old bike, new gears

[busdennis]

hi folks
i have been using an old reynolds 531 frame as a fixie for about a year and i really like the frame fit
i would like to buy another frame, strip it down and build it up as a fast road bike, 1 chain ring up front, 52t like my fixie and a small compact cassette on the rear

i would like a modern gear changer up on the handle bars, is this possible?

 

[sidevalve]

Can't see any probs at all. Just pick a set of gears / shifters that work together join 'em up with a suitable cable and off you go.If the frame has suitable cable mountings in place it really is that simple, even if not they are easy to fit as clamp on items.

 

[gwhite]

If the frame is an old one then the rear spacing is likely to be 126mm which might be too narrow for a nine or ten cassette. Something to watch out for when re-furbishing. It's always possible to cold set the rear spacing to accommodate a wider cassette of course.

 

[gbb]

Quite do-able with bits to watch out for. As GWHite says watch the dropout spacing. Another thing is if you use a frame that had old 27 inch wheels, you will need long drop calipers. Also, does having a single chainring up front give you a poor chain line across the extremes of the 10 speed cassette?

 

[TheDoctor]

People run 8 or 9 speed cassettes with a single chainring, and a 10 is marginally narrower, so it should run fine. I've been using 7 speed with one chainring for yonks with no problem.

 

[busdennis]

thanks for the help
this bike will only be used for short blasts on flat roads so a 5 or 6 speed cassette will been fine, its going to be a bit of a "poor mans" TT bike

 

[Andrew_Culture]

If it was really old would you be in danger of the fittings being in Imperial?