Upgrading to modern components on an old frame.

bold seagull

So it seems my old '82 Holdsworth Special 531 frame can take a 35C tyre, and is not unlike a modern adventure bike setup.

What I want to know is, can I replace the bottom tube shifters with some lever shifters - what would I do with the cables? It has a 10 speed cassette on shimano wheels so it has the kit, just not the brazed on eyelits and guides.

Then the brakes are lacking some 'spring'. Can you replace the sprung metal bar at the back of the brakes? Obviously I have nice clearance for the tyres, and its just been over the South Downs which was great fun, so rather than spend £800 on a Genesis Crois de Fer, I reckon £100 or so spent on this bike could provide all I need...

frisbee

Dropout width at the back will be an issue, you might want to try tweaking the frame before you go to far.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/frame-spacing.html

simon_masterson

Why do you want to?

But you can obviously have the guides and bosses brazed on. There do exist, I believe, band-on adaptors that let you use braze-on levers on a frame that doesn't have bosses. Brakes-wise, you could get some modern brakes with the old style mount, or you could have your frame adapted to accept modern brakes.

bold seagull

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19723471#p19723471]Simon Masterson[/url] wrote:

Why do you want to?

But you can obviously have the guides and bosses brazed on. There do exist, I believe, band-on adaptors that let you use braze-on levers on a frame that doesn't have bosses. Brakes-wise, you could get some modern brakes with the old style mount, or you could have your frame adapted to accept modern brakes.

Cash flow really. I have a nice Bianchi road bike, and the Holdsworth is my run around. I've wanted to get out into the South Downs so have been toying with an adventure style bike or MTB. I then realised the Holdsworth frame can serve that 'adventure' bike purpose - only they didn't need to brand it that way back in those days.

So the reason is I could create a decent enough cross/adventure bike out of what I already have at a fraction of the cost of buying new.....I could then buy an MTB for example instead and have a road / adventure / mtb in the stable...

bold seagull

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19723467#p19723467]frisbee[/url] wrote:

Dropout width at the back will be an issue, you might want to try tweaking the frame before you go to far.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/frame-spacing.html

Drop outs are fine, takes the modern shimano wheel and 10 speed cassette fine. You can just see it in this pic...

simon_masterson

By far your easiest option if you don't want downtube shifting would be to go for an old-school cross setup w/bar end shifters, you could get modern indexed ones. It would fit in with the aesthetic. Nice frame, I have a Holdsworth made Claud Butler from the same era. I'd personally have no qualms about fitting canti bosses for braking as well.

bold seagull

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19723487#p19723487]Simon Masterson[/url] wrote:

By far your easiest option if you don't want downtube shifting would be to go for an old-school cross setup w/bar end shifters, you could get modern indexed ones. It would fit in with the aesthetic. Nice frame, I have a Holdsworth made Claud Butler from the same era. I'd personally have no qualms about fitting canti bosses for braking as well.

Thanks, thats a nice idea on the shifters. I suspect with a bit of ingenuity and cable housings it shouldn't be too hard to sort the cable paths out.

Not thought about getting canti bosses brazed on, would make hell of a difference to the current braking. Will have to make a few enquiries around the Brighton area on cost of doing that.

Bordersroadie

I can help you on the brakes, and the downtube cable guide.

I use my old 531 framed bike as a winter bike. I replaced the old centre-pulls with Tektro R559 extra deep drop brakes. With Koolstop Salmon pads, they are remarkably good, in fact far better than the Tektro short-drop brakes that I've used in the past. They are even better than my expensive Shimano R650 deep drop brakes on my modern winter bike, and that's saying something. Far easier and cheaper to get these than get braze-ons and canti brakes.

Their long drop model (as opposed to "extra" long drop) are model R359. You will need to measure the drop to establish which you need. Check Sheldon Brown website for guidance.

On the cable guide, although I've kept my downtube shifters I've made a better cable route by using the band you see in the picture which is actually designed to be used as a guide for STI type levers. I got it from SJS cycles, if you need details I'll try to dig it out for you.

If I were you I'd just keep the DT shifters, they work well and are lighter weight and beautifully simple, or go for bar-ends as has been suggested already.

