Paul, Sorry to be late to the party.
That Specialized looks to be in decent condition. My thought was to lean into replacing just what is needed. In this case I would go with replacing the bars and shifters. The derailleurs that are on there probably will do just fine. Getting some 7 speed thumb shifters like Shimano SL-TX30 Tourney Thumb Shifter Set - 7 Speed or SHIMANO TOURNEY SL-TZ500 THUMB SHIFTERS as a set would work as a good replacement for the Rapid Fire shifters. Even doing Grip Shifters with a macro adjust front will be more intuitive. Is there a reason to swap out the standard cantilever brakes for linear pull ones? I would just as soon adjust then totally swap out. I have a set of Shimano 7 speed GS or whatever shifters. Have several sets I bought years ago from a local bike shop that closed. Modified a couple to correct design flaw in the cable stop. Drilled and threaded one for barrel adjusters and the other just used a stepped ferrule housing end. Thanks, Reginald Alexis On Saturday, November 26, 2022 at 5:03:26 PM UTC-6 Paul Clifton wrote: > What do y'all think about putting friction bar end shifters on Albatross > bars for a new rider? > > I'm just looking for opinions since I'm stumped on this build. > > My options are more-or-less indexed or friction 9 speed Microshift > thumbies, friction bar ends, or buy some rapid fire shifters. > > I (selfishly) want to keep the thumbies for a different build for myself. > And I'd have to buy a set of rapid fire shifters - which has its own > problems (derrailer/cassette mismatching ...). > > So I want to know - Do you think a new rider would be irritated by > friction bar ends? > > Here's the long story: > > I have a very short friend (4'11" - PBH is 72). If money and availability > were no object, I'd buy her a 45cm Clem and be done with it, but I can't do > that myself, and she'd never spend that kind of money on a bike (at least > not until she catches the biking bug from this bike I'm building her since > it'll be the first bike that's ever fit her). > > So my goal is to build a bike that fits her and is so fun to ride that > she'll want to ride bikes all the time and eventually just buy a Clem. > > I finally found a frame that will fit her. It's a tiny (41 cm) 90s > Hardrock step through with 26" wheels and Shimano 200ES drive train, which > is low end 90s 7-speed stuff. It has a triple crank that I will leave in > place (buttery smooth even after 30 years). Both derailers are in good > shape, but they're low end 90s stuff, so I doubt they feel great, but I bet > they'd work with friction just fine. It came with junky old rapid fire > shifters, so those are definitely getting replaced. > > I'm planning to put Albatross bars on this bike, so my quandary is about > the drivetrain. I'd like to use as many parts from my bin as possible, but > I can't decide which combo is gonna work best and be the most fun for a > timid rider. Buying new parts is no big deal, but I don't see the point in > spending a bunch of money in the event she doesn't ride it much, so here > are the relevant parts from my bin: > > - Rear wheel options - 7 speed cassette wheel with good cassette. > 8/9/10 speed wheel with no cassette. > - Shifters -Microshift 9 speed thumbies (I kinda want to keep these > for another build). Shimano bar ends that no longer index. > - Derailers - New Altus 8 speed RD. Old Sora 9 speed RD. Shimano 600ES > 7 speed RD. > > So here are my options: > > > 1. Keep the old 7 speed stuff. Friction bar ends or friction thumbies. > 2. Buy a new 8 speed cassette. Use the Altus RD from my box. Friction > thumbies or bar ends. > 3. Buy a 9 speed cassette and a 9 speed derailer. Indexed Microshift > thumbies. > 4. Buy a 9 speed cassette, derailer, and rapid fire shifter. The > Sunrace 9 speed stuff comes out to about $60 for the whole set up. > > I have a new 3x rapid fire shifter for the front, but I hate how those > shift, and I don't think I have a matching derailer - I can test the 200GS > FD that is on there, but I personally think friction front is the way to > go, and I definitely prefer a bar end for that over a thumbie, because the > leverage feels better to me. > > Since bar ends are just such a joy to use and have so much leverage, I > suspect the Altus derailer and a 8 or 9 speed cassette with a friction bar > end will be fantastic for her, but I'd love some second opinions, and since > it's winter, I'm sure there are plenty out there, so feel free to make blue > sky suggestions :) > > Here's the bike before I tore it down to grease everything[image: > signal-2022-09-20-09-24-24-645.jpg] > > Thanks, > Paul in AR > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. 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