Friction to index
 

Thinking of doing a slight upgrade to my Schwinn Cruiser. When new it was a 1 X 5 friction shift with (sub?) entry level Suntour. It shifts well, but I often ride it in traffic and would like to have it shift a bit faster and have a bit more flexibility in gearing. Sorry IGH is out too expensive for a entry level bike such as this. So I'd like to convert it to indexing either 1 X6 or 1x7. I was thinking of getting a deore six speed rear shifter ( Deore SL-MT60 ) and replacing the 5 speed freewheel with a 6 speed or an Altus Shimano M310 Shifter seven such as this : Aultus 7 speed shifter pod and replace the rear freewheel with a 7-speed.. Has anyone tried this? Is it feasable??

It can be done but will be expensive as you need to replace the full drive train. 7 speed is wider so new rear wheel or hub, 6/7 speed index derailleur, 6/7 speed index free wheel and 6/7 speed shifter. I changed 2 Dahon Board Walk bikes like this from 6 to 7 and it ended up costing about $50+ per bike. In my case the replacement was from 6 to 7 and the reason was the 6 speed stuff was worn out and very hard to find. The 7 speed parts were actually cheaper. Roger

index is smarter than i am, so i usually take index off when i can and switch to friction. in your case it would make switching the gearing easier if you already have friction shifting, pretty much just change the cluster to the 6 or 7 speed you want. the only other problem there could be if the range is too much wider you may need a longer cage rear derailleur, but if so you'd need it for either shifter.

as you have somewjhat discontinued old components ..
 

you may re consider a new back wheel , with an internal gear hub then the handle bar lever

will have a range of several distinct gear ratios , NB: shimano 3 speeds are not that pricey

syncronoizing the clicks in the lever with the cable pulled action on the wheel in the back..

which is in essence what indexed shifting is..

and the gears inside will not wear down so quickly, being oiled or greased inside the hub casing.


Basically, all 3 .. freewheel rear derailleur and shift lever have to work together ...


5 , 120 wide axle (frame gap) 6th needed 6 more, 7th , things got thinner to fit in place of 6,

8 needed 10mm more width than 5








..

Seven-speed is right out, as others have pointed out, since a 7-speed freewheel won't fit in the space that the 5-speed does. You might be able to get a 6-speed in there, which is common, since a lot of 5-speed bikes have a lot of extra room between the small sprocket and the frame. You may have to add a 2-3mm spacer on the axle, but that's not a game-ender.

for a 6-speed, any Shimano derailleur up to 8-speed would work, as long as it's SIS compatible. You can find a brand-new 7-speed Tourney for ~$12, but anything would do.
Finding a 6-sp shifter might prove troublesome, since it hasn't been a common setup for about 20 years, except in the cheapest of cheap bikes. You could use a 7-speed shifter and just not use the last 'click'

13 to 34 t 5 speed freewheel a basic RD with built in mount that goes under the axle nut, and a index thumb shifter

may be found, bike shops have repair resources, for fixing older bikes, that most online sellers have abandoned long ago..

Actually, It it turned out to be inexpensive. . Replaced my freewheel with a 6 speed Shimano compatible and then replace the shifter with a Shimano 6 Speed revo-shift and used the stock derailleur. Once the shifter broke in, it shifted slicker than snot . This is a temporary setup, my long term plan is to convert the bike to an 8 speed IGH as I accumulate the parts to build the new wheels.