Upgrade from friction to index

DJA said:

Long story slightly less long...

I want to upgrade a recently rehabilitated '85 Schwinn to index shifting
because my newer hybrid has me spoiled. (clank! - oops too far, stop..go
back, clank! - clickety-clickety-clickety - clank!... I'll just stand up.)

Without changing your rear hub, you'll be limited to a 7-speed
freewheel... shouldn't be hard to find one of those. Then you'll need a
rear derailleur and shifters that are compatible with 7-speed... again,
not too hard but limited selection. You could either go bar-end
shifters which folks either love or hate, or saw off those downtube
cable guides and get downtube shifters on a clamp. The bar-end shifters
might hit your knees when you're out of the saddle unless you have wide
handlebars. The downtube shifter clamp is just like a front derailleur
clamp except it has bosses for regular downtube shifters - they were
quite common in your bike's time, even on new bikes.

When you take your stem shifters off it looks like you'll need a spacer
in there to make up the difference in height. No need to modify the
crank or FD, but you won't see an improvement in front shifting beyond
what new cables will get you.

You could also go STI 8 or 9 speed by spreading the rear a little bit -
but it wouldn't be cheap and it wouldn't look original.

--
My bike blog:
http://diabloscott.blogspot.com/

DJA said:

Long story slightly less long...

I want to upgrade a recently rehabilitated '85 Schwinn to index shifting
because my newer hybrid has me spoiled.

Quoted message said:

12-speed (2x6) ultra-type freewheel (126mm spacing)

Quoted message said:

I'm hoping to stay away from the "anything is possible with enough
money" approach. I want to take the most straight-forward steps to
replace only what has to go. Mid-grade components should be fine.

If you are willing to have just the rear indexed and leave the front
friction (a setup many people prefer, so they can trim the front),
here's a theory I have been wanting to try but have not tested:

According to Sheldon Brown's site
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/k7.html
Suntour Ultra 6 freewheel sprocket width and spacing are the same as
Shimano Hyperglide 7-speed cassette/freewheel, minus the 7th gear. It
seems possible that with the addition of a Shimano derailer and 7speed
shifter, one could index-shift through the Suntour's 6 gears.
Derailer stops can be adjusted to block out the non-existent 7th gear.

If this works, it makes sense that you could leave the chain,
chainrings, and front der in place.

I come from the MTB side of things and can't help much with road
shifters, except to suggest Shimano bar-ends. I've heard 7 speed
indexed bar-end shifters are rare-ish, but they're out there.

Good luck,
Steve

DJA said:

I want to upgrade a recently rehabilitated '85 Schwinn to index shifting
because my newer hybrid has me spoiled. (clank! - oops too far, stop..go
back, clank! - clickety-clickety-clickety - clank!... I'll just stand up.)

Let me suggest an alternative, which you can use perhaps as a stepping
stone to fully index if it doesn't work for you.

Newer cassettes/freewheels and chains shift infinitely better than their
older counterparts, so replace these items first and you might find
shifting to be so much improved that you don't want to bother with new
shifters/derailleur.

I personally ride an old 70s racer with modern wheels and an eight speed
cassette, I re-spaced the dropouts with no problems. The drivetrain is
original Shimano600/Titlist from 1978. Shifting requires a little skill to
be sure, but the gears 98 times out of 100, don't go tk-tjk-tk-chunk
before changing, they just pop into place with a soft almost imperceptible
sound. Very stealthy. I attribute this incredible improvement to the
cheap, cheerful, and well-designed Sram cassette and chain. Didn't cost a
ton either. A new wheelset, cassette, chain, and tires from Nashbar cost
me under 150USD--I took advantage of some incredible sales of course. 🙂

I ride on very quiet paths in the local wetlands, and nearly silent
shifting makes the ride much more enjoyable. 😄