gear/brake levers

mickus

hi all,

looking to pick some brains...

I have a road bike for commuting and I would like to upgrade the brake/gear levers. They are currently separate and the gear levers are taking up bar space that would be far better used for my light and computer.

I'm after something cheap. If buying 2nd hand is a better option, what should I be looking for? If there are good budget new ones, what price range am I looking at?

My current setup is 7 speed but am in need of a new cassette and chain, so could go the extra hog and upgrade the drive chain to 8 or 9 speed if the right deal is there.

Thanks

cougie

Sound expensive. Better option would be to mount comp on your stem to give you more space, or get an extension that comes off the bars and let's you mount lights and computer on there. Topeak used to make one ?

mickus

this is the bike I ride every day... so don't mind spending a bit of cash on it. I just don't need anything fancy. Mainly I don't want something that will attract attention of the local theives or if it does get stolen I'm not going to be losing really expensive gear.

Or perhaps it's worth me looking in to a 2nd hand complete bike? If I could buy components and spread the cost, that would be easier.

All suggestions welcome.

cougie

Without knowing the full details of your bike, its hard to say exactly what you'll need.
Why do you have gears on the bars anyway ? Most bikes had them on the down tubes.

If you cost it all out - you'll probably be up a fair amount and you can buy nice bikes cheaply these days. And thats not including mechanics costs too ?

nomoreexcuses

Goto 10 speed. Get a set of cheap alright brake levers and bar end shifters to cut cost down.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=27937
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=13673
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=34322

mickus

I don't have a clue why the gear levers are on the bars. It's the only road bike I have ever come across with them - and I hate them!

I tried to find a spec of the bike but it's fairly old and a halfords special... so all I could find was this ebay auction of the same bike. It has a fairly good shot of the drive chain for you to get an idea.

So with that in mind, I could potentially look at a replacement bike. Mechanic's costs? Not an issue I would do all that myself(I'm an avid mountain biker but clueless road biker...).

10 speed could be an option, but would it really be worth it? Maybe I should just go single speed and be done with it :P

EDIT: I also just realised that some sucker paid £251 for that on ebay!! I should just sell it as I only paid £100 for it 2 years ago :P

tonkin

Downtube shifters are preferred on the bars by some, for quicker gear changing.

markmod

You may struggle to as you say 'upgrade to 10 speed' as this depends on the distance between your rear drop outs. Mine are 126mm apart and you won't get many extra cogs in between the frame and wheel unless it's got the modern spacing distance and you will then be able to upgrade as you say (but still could be expensive!!)