Tundra_Man 

My old Panasonic had stem shifters as well, which I really didn't care for. They were in an awkward spot and I would sometimes smack them with my knee when climbing.

I thought about switching over to downtube shifters, which would address the knee-smack issue. After playing around with a friend's bike with downtube shifters I decided that while they were in a better location than the stem, they still were in an awkward spot to reach.

So, I took a gamble and bought some vintage Shimano bar-end shifters off of a person here on the forum. Let me tell you, this was the best upgrade I've ever done to a bike. The shifters are now in such a convenient spot that inside my first couple of miles I was changing gears without conciously thinking about where the levers were located. I absolutely love the bar-end shifting, and would recommend this option to anyone looking to change the shift location and aren't interested in the expense of brifters.

As a bonus, along with my Tektro brake levers I was able to run all of the cabling under my bar tape, which really cleaned up the look of the bike.

CJ C

thank you for the bar end shifter tip! am going to get those asap! just gotta find a sale or used ones.

the brakes wont change for me as i swear by the suicide levels, it has saved me many times in traffic.

monsterpile

If oyu go with bar end shifters keep in mind for price comparison that you can pretty much always get 8-speed Ultegra Bar end shifters (includes cables, housings and stops etc) on Amazon for $60-$65 and you can run them friction if you want.

CJ C

kool option, if i could grab them for 30 i will be all over it. just gotta search and wait for a deal. its all the matter of which will get to me more my cheapness or my annoyance.

I will say with the humidity this past couple days the Blade has been wonderfull, the extra few miles per hour gained with the same output helps with the wind cooling factor.

jasjones82

Hey CJ C,
Great work on the Spalding Blade. I have a question for you, I'm thinking of purchasing a used Spalding Blade for my daily commutes but I was wondering if I could install a rear rack with a basket on the back of the bike. Have you tried installing any racks on your spalding? Do you think it's feasible?
Thanks in advance for any advice you may have.

CJ C

it has the little holes on the frame for racks. but only a rear rack, the fork doesn't have these. so a rear rack is absolutely feasible.

for me i use a messenger bag for my stuff as i have a rack on my other bike and find it way easier and quicker to use a bag. now if my commute was 10+ miles one way i would switch to a rack.

i was about to buy a topeak rack with the mtx medium bag and mtx basket because i thought it would work with an older topeak rack i have on the other bike. but because they are not compatible with the older racks i bought a messenger bag instead at tjmaxx for $15.

Tundra_Man 

I got my used shifters for $40 including shipping.

One thing to factor in on your budget is new shift cables and housings, as the existing ones are probably cut too short to work with the bar end shifters. The cables need to be long enough to follow the whole length of the drop bars. In my case, a standard 2000cm cable wasn't quite long enough to reach the rear deraileur. A 2100cm cable would have been tight, but probably would have worked. Unfortunately, the two LBS's I stopped at didn't have the 2100 cables in stock. I wound up buying a 3000cm cable intended for a tandem and cutting off quite a bit. Paid a bit more than I would have just ordering a 2100 online, but I was impatient and wanted to get my bike rolling again.

Also factor in the cost of new bar tape.

jasjones82

Funny enough, I was thinking about buying the topeak rack also. I haven't bought the spalding blade as yet because I didn't want to buy a bike that doesn't take a rear rack. So thanks a lot for the info, now I feel more confident about making the purchase. The person is selling it for $95, do you think that's a good deal for a used spalding blade?

monsterpile

This is why the new ones might not cost much more than used ones if you don't get cables and housing with them. I am pretty cheap, but If I wanted bar end shifters I would just order those new ones. There are probably deals on used shifters and if you you just run friction you can get away with cheaper cables, but the nicer cables and housings that come with those shifters are nicer. Hopefully you fine a great deal on some used ones since $65 can sometimes be the cost of a used bike. =)

CJ C

$95 bucks is good for *any bike in working order, around me old schwinns are starting at $185. but if you find a bike that you really like but doesnt have eyelets for a rack you can always go with a seat post rack thing.

CJ C

Monster and tundra,

thank you's i forgot about the cables and bar tape to be purchased. Thats another expense. well everything works now and i have time on my hands to wait for a good deal to pop up. If nothing shows up i just might spring for the package deal.

I still may just leave it as is, i do see a fancy road bike in my near future man this gets addictive.

Kanegon

sorry to resurrect an old thread but just had to chime in, since there's a spalding in my area CL for $75. If you're still in love with it, you can probably get a used Sugino SuperMaxy which was the first totally affordable mass market alloy crank on the market (late 70s?) to replace the steel cotterless it's got now. huge weight saving and upgrade in shifting and pedaling feel and performance, especially with alloy chainrings. the most important thing to keep in mind is that even with the most elegant vintage hi-ten frame, lugs and all, it still won't ever be a sub 25lbs class cromolly wonder, so be careful to not over invest. that said, the late 80s was the golden era of cheap high performance steel and components, so the temptation is understandable. I rode the same mid 70s Puch hi-ten with early 80s components for almost 25 years, oblivious to the extra weight. (heck, just the lock I use in Brooklyn weighs 6lbs so it's kinda moot...)

CJ C

So far still rolling on the original parts, put many more miles on it. broke a pedal, wheels wont stay tru (well i am 230lb), snapped a chain, bars keep coming loose.

i still love it and will keep it as long as its willing to roll, but a fancy road bike is in my near future so it may not see as many miles.

Tropic_Blunder

Excellent restore! Maybe even better than the Original?

BladeRunner45

I know i'm years late, but i recently got a Spalding Blade for 45 dollars. And I'm shocked how fast this bike is. Looking forward to customizing my bike and your as inspired me to do so.

BladeRunner45

Yes that looks good.

e0richt

skipping is probably caused by wear... if you change the chain, you should change the cogs cluster.

colahen

How did you change out the derailleur? I have the same bike, converting to cafe cruiser and trying to swap from Shimano SRS to Dura-ace just to ensure better, cleaner shifting.