ChumlyPogward wrote:... someone give me a new cassette for it, that one is a bit too worn for me to get the power down without jumping...

Fit a 42T big ring and go full hamster for a year or two until the wear equalises. The 42T will be running on it's unworn side, so double win.

You might be able to flip that worn Sachs/Maillard 17T sprocket, I don't expect other brands would fit. A modern chain might still change OK on it, if not some grinding of the teeth is called for.

Don't chuck it out! It has an uncommon extractor which I probably have, but I don't have that brand of sprockets in my treasure box of rooted clusters.

It is a pain with different freewheel spline sizes and and extractors but a worn Suntour cluster might have a lot more life left in it than a brand new HyperGlide cluster, and you get to pick your ratios and feel joyful using it.

I put a new chain on in the weekend + some much less worn idler cogs, this improved it to the point of basic rideability, but standing up on the pedals isn't good.

I got a bike shop to remove the cluster so I could check the bearings and axles, it looked like a bog standard threaded fitting before I refitted it (just so I could take it for a ride )

Are you meaning that there is a screw on cluster fitting that uses the modern removable/splined sprockets....? I would be pretty keen for that, This is a bit too close ratio for my level of fatness, so would be good to pick and choose.

Edit, are you also saying that if I had the tools I could unscrew the cassette sprockets and flip them over, thus getting wear out of the other side of the teeth...?

Here's the lowdown on freewheels & clusters:
http://sheldonbrown.com/freewheels.html
http://sheldonbrown.com/k7.html

Before flipping, consider whether just grinding off the hooks that have developed on the worn teeth would help matters. That's a lot less complicated.

Make sure you don't pull the guts of the freewheel apart by mistake, they are hard to get back together. (Tip: Grease up then refrigerate to thicken the grease before the critical bit where the balls all fall out)

A screw-on cluster that can take modern cassette sprockets can not exist because the ratchet takes up too much room. For this reason 6/7 speed (i.e. 31mm not 36mm) cassette hubs are desirable, especially ones with HyperGlide splines (Sheldon says you can cut the HG spline yourself, I haven't done it). They are worth salvaging from a dead wheel, along with the matching cones & seals, and likely a good CrMo axle.

Flipping older individual sprockets can be pure win, but more modern ones like yours have shifting enhancements. Check that the spline allows flipping, then consider grinding the teeth a bit before reassembling. It doesn't need to be even or precise, just copy the rough shape.

ChumlyPogward wrote:My new weekend warrior build from an early 80s Raleigh Rapide - still needs a new chain and bar tape etc, and I think the back hub is bent which may be an issue.. but I think it looks pretty shmick.

Very cool. Was it like that when you got it, or did you have it done - copper?

Could I afford it? not really.
Do I regret buying it? Not on your Nelly


Only things left on the wish list is a repaint of the forks & new brakes.

Lamb dressed as mutton?

yak71 wrote:Very cool. Was it like that when you got it, or did you have it done - copper?

It looked like this 3 weeks ago, I wasn't going to mess with when I bought it but there was way too much rust when I stripped it, and it needed a new headset so I thought sod it, I may as well go the full bling.

The Arrival of offspring #2 has somewhat curtailed my slush fund for all things velo so sadly I'm going to be rocking the same - any color as long as its black stable as last year...

wuffy wrote:Lamb dressed as mutton?

here you go :
www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=denile

Here are my toys:

2012 Litespeed Cohutta:


2011 Niner Air Nine Carbon:


2006 Litespeed Tanasi:

Old bike with a new lease on life. Only ridden it up and down the drive so far. Got the next 2 days off so can hit Wainui and Makara while my daugther is at school.

Built this up towards the end of last year and have been enjoying getting back into MTB this year. The frame was from Freddy at Bikeys in Gisborne



And this is the start of a replacement singlespeed commuter

piemanpete wrote:Built this up towards the end of last year and have been enjoying getting back into MTB this year. The frame was from Freddy at Bikeys in Gisborne

Bamboo? Choice!

what does a bamboo frame feel like to ride?!

The bamboo rides quite nice, notice a bit of flexing when I am on the road heading out to the trails but otherwise rides like any other hard tail. My last MTB I had was a Giant ATX 890 about 6 years ago so don't really have anything recent to compare it to