yes

Quoted message said:

Will an older XT front derailleur handle the 52 tooth ring?

Probably

Quoted message said:

Thank you
Dave

David Chung said:

I currently have a Bridgestone RB-1 with a Phil Wood rear hub, seven speed
freewheel and Ultegra 7-speed down tube shifters. My derailleurs are Deore XT
short-cage rear and Ultegra front.
I want to switch my to an Ultegra 6503 triple crank up front and leave the
rear alone (7-speed)
Questions:
Will my 7-speed shifters and freewheel work with newer XT/Ultegra derailleurs?
Will an older XT front derailleur handle the 52 tooth ring?

Yes all around. If your classic front changer is an M700 or similar, no
problem. Later XT fronts are curved to a 44/42 outer.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971