Friction gears

Banana.man

Hi. As you can probably tell from my username, I've just become the proud owner of a 1980s Raleigh Team Banana. It's in awesome condition but I do want to swap the wheels for something that will require less servicing.
The bike has friction gears and currently a 6 speed cassette.
Ebay has some good deals on wheels with 7,8,9 speed shimano hubs.
Will fitting a 7 or 8 speed cassette be compatable with the friction gears? and can you forsee any other compatability problems ? i.e. chainrings and chain!
GO BANANAS.....

Monty Dog

I'm not sure modern freehubs require less servicing - they're just a bit more robust. Your frame is likely to have a rear wheel width of 126mm, whereas modern road hubs are 130mm - as it is steel, you can spring it to fit, but cold-setting is likely a better long-term option. You'll likely be OK up to 8 speed - does depend on whether your rear mech has the range of movement - you can use a more modern mech if needed.

MichaelW

I went from 5 speed to 7 and from 126mm to 130mm with no issues. 8 should be fine.
8 speed uses the same chain as 5/6/7

Banana.man

Brilliant. Cheers guys.

cycleclinic

You may not have a mech that fits a mech hanger as you may not have a mech hanger. This will limit your mech choice.

126mm hubs are still available NOS, I stock them. 1050, XT M730 e.t.c. These hubs use UNglide freehubs which is not much use but 7 speed HG freehub bodies are also available NOS (again I have stock) so these are easily transplanted to create a 7 speed HG hubset with 126mm spacing. That would the best best but it would mean a handbuilt wheel. Spreading the stays will work but you cannot guarantee there will be enough clearance between the chain and stays in the smallest cog with rubbing. You will probably be restricted to a 11T small cog. I have run into these issue before sometimes it work and sometimes it does not.

Wheels for 126mm frames are very doable still.