Anyway, here's an image of my old bike to illustrate the above. Note the front brake is at the upper limit for the block track and the rear is mid-point, so you will need to measure both to figure which version of brakes you need. Also note the massive width-clearance of the calipers, a perfectly acceptable alternative to cantis, I'd say.

bold seagull

Bordersroadie - that is incredibly helpful, and I'm going to look into your suggestions.

Although my frame is structurally fine, it does have a dent in the top tube, and some owner before me trying to get a seat post out has misshapen the seat tube - so it's not a pristine vintage bike - hence I'm quite happy to shape it into a adventure like jack of all trades bike. I'm loving the pink paint job on yours above, very nice.

Bordersroadie

You're very welcome. The pink was a repaint to celebrate the birth of our first daughter a few years ago although the truth is I've just always fancied a pink bike after lusting after a Mercier pro bike many moons ago (in the 1970s)!

Let us know how you get on.

ovi

http://www.cxmagazine.com/gevenalle-gx-shifters-dynasys-shadow-plus-shimano-retroshift-levers

how about these

simon_masterson

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19724188#p19724188]ovi[/url] wrote:

http://www.cxmagazine.com/gevenalle-gx-shifters-dynasys-shadow-plus-shimano-retroshift-levers

how about these

Those look horrendous, but they don't look very ergonomic? I like downtube shifting best (friction or indexed), but I'd use bar-ends on drops before those.

bold seagull

Thanks for the links. A guy at my cycling club might be selling a Tiagra shifter set and rear mech which would sort me right out I think. I may get a quill stem adaptor and new stem so I can use a modern set of bars I've already got. I think I can then find a bottom tube ring bracket to act as a cable guide. This would make it a genuine adventure bike / winter trainer for me comparable to my other road bike.

It is hardly the purist thing to do with the old frame, I realise that, but for under £100 I'll end up turning it into a bit of kit I will get a lot out of. As said above, I love the frame, but cosmetically it isn't great.

itboffin

I've installed campag, shimano and sram on my steel 80s

9 then 10 speed campag worked perfectly sram rival needed me to cold set the rear dropouts but after that it's been faultless and is still on mine today. I could go 32c but run 28c slicks, its a beautiful ride and looks just as nice as my carbon bikes.

term1te

I've fitted 2015 Campagnolo veloce 10 speed onto a 1984 Moser frame earlier this year. Dead pleased with the result, my first ride on it was 205km of some of the best cycling I've ever had. Its not as light as a modern bike, and a bit flexy around the bottom bracket when you're wellying it up a hill, but for comfort, looks and basically charm, it can't be beaten. I built some new wheels, and bought the groupset in a sale, so for less than £400 (I already had the frame, saddle, etc.) I got a really nice new bike. Similar spec "new" steel bikes are going for closer to £2K.

You should have not problem converting the Holdsworth with some brifters and a band on adaptor where the down tube shifters where. I also have an old Claud Buttler that's been "upgraded" to 8 speed Shimano 600 brifters, off ebay, which I use as my everyday commuting bike. Swapping between that and my 10 speed bikes, to be honest I don't notice the difference with the gearing, so you may be able to get an 8 or 9 speed bargain to move to an integrated setup.

My son has an old 80s Peugeot, and simply changing the brake cables and outers transformed it from a death trap into a bike with really confident handling. He lives in Brighton now, and rides an (almost certainly fake ) Tommasini when over there, which we did up last year. Retro-modern is the way to go...

Good luck.

pinno

A few suggestoins for the cable routing?:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lovely-Vintage-Huret-Band-on-Chrome-Gear-Cable-Guide-Made-in-France-/171945381002?hash=item2808be4c8a:g:3NwAAOSw37tWAs11

and



http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/34-9mm-ALLOY-SEAT-COLLAR-CLAMP-BLACK-WITH-BRAKE-CABLE-GUIDE-BUILT-IN-RARE-ITEM-/201450513828?hash=item2ee762e5a4:g:zb8AAOxy7nNTPmCx



Suntour Downtube levers (indexed):



Converters, if you choose that route:



All on flea bay.