7 Speed - 8 Speed

[50 Mission Cap]

Hey,

I'm commuting w/ an old bridgestone MB-1 - see below - I've got some old school suntour stuff on it - 7 speed thumb shifters. I know many people consider them the bomb, but they are really not my style. Really want to get some index shifters... what exactly will I need to do? 7 speed shifters are pretty hard to find, am I going to have to swap out my rear wheel, derailliure and go w/ 8 speed stuff? Thoughts???

Cartier

[rockyrider]

presto alakazam! cheap 7 speed rapid fire style shifters (http://www.universalcycles.com/shopping/product_details.php?id=857&category=772).

[Browne]

yeah, that switch from 7 to 8 speed would be costly...

wheel
cassette
chain
shifters
front chainrings (cause it's silly to replace the 'train without doin the rings too...)

[50 Mission Cap]

Would those 7 speed shifters work with an old suntour rear deraillure?

[Browne]

I recall Suntour and Shimano being incompatible.

[tryandgetme]

7 speed derailleurs are cheap too

[SynicGeek]

If it's got the Suntour cassette hub, you'll have to replace it anyway to get a Shimano 7 speed cassette installed.
If you really like it, for whatever reason, strip it down and replace everything. If it's a pure work bike, I'd go Shimano Nexus 8...if you can't handle a single.

[50 Mission Cap]

I'd love to SS it. Love the simplicity. Just not sure if I could handle it. I live in Kansas City, and there are some insane hills to and from my work. Would love to try though....

[longhaultruker2]

heck,all ya gotta do to try is pick the approx. ratio you think you'd wanna run,shift into those gears,ride yer commute w/out shifting:D .the main diffrence is just gunna be a little weight/drag...if you like it then you'll know if you want to convert to ss.every now and then,we get a run (hsn:roanoke,va-kc,mo-2 stops around la,ca)thru there,if you see a big blue '07 peterbuilt that says "hardy brothers" on the door (truk #727),wave and i'll honk the horn at ya:D

[rockyrider]

According to Sheldon Brown (http://sheldonbrown.com/k7.html#spacing) the Suntour 7 speed cassettes had spacing that varied between 4.8mm to 5.0mm depending where they were on the cassette (http://www.yellowjersey.org/STCASS.JPG)!?!?!

But HG-70 7 speed cassettes are cheap (http://www.universalcycles.com/shopping/product_details.php?id=237&category=42) if you wanted to put a Shimano cassette on it to work with those 7 speed triggers. There's also a grip shift (http://www.universalcycles.com/shopping/product_details.php?id=8414&category=773) option.

The rear hub will only be 130mm wide so there's no cheap/easy 8 speed option.