gears

[stephen.rooke]

hi guys, first post here,

last year i bought a cheap roadbike, its a muddyfox blade from tesco.

it has old fashioned gears with levers on the frame and not the handle bars. how hard would it be to modify it so they were on the handle bars.

any help would be apreciated

 

[Scilly Suffolk]

"Old fashioned"?!?!?!

I think you mean "tried & tested": real men reach between their legs to change gear...

 

[smokeysmoo]

It's not that it's hard, it's actually very easy, but it's not particularly cheap either. You need to consider if it's worth making that sort of investment in that particular bike. No offence but I wouldn't. I'd look at simply changing the bike, even you bought a used bike with modern equipment it could be less than converting your current bike.

 

[sackville d]

Hi Stephen,I really cant imagine how it could be done,never having seen adapters for mounting down tube shifters up there.And then, where would the cable run?Hmmm...

I reckon your best bet would be to find some used Shimano Sora STIs on eBay.Thats my 2 groats worth pal.All the Best

 

[cyberknight]

You would have to find some second hand sti shifters as the muddy fox is 7 speed block and the lowest new ones are 8 speed,new cables and the adaptors (name escapes me ) to replace the bit where your shifters are now .
Or the other choice would be a new wheel as i bet the gears on yours are the older screw on type rather than the newer cassette type then upgrade to shimano 2300 8 speed which all adds up.

Depends if you think the cost is worth it or would it make more economic sense to get a second hand bike off ebay , you can pick up a hardly used bike for less than £150 with better components or a brand new bike from decathlon ( triban 3) for £300 and sell the muddy fox?

 

[youngoldbloke]

There was a recent thread about just this, and the simplest most economic way of doing it is to fit bar end changers. Still not cheap - you will need (friction) bar end shifters, new gear cables and cable stops to fit onto the down tube lever bosses. Probably makes more sense to go for another bike.

 

[stephen.rooke]

thanks for the replys, i have been thinking of selling it, obviously its a low model and i think the biggest problem is the quality of the gears an not just the mechanism, i find it hard to do quick gear changes on it. i've not really cycled for years. i was considering selling and buying a hybrid or used road bike. i want to start cycling to and from work, its about 6 miles each way, but with some hills on the way back, dont want to make the wrong decision and get stuck with something i dont use like the muddy fox. if i get fit enough in the future i would like to do some long rides