Changing handlebar mount shifters to STI Shifters

ar24

Hi all,

I'm new to road cycling and just wanted some info about changing or "upgrading" my bike so to speak.

My bike has Shimano handlebar mount SL-A050 14 speed and I would like to change them to integrated STI shifters.

I'm looking for advice on what STI shifters to get. Would I have to get 7-speed shifters? Is there such thing? I always see 8/9/10 but never 7.

Any advice would be brilliant.

Anonymous

Its expensive. I dont think there are 7 speed STIs unless you get the old Dura Ace ones, which are probably a waste of money. You can get 8 speed Shimano STIs (Sora) which have the thumb downshifter and 9/10 speed which have paddles for up and down (tiagra upwards). I hate the sora thumbshifter, personally.

As you have to change the speed of your bike, you will need (at least) new cables, cassette and chain - if you go to 8 speed. This is assuming an 8 speed chain will fit through your rear derailleur and front rings ok - and not be too narrow.

If you go 9/10 speed I assume you will almost certainly need a new rear mech and front chainrings as the chain will be so narrow it won't go over them.

Shifters are about 150 quid (8 speed sora less, dura ace 10 speed, more)
chain 15
cassette 30

I can only guess what type of bike you have, but I would presume you would be better off buying an entire 2nd hand bike which comes with 8/9/10 speed. Now its coming up to winter there might be some bargains to be had, but remember with post TDF and olympics success the demand will be higher.

simon_masterson

coriordan wrote:

This is assuming an 8 speed chain will fit through your rear derailleur and front rings ok - and not be too narrow.

Non-issue, to the best of my knowledge. It's less than ideal perhaps to use a 10 speed chain with a 5 speed transmission (extreme example), but it will work.

But 7 speed STI shifters certainly did exist; they aren't still in production, but you might be able to find some used ones. I presume that your bike would need guides for the new cable arrangement, though. I wouldn't say it's cost-prohibitive, and well worth doing if the bike is a good one, but you would ideally (for optimum performance) want to change your chainrings and chain, and that does elevate the cost somewhat. I wouldn't worry overly about it, though; my favourite bike has a 5-speed freewheel and modern chainrings and chain.

I certainly wouldn't bother entertaining the possibility of changing the number of gears. Essentially buying a new transmission since you would need new derailleurs is just the start; I'm not sure if you would need to have the stays spread to increase the rear spacing (which isn't a complex procedure, admittedly), but 7-speed Shimano hubs do not (according to Sheldon Brown) accept other cassettes, so you would have to buy a new wheel. It could cost you the price of a reasonably nice new bike! I don't believe in 'the bike isn't worth it', but neither do I see much point in trying to make a bike something it fundamentally isn't. Upgrading to 7-speed STI would cost much less.

This is all assuming that your 7-speed is on a freehub and not a freewheel, though!

SenseiSpud

Shimano rsx came in 7 speed.

ar24

Thanks for the response.

I've found some second hand 7 speed shifters that I'm looking at.

They are RSX shifters and a pair of Sora shifters. What would you recommend I go for?

simon_masterson

ar24 wrote:

Thanks for the response.

I've found some second hand 7 speed shifters that I'm looking at.

They are RSX shifters and a pair of Sora shifters. What would you recommend I go for?

I'm assuming that the Sora shifters are probably newer. I have no idea which is a higher quality product, but I doubt that there's that much difference between them if there is. RSX is slightly more 'retro'-cool, though!

ar24

Simon Masterson wrote:

ar24 wrote:

Thanks for the response.

I've found some second hand 7 speed shifters that I'm looking at.

They are RSX shifters and a pair of Sora shifters. What would you recommend I go for?

I'm assuming that the Sora shifters are probably newer. I have no idea which is a higher quality product, but I doubt that there's that much difference between them if there is. RSX is slightly more 'retro'-cool, though!

Yeah the Sora shifters are newer.

As a beginner, do you think I would have to change anything else in order for these shifters to work on my 7 speed bike?

night_porter

Shimano are producing a NEW 7 speed STi for road bikes called ST-A070 they are fitted to a bike available in Halfords so I guess they are available to buy seperately.

Try reading about them here if you are interested http://www.madison.co.uk/productinfo.as ... f=STA070PA or here http://www.bikeradar.com/gallery/articl ... -33204/39/

SenseiSpud

From what I know, sora replaced rsx so they should be the same quality level.

ar24

night_porter wrote:

Shimano are producing a NEW 7 speed STi for road bikes called ST-A070 they are fitted to a bike available in Halfords so I guess they are available to buy seperately.

Try reading about them here if you are interested http://www.madison.co.uk/productinfo.as ... f=STA070PA or here http://www.bikeradar.com/gallery/articl ... -33204/39/

Thanks for the heads up! I guess I can wait until these are available than buying second hand ones!