nancyj

I am slowly rebuilding our old Mike Melton Tandem with the realization that state of the art in 1980 is not as good as a budget tandem today -there has been a real evolution in tandem design and without a drum brake or disk brake option (we WERE going to put the Phil Wood brake on it but that particular brake turned into a catastrophe) I feel a bit limited in what we wil do with it anyway. If we really get back into it again, we will probably spring for something newer and better but in the meanwhile..................as is, we had a lot of fun on the bike and will keep it for the memories and it is artwork in its own right.

I am shooting for the low hanging fruits to make it a more pleasurable ride and one of my not so fond memories was the old friction shifters, particuarly with the 7 speed cog (this is a threaded freewheel on a still very nice Phil wood hub) on the back.

I had a simple cross over pattern with 11-28 on the back and 32/42/52 on the front (TA Cyclotourist) and don't want to get into changing too much - in terms of gearing but would want to find some derailleurs that would work better - the back was more of an issue as I recall than the front and I think some of our problems were long cable, and non indexed shifting.

I understand fitting a derailleur to work well with the TA may be more of a challenge? We did not have too many issues with chainring or frame flex though maybe because we were spinners and had it set up with the cranks out of phase 90 degrees. I guess based on living with the old systems, I learned not to shift under pressure either (if these things make a difference in selection)

Any suggestions if a reasonably priced indexed derailleur system would work for this? We will probably put flat bars on the bike this go round and I would love bar mounted shifters.

I was always the crossover queen and set up my cogs for nice even shifts using that pattern, so this is not a half-step with a granny configuraiton that was more common to triples of the time. Chain angle stresses on the system were not as great as with some other shifting patterns but, of course, I had fewer usable gears that way. I am fine with staying with that for this bike.

Oh, all of my experience was with the old downtube mounted friction systems (ha and I still have a Campy Rally POS on my Paramount that I can shift flawlessly) so the idea of something that has defined stops for shifting sounds pretty cool to me but it is something I have zero experience with. I still believe part of the problems we had with the Melton were the length of cables required for shifting and possible stretch and then putting them on a downtube was a bit scarier to shift on a tandem than a road bike.

Torchy McFlux

Can't go wrong with early-90's Shimano equipment. (eg. M550, M560, M650, M730, M735) It was abundant, and DX or LX level stuff works just as well as the XT of that era - they just weigh slightly more. You'll need to make sure your freewheel is Shimano SIS compatible though. SunTours and others had wonky spacing that won't work well with index shifters.

nancyj

Aaaargh - I left my wheels in for a good truing job - I am thinking it was Sun Tour but I could be wrong. I will see when I get them back.

badamsjr

One thing that MAY help with your shifting: new cables/casings. New casings that are lined/coated inside with a low-friction material might be a big help in easing your rear shifting woes. Jagwire makes pretty good ones, and there are kits from a few manufacturers. You would just have to be sure they were long enough for a tandem.
I have bought bulk casing from Loosescrews.com, so you could get whatever length you need, and find tandem cables.

nancyj

Sounds like a good idea - I had already figured new cable was in order ( I am taking my time doing it myself - I put the tandem together in the first place and am sending back the BBs to Phil Wood for some overhaul as they are a bit gritty) ....... I would pull and grease the freewheel anyway and a new one, even an old threaded 7 speed, is not going to break the bank (but then I would be looking at the chains too, perhaps - at least I had the foresight to remove, clean, and oil, and bag up before putting the tandem in storage)

badamsjr

You say "am sending" about the BB's. If you have access to a hydraulic press, you can replace the bearings yourself. At least, the cartridge bearing Wood BB's. I have switched mine out for Enduro Hybrid ceramics, and they are smoooooth!

fuzz2050

If you want smoother shifting, I'd suggest changing out the freewheel for a more modern version. The fancy computer designed teeth do make a difference in shifting effort. Combine that with a more recent derailer (shimano mountain are always nice), and some nice modern cables, and it should shift pretty well, even with your downtube shifters.

fietsbob

Thing about TA cyclotourist Crankarms is the gap between th chainring and the inside face of the crankarm
is the narrowest in the Bike Biz

Somebody at CSPC decided people coulds get hurt by the front edge of front derailleur cages, so as soon as the decree was handed down,
all manufacturers rounded off the front of their Derailleur cages..
bulbs and dimples.

But that took up space, that if using a TA crankset, was already limited.

Sooo, the Idea is use Pre CSPC front derailleur types . They have a flat outer plate of their derailleur's cages
And set the outer limit screw on the FD so it wont hit the inside face of said crankarm.

Modern ones have added a number of other engineered non flatnesses , those are nice.
but only on Modern Cranksets.

nancyj

Yes - I need to pick up the wheels next week and then if it is not a Shimano freewheel with he right teeth (I will ask) I will locate a new one realizing there are going to be some limitations in what is out there threaded - may go ahead and figure out the gearing options in advance. Sounds like I may need to stick with my FD - will go dig out of the box but that was working pretty well as it was.........though indexed *would* be nce..........

Changing out on the cranksets may be where I draw the line though if another brand could fit on the same spindle may be worth looking into for just the crank arm bearing the chainrings............would be a funky mismatch but mayb be able to find something like that on ebay. Will definitely have to see if that is doable - i dont want to go so far on this bike as to replace the both cranksets completely.

I don't have a bearing press.....or access anymore and the LBS says not Phil Wood experience (may check with another one).

Boy it is brual out there today.