bicycale

Hi all.

I'm fixing up another old Hybrid and I'm after some opinions.

This one I'm working on is a 1993 (I think) Univega Via Carisma and I have a couple options on hand with some different equipment from this bike and a 1995 Univega Activa Trail.

I bought both to see which I preferred and I'm going to keep the Carisma, and I have some brake calipers, freewheel, and rear rim decisions to make.

Any opinions on which components are superior are appreciated.

Brake caliper choices are either Shimanos or Dia Compe. I think the shimanos are Exage if there was an Exage caliper in the groupset. The Carisma compoments are mostly Exage but I can't see any group name on the calipers it just says Shimano Japan.

The other caliper choice is Dia Compe XCM.

The XCM calipers seem like tanks and I love how they handle the pad adjustment. But they have no adjustment set screw and I'm sure they're heavier than the Shimanos.

The Shimanos don't seem to be as easy to pad adjust with but they are very sleek and they have the set screw i like for brake fine-tuning.

Next decision is the freewheel.
I'm not worried about tooth count (which is different) I just want to know if one is better quality with better longevity.

One is a Suntour AP (that's all I can make out) and the other is a Hyperglide with no model info.

My rear rim options are an Araya PX-45 or an ETRTO Alloy 622x19 DIN. This last one is a wheel I've never heard of. It seems very nice but ot seems heavy, and it doesn't appear to be seamless fabrication as there is a visible break in the rim that appears part of its design but the wheel is true and in good shape unless the seam isn't supposed to be visible. The hub for this rim says "sealed mech. " and its model # is FH-HG20.

I'll get some pics up tonight and any help or advice is appreciated.

Thanks all!!

Shimano caliper from rear

shimano caliper from front

Dia Compe from front

Dia Compe from rear

ERTRO wheel

ERTRO seam

ERTRO seam from side

Side seam closer

DorkDisk

Brakes: They sound like cantilevers. XCM was a Suntour model; Suntour was a grouping of several companies, Dia-Compe made the brakes. Many Suntour cantis use a cone wrench for spring tension, others had one screw in one arm to adjust. They're both about the same, either works. Koolstop pads for either (RIP Richard Everett) and run the Diacompe cable hanger instead of the Shimano fixed rod for either.

Cassette: Suntour AP (Accushift Plus) and Shimano FH-HGXX (HyperGlide) are cassettes, not freewheels. Suntour cassettes are hard to get, so I would use a Shimano hub. What shifters are you using?

Edit: the bottom rim is a nicer rim, hopefully it has the shimano freehub laced to it. They use pinned connections, which is a very basic connection. Mavic's welded and machined SUP would come later and on higher end rims.

bicycale

Hey thanks for the reply.

The brakes are cantis. Thanksd for the pad recommendation too.

So you were right that the Hyperglide rig is a cassette but the rear hub is so thin I thought it was freewheel. Not sure what freehub is on it but I'll keep you posted. The suntour cogwheel however is freewheel and I know cuz i already have it off for cleanup and it's freewheel. I also realized I have access to a Shimano Parallax Altus hubbed wheel as well. Which of those 3 options do you thyink is the best for longevity & ease of finding gears for it down the road?

Shifters will either be orignial rapidfire exage shifters that came on the Carisma (I cleaned them out and they work perfectly now) or new shimano ST-EF51 brake /shifter combos for canti brakes that I bought a couple years ago and never used on anything yet. The exage shifter barrel adjuster seems to interfere with anything but very flat handlebars so if I use anything with a rise I'll go with the new combo stuff as it seems to fit everything.

Thanks again!

DorkDisk

So Shimano shifters for 7 sp. Any of those hubs will do; freewheels are still made, and either shimano hub will work. However, choosing a freewheel over freehub is not wise here, and the parallax hub will have a higher probability of being an 8 sp freehub, which means that you can go to 11* speeds. If it is not, I'd go with the skinny hubs as they have less seal drag and look nicer IMO.

On the old skinny hubs, a bulge on the drive side of the shell body towards the center means that it is a freehub. Parallax hubs only have a larger hub body for stiffness and looks but the freehub is the same as on the skinny hubs: either 7 or 8sp.

Yes, some pre 98-ish shifters do not play well with riser bars.

bicycale

Wow you're full of info. I love hobbyist sites...

Okay the Parallax hub is 7 spd. It's on the 95 GT Arette I'm riding now. The whole reason I bought this Carisma is for the fun of overhauling it of course, but I also think I may prefer the geometry of the Univega better than my GT and I might just move the Arette along once the Carisma is all done. I've had the Arette for years, I really like it and it's in fantastic cosmetic shape but hey, variety is the spice of life. The Via Carisma is a lighter bike, has some features I like and rides very comfortably for my body.

The only problem is that the finish on the Univega is pretty rough compared to my near-cherry GT. If I end up keeping the Carisma long-term I would consider having it repainted. I'd never get the 200 bucks back if I sold it but if it was a keeper it might make me happy...

Here's my 95 GT Arette...

DorkDisk

Your bike is from when GT was a top brand.

FYI, your crank was recalled; Shimano still honors it. Take it to your LBS they will throw you a new Tourney crank. It will not have the funky close ratio gears that crank had.

bicycale

Excellent heads up on the recall-TYVM.

Yeah GT used to throw down some great stuff. In 93 I had my MTB choices down to a GT Karakoram and the Jamis Diablo I ended up buying (and still have). It was a close call.

This Arette is a very decent bike but it was the low end of their hybrids at the time and it's a skosh heavy, and while it has served me well i'll move it along if something intriguing comes along.

Enter the Via Carisma I'm fooling with. I got it super cheap, and while it has some cosmetic scuffs and scrapes, the bike is mechanically 100% and all the components are good to go. It even has new tires so the bike was almost free.

I'm getting ready to do all the cables and play around with stems and handlebars to dial the bike in and then decide if I like it better than my Arette and then sell the 2nd place finisher.

And since I'm selling the other bike I won't have access to its parts for future changes. That's why I want to keep the rear wheel that make the most sense long term.

The wheels sets I am choosing between are as follows:

The joytech hubs on Araya PX-45 rims. These are in fantastic shape and have the sweet thin axles and, like you mentioned, look the best but its a freewheel.

The stuff that came on the Carisma is the hyperglide cassette on an unidentified freehub mated to a ETRTO rim and an Araya PX-45 front rim with a joytech hub like the first set.

Then I have the stuff off the GT I can switch out which is Araya PX-35 wheels with the Altus Parallax Rear already discussed with a matching front rim with a hub with no markings but in great shape.

So ultimately my question now is which wheel set is best for the future if any. It just seems harder and harder to find things to fit older bikes as time goes by and if I ever get too bored I could see myself going with a 1x? Setup someday as well.

Anyway I appreciate all you input. Thanks much

bicycale

Here are some more pics

This is the hub that came on the Via Carisma. Shimano maybe?

This is the Carisma after strip down. It has the freewheel set that came off an Activa Trail that I'm selling once equipment is sorted

bicycale

More pics

Activa Trail I'm selling and its wearing rje wheels that came on the Carisma

joytech front originally on Carisma

ETRTO rear wheel from the Carisma with the freehub and hyperglide cassette

hokiefyd 

The FH-HG20 hub is definitely a Shimano hub, yes. I like their part number syntax...the first two letters before the dash signify the parts family. FH = Free Hub. RD = Rear Derailleur. Etc. The alphanumeric after the dash usually indicates the "line" or "group" of the parts (although the syntax on the right side of the dash is definitