What do I do?

Do you have indexing shifters? If they are friction shifters or ratcheting shifters, they will work with most any FD. If they are indexing, then you will have to either find a FD that is compatable with them and your triple, or use them in friction mode if that is an option. You might consider using a compact double rather than a triple, but you may need a specisl FD for that also.

It may be helpful to others if you tell us the manufacturer of the FD and shifters that you have. Also, the year of the bike if you know it and the number of gears on the back wheel. This will enable other members to give you a better, more definitive answer.

Hi, i don't know the year, but its a 5-speed free wheel on the back and as far as i know from researching it earlier they are friction shifters, not sure what make but i will have a look and put it up later.

Thanks for the response
Jobe

I think that pretty much any FD will work fine with a friction down-tube shifter - it is the brifters on a modern bike that provide the indexing, etc. The FD just has to have sufficient range of motion to support the crank.

But you may also have another compatibility issue - your old 5-speed freewheel has pretty widely-spaced cogs, and uses an old-style wide chain. I'm no expert, but would think that the crank will have to have comparable spacings between the chain rings, as well as gear teeth that are compatible with the wider chain.

You might want to look into some of the tutorial posts at Harris Cyclery (by Sheldon Brown) to learn more.

If better climbing capability is what you are after, you may be able to find a somewhat smaller chain ring to replace your 42 - you need to measure the bolt hole spacing to know what you can use. But I'd think that going down to a 40 would be doable, at least. Then you can also look for a replacement freewheel that has larger cogs than your present one. So-called "Alpine gearing" 5-speed freewheels can have as large as 34-tooth cogs. I have an old Raleigh with a 42/34 lowest gear, and it's hardly any different than my compact crank-equipped modern bike, with its 34/27 lowest gear.

If you look in e-bay's "vintage biccyle parts" section, there are usually a number of old freewheels for sale, as well as chain rings for old cranks.