Upgrading my gears??

Newbie28

Hi All

I have been riding a little now on my Viking Sprint 14 speed bike. I want to get more gears on the bike but upgrading the whole groupset will be way to expansive and i may as well just buy another bike for around the same amount. My question is can I put a 8 or 9 speed cassette on my bike, or do i have to change the whole groupset?

Thanks in advance for your help!!

hipshot

I have upgraded from 8 to 9 in the past. You would possibly have to change your shifters, chain and rear derailleur as well as the cassette.

If you've got the money just upgrade the whole bike, it just isn't worth the hassle on a budget frame IMO.

charlie_potatoes

hipshot wrote:

If you've got the money just upgrade the whole bike, it just isn't worth the hassle on a budget frame IMO.

+1

I would save up and buy a new bike in the spring. I'd keep the Viking as a winter hack/commute?

Ouija

hipshot wrote:

I have upgraded from 8 to 9 in the past. You would possibly have to change your shifters, chain and rear derailleur as well as the cassette.

If you've got the money just upgrade the whole bike, it just isn't worth the hassle on a budget frame IMO.

Probably have to switch out his back wheel as well, because if road bikes are anything like mountain bikes 7 speed uses different hubs to 8/9/10 speed (freewheel vs freehub).

simon_masterson

It's worth more than the bike is: new rear wheel, rear derailleur, chain, shifters... Why do you think you need more gears anyway?

gpreeves

I found I had the same problem on my first road bike I bought last year. As Hipshot says, you'll have to change part of the groupset - your shifters, rear mech and chain will almost certainly be 7-speed and therefore incompatible with a 9 speed cassette. If you're finding that you need a higher/lower gear you could possibly buy a different 7-speed cassette. Have a look on Ebay/the classifieds on here - it may be possible to get what you need fairly cheaply. Having said that, I'd thoroughly recommend doing what I did and upgrading to a nicer bike if funds will allow. If you're willing to go second hand there are some absolute bargains out there.

Newbie28

Simon Masterson wrote:

It's worth more than the bike is: new rear wheel, rear derailleur, chain, shifters... Why do you think you need more gears anyway?

It not the gears that are annoying me but the shifters, its a really nice bike to get going on and im not going to be doing any serious sportives or anything like that, Viking put these annoying handlebar shifters on and ideally i would like to put 7 speed integrated shifter and brake levers on. The problem being that trying to find a 7 speed shifter like the shimano sti's, flight deck or anything alike is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. I have found one set that is for a 7 speed cassette with a triple chainset but im not sure that this would work. Everytime i stand up to go up a hill my knee knocks the current shifter changing the gears in the middle of a hill climb.

I hope this all makes sense.

To all the others thanks for all your comments

simon_masterson

Newbie28 wrote:

Simon Masterson wrote:

It's worth more than the bike is: new rear wheel, rear derailleur, chain, shifters... Why do you think you need more gears anyway?

It not the gears that are annoying me but the shifters, its a really nice bike to get going on and im not going to be doing any serious sportives or anything like that, Viking put these annoying handlebar shifters on and ideally i would like to put 7 speed integrated shifter and brake levers on. The problem being that trying to find a 7 speed shifter like the shimano sti's, flight deck or anything alike is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. I have found one set that is for a 7 speed cassette with a triple chainset but im not sure that this would work. Everytime i stand up to go up a hill my knee knocks the current shifter changing the gears in the middle of a hill climb.

I hope this all makes sense.

To all the others thanks for all your comments

Shimano RSX levers would presumably work, and those come up on eBay all the time. I cannot vouch for whether or not you could fit them without cable guides, however.

Newbie28

Simon

This is what I had in mind

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/150950900583? ... 1423.l2649

or would the RSX be better? there is a set available in the same combination 7-3

Thanks for your help once again

hipshot

Any Shimano 7 spd Shifters should work in terms of indexing, don't spend too much on them. You may need new cables to reach too.

If you aren't mechanically minded I'd recommend asking an LBS to do it.

Bear in mind that if you get serious about cycling you will upgrade the bike anyway.

simon_masterson

Newbie28 wrote:

Simon

This is what I had in mind

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/150950900583? ... 1423.l2649

or would the RSX be better? there is a set available in the same combination 7-3

Thanks for your help once again

RSX is fairly well regarded; I don't think you'd be going wildly wrong either way. Personally I would be mindful of not spending more money than the bike demands, and it's only shifting anyway!

drlodge

8 speed Sora shifters will work with a 7 speed cassette, since the sprocket spacing is almost identical 5mm compared to 4.8mm. You can't upgrade from 7 to 8 speeds, 7 speed bikes will have 126mm OLN rear hub, 8 speed requires 130mm.