Retro Fit Of STI Shifters On Old Frame

mascott

Hi
Bear with me if this doesnt make sense!

My mate has aquired (skip!!) a coppi frame and forks.... it looks very old and worn

He wants to put 105 groupset that he can use on this bike and then move on to different frame if this one is past its best

the main problem we can see in advance is that the coppi frame has down tube shifter attachments.
my bike has little stops on either side where the gear cable can be adjusted but obviously his frame doesnt have these.

is there a way round this problem.....perhaps an aftermarket bracket or a way to set up to aviod any problem

cheers mark

Monty Dog

You LBS will probably have a stock of downtube cable stops, which come supplied with many STI/Ergo levers for use with older style frames. Likewise, look under gear or cable spares with some online dealers - should be no more than a tenner a pair. Also check the rear drop-out width of the frame - older frames will be 126mm wide across inside of the rear drop outs whereas 8/9/10 speed frames are 130mm. Steel frames can be 'cold set' to increase the width, but an aluminium frame could be problematic i.e. cold setting could crack the frame and you can't apply heat as it changes the material properties.

mascott

thanks mate

i will call him up and see what size he has

meagain

Quite a few nominal 126 rears (especially Italian) are at or near 130. Even if spot on 126 usually not difficult to spread +4 manually and slot in a 130 oln axle.

acorn_user

If the frame is from the 70's, the down tube shifters might be clip on instead of having a boss. That would be harder to fix, but still doable. Congrats on finding a Coppi. I never find anything good in skips... Just aggressive squirrels!

mrushton

Sounds a good candidate for fixed/ss

mascott

thanks....

I had a chat with him again...
I persuaded him to go singlespeed.
it was 126mm and with the other issues it makes sense.
he lives in london so it will be fine..