Changing downtube shifters to Ergo levers. What to do?

njbrocks

Can anyone help me please. I'm currently trying to blag my dads road bike for free. Hes not ridden it in years as its been sitting in the garage. Its immaculate and very retro! As time has gone by and technology has changed the bikes componants are out of date. The groupset is campagnola record which apparently ive heard are quite good (Please note im a dummy when it comes to road bikes).
The problem is its an 8 speed bike setup and has the downtube shifters which i think are near sucidal. I want to change to the ergo levers but 8 speed has long gone or very hard to find.
Does anyone have any suggestions please? Would it be poss to go up to a more available 10 speed setup obviously changing the rear casette, shifters etc. I want to do this as cheap as poss as changing lots of the componants will start to get very pricey. Will shimano levers work with a Campagnola front or rear mech?
I would really appreciate your thoughts
Thanks Nick

The Spiderman

I have a dogs dinner retro road bike that I use for commuting.It has Shimano 600 cranks,a Shimano 7 speed cassette with a spacer on an 8/9 speed rear hub,sram chain,a Campag rear mech and some generic non indexing down tube shifters and a a 130mm spaced rear wheel in a 126mm spaced dropout............

It sounds a bit of a lash up but it in fact works pretty sweetly!

It`ll cost a fortune to swap it all over to 10 speed because you`ll need a new 10 speed cassette,expensive sti/ergo shifters,chain and possibly new rear mech and a rear hub that will take a 10 speed cassette.The existing rear mech may or may not work,it is the indexing on the shifters that tell the mech what to do after all,,the cassette and chain will need to be 10 speed specific.(Shifters telll the mech what to do so provided the rear mech has the range it may work.)

Plus you`ll need to get some cable stops fitted to the down tube.

If the gear levers are non indexed,anything will work.For the sake of cost I`d stick,with 8 speed and the current downtube arrangemenet.The other option is to find some bar end shifters,but you still need to get clamp on cable stops for the downtube.

Plenty of 8 speed cassettes still around,though tend to be lowerend Shimano,HG50 or similar.

Or save yourself a headache and make it a singlespeed or fixie!

Look on SJS cycles for lots of NOS/retro components.

If you need any help feel free to ask.

daccordimark

Spiderman sums it up very well. Going Ergo would either mean changing the whole transmission or buying some very expensive NOS 8 speed Ergos from Campyoldy and the like.

I recently had to go back to downtube gear levers when my 8 speed Ergos finally gave up the ghost. The only place I could find that had the necessary spares to repair the Ergos only had second hand parts so I ditched them. For an oldy like me it was a case of re-learning the gear changing technique and I have to say I don't miss the Ergos now. I admit I change gear a bit less often now but I think this is a good thing as it makes me get up out of the saddle now and again. I wouldn't describe them as suicidal by the way. If I couldn't control a bike with one hand whilst briefly changing gear then I would be worried. Are your downtube levers indexed? Mine are for the rear which makes changes a bit easier.

It sounds like your Dad has a great old bike there and it would be a shame to mess with it too much.

Mark.

petejuk

If you are still set on shifting from the handlebars then bar end shifters may be an alternative. sjs cycles are likely to have some of those and seem to be popular with tourers. Personally, I'd stick to the downtube shifters as it is likely to be a costly affair changing the parts around if you wanted to go ahead and get ergo levers.

giant_man

njbrocks wrote:

Can anyone help me please. I'm currently trying to blag my dads road bike for free. Hes not ridden it in years as its been sitting in the garage. Its immaculate and very retro! As time has gone by and technology has changed the bikes componants are out of date. The groupset is campagnola record which apparently ive heard are quite good (Please note im a dummy when it comes to road bikes).
The problem is its an 8 speed bike setup and has the downtube shifters which i think are near sucidal. I want to change to the ergo levers but 8 speed has long gone or very hard to find.
Does anyone have any suggestions please? Would it be poss to go up to a more available 10 speed setup obviously changing the rear casette, shifters etc. I want to do this as cheap as poss as changing lots of the componants will start to get very pricey. Will shimano levers work with a Campagnola front or rear mech?
I would really appreciate your thoughts
Thanks Nick

Some pics would be nice!

skyd0g

Stick with the downtube shifters - retro is the new black.