replace gear shifters?

alexalexalex

I've come into possesion of this lovely old raleigh road bike (with the emphasis squarely on the old bit) and, while it's quite nice to ride, the gear shifters are half way down the frame

i've been using an (almost as old) raleigh mountain bike to commute this year which has been the better choice with the weather and all but once it starts to brighten up out there i would like to take the "race bike" out (stop laughing), the only problem is i think i'm going to kill myself if i have to reach down there to change gears

so my question is this:
is it possible to change this gear change set up to something handlebar mounted? i'm sure it is possible but how easy/expensive would it be?

fenboy369

No way! You must keep the suicide shifters, thats two fingers up to Health and Safety!
I've seen a couple of dirt jumpers using them now to keep the bars even more cable free so you ae actually way ahead of the fashion pack there.

alexalexalex

fenboy369 wrote:

you ae actually way ahead of the fashion pack there.

well yeah, that's what i was really going for obviously..... :roll:

Bugly

while I really love modern gear shifters there is nothing inherently unsafe about the downtube mounted levers. You dont need to LOOK at them to change gears. As to reaching down for them you reach further to get a bottle out of the cage.

Really its not a big deal people used this for more then five decades without gear change induced road deaths. if you find you cant get used to the position the cheapest option would be bar end levers, these are generally friction devices (like most down tube shifters) and wil work with your current setup. The most expensive option is to fit new gearing including STI levers. It would be cheaper to buy a new bike

laughingboy

Of course it is possible, but whether it is worth doing depends on how much it bothers you.

Downtube shifters were used on bikes for nearly a hundred years. It is not a very dangerous set-up in itself, and takes only a little getting used to.

Possibly the simplest way is to get cable stops where the current shifters are and run new cables and cable housing to terminate in bar end friction shifters. Then you end up with shifters nearer to your riding position, but it is still not ideal. You could try a bodge of getting shifters on the flat part of the handlebars, I suppose.

Alternatively, I commute on an old bike with shifters on the vertical part of the quill stem. So that's a possibility as long as you can find the parts. Oooh, look! But Sheldon Brown thinks that these are not wise.

Sure, you might prefer shifters that are integrated into your brake lever (STI, etc) but if you spend the money to get these, you might as well update the entire gearing so that it is indexed 9/10 speed (costly and almost pointless unless you were thinking of changing your rear wheel, and spreading the dropouts anyway) or buy a new bike..

On another note, there is a compelling argument to remove the 'suicide levers' on your brakes. If the bolt gets loose, you may find that you grab for them and the lever fails to engage the main brake lever. Ouch.

Fireblade96

get rid of them ! Go single-speed !

(I'm currently going through the same process myself with a vintage Raleigh racer....I have acquired a spare ancient racer to cannibalize for parts so we'll see what happens...)

alexalexalex

it's not the worst thing in the world to have them down there, just a bit awkward and i've never had a bike with them before (i've got a feeling this bike may well be older than me)
I suppose i could just ride it more and see if i get used to it but just wondered if there was a simple fix like get a longer cable and attach it to some shifters on the handlebars or if it was a lot more complicated than that

I did toy with the idea of going single-speed with this bike, not sure why, probably just the novelty but i live next to a main road and i have to go through a subway/underpass type thing that is really quite steep to get home so a single speed might not be the best choice as i HATE getting off and pushing

Clever Pun

Fireblade96 wrote:

get rid of them ! Go single-speed !

(I'm currently going through the same process myself with a vintage Raleigh racer....I have acquired a spare ancient racer to cannibalize for parts so we'll see what happens...)

*cough* fixed*cough*

roger_merriman

could try barend shifters. rather depends what your using the bike for.

My old and only roadie has down tube shifters and while i do like them, they are a royal pain around town.

going FG/SS will still cost.

problems are.

the frame will likely have a narrower dropouts (axel length )
the gearing is likely not to be compatible with modern (speed) cassettes.

my suggestion is to try it for a month and see if you get used to it or hate it with a passion.