Dawes Touring Frame Project

[RecordAceFromNew]

There are a few possibilities I think.

Presuming the current difficulty is the shift into the largest sprocket, there is a possibility that you are not using the full extent of the stem shifter's travel. If you can shorten the cable (by the clamp/adjuster at the rear mech) by say 3mm, I wonder if the stem shifter will still allow you to hit the smallest as well as the largest sprocket at the back by friction mode if the outer limit screw on the rear mech is loose?.

If the above does not allow both, then there are three possible solutions.

The first is if you don't need all the 8 ratios, and if the cassette allows it just swap the sprockets around so that the 8th is the one you don't need.

The second is if the Huret rear mech's shift ratio is not as high as Shimano's (which is 1.7, i.e. for every 10mm pull at the shifter it traverse the cassette by 17mm), then any Shimano rear mech may give you the full range. I don't know what the shift ratio of your Huret rear mech is, but Campag's is less than 1.7 so they definitely won't help.

The third is to adjust/modify the stem shifter to give you another few mm of cable pull there. The rear sprocket pitch of an 8 speed is 4.8mm, so only a couple of mm at the shifter would probably suffice.

 

[emulsifier12]

Following your advice on adjusting the cable etc I managed to get it to just select the 8th gear, but as soon as any pressure was put on the gears by riding it it would jump between 7 and 8.

I therefore bit the bullet and bought a cheap shimano tourney for £6 from Halfrauds. I set it up and it selected 1 - 8 with ease. There is about 7 or 8 degrees of movement available on the stem shifter still.

My conclusion : The old derailleur had a slightly different cable pull to lateral movement ratio to the shimano.

All sorted now, thanks for the replies. Now I can start looking for affordable shimano drop bar 8 speed sti's... anyone got any for about £50 they would like to sell me?

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

Have you established for sure that the V brakes you bought will work directly with drop bar brifters? Am asking only because most require too much cable pull brifters can provide.

If they do, as Crepello suggested earlier, for brifters an alternative is to use Campag 10 speed ergos - they have practically the same cable pull per click as 8 speed Shimano drop bar sti's (which are no longer made). I am mentioning this because you can get brand new Campag Xenon's for £50 a set here.

 

[loz]

8 speed stis are still available, google for "Shimano R500 shifters"

 

[just jim]

Have you established for sure that the V brakes you bought will work directly with drop bar brifters? Am asking only because most require too much cable pull brifters can provide.

Yup, I was thinking the same - I fitted "travel agents" on to the mini v-brakes I have on my Kaffenback and they work well.

 

[just jim]

Purely from an aesthetic point of view mind , you could put some bar-tape on those drops!

 

[emulsifier12]

Just Jim

I started this project as an exercise to see if it is possible to build a steelie for under £150 and as a technical challenge for me.
Thanks for the advice, but the foam padding feels great and it was FOC.
Travel agents are rather dear in comparison to what I have spent on the bike at about £35 - £40 for a pair. My preference would be to invest in dual pivot long reach callipers which work without the need for travel agents.

RecordAceFromNew
Thanks for the info on the campag sti's, well priced. Will definitely look into this as it is a third of the price of R500 shifters.

Has anyone used this combination of 8 speed shimano + shimano derailleur with 10 speed campag STI shifters? Do they work well once set up properly?

thanks for the replies.

 

[PpPete]

I've not tried it myself (yet) but it's a well documented "Shimergo" combination.
See this page.

My next "upgrade" is to get some 10 speed Campag shifters and put them on the Shimano drive train using the "Hubbub" cable routing.

 

[just jim]

I only mentioned travel agents because I noticed the v-brake set-up you have in the photo.
My second post wasn't advice either.

 

[emulsifier12]

Anyone know what kind of true type font the Dawes decals are made from. I have access to a vinyl cutter and want to make stickers for the bike. If you have the font or a graphic which can be imported into casmate pro (vinyl software) then that would be great. I saw a post started by Porky Pete, did you find the stickers (decals) or a font?

Just Jim
I am not very happy with the way the v-brakes work with the drop bar brakes. They tend to be a bit spongy and can suddenly become very sharp when you pull the levers. It also means the v-brakes have to be set very close to the rim in order for them to work well. That is why I was looking at the callipers. I could use the travel agents but they are more expensive than buying long reach callipers. Do you have v-brakes with travel agents? If so how do they work?

I am trying not to throw good money after bad... maybe that is too late...:troll:

 

[just jim]

I've tried the Dia-Compe v-brake specific aero-type brake levers (with v brakes) and they're not very satisfying - a bit weird seeing all that cable pulled through the lever, and as you've mentioned it still necessitated setting the blocks close to the rim.

For a touring bike I suppose it's good to have a some decent clearance in case you fall into potholes etc, and your on the road somewhere away from a bike shop (unless of course you know how to retrue a wheel which I dont )

On the kaffenback I have Tektro mini v brakes connected to tiagra sti levers, and in between are the travel agents.The difference was noticeable when I fitted them, and that satisfying stopping power you get with v brakes was there. I was able to get more clearance from the rim as well, so they pretty much behaved like v brakes do. The travel agents do collect grime, so they have to be kept clean.

 

[PpPete]

Decals....not a Truetype (or any other recognised font) according to my local expert who was very keen to help but admitted defeat after hours of searching every available resource.

I came to the conclusion that http://www.hlloydcycles.com/ were the answer.


Best of luck with the V-brakes....I know they work well if you have enough cable pull but I have an entirely irrational dislike of them.

 

[emulsifier12]

With a bit of help from my brother and some effort I made my own stickers/decals for the bike. See photos attached below :

 

[emulsifier12]

Just been out for a 20mile ride. My average speed is up from 12 m/h to 14.2 m/h on the new bike. Am very impressed, what have I been missing out on... I am getting used to the stem shifters and they are becoming very easy to use. I will keep using them for a while until the swmbo lets me spend more money on the bike again. Only fair as we are expecting in the next two weeks.

The saddle is a bit hard when I start riding but becomes comfortable after about 2 - 3 miles and is then great til the end of the ride which is opposite to what I am sued to as my hybrid's saddle is the other way around and I get saddle sore towards the end of the ride.

I never knew there were so many variables...

 

[just jim]

Which is a good way to see your project -over a longer period, where you make adjustments according to what you find out and want to spend. I like the decals - nicely done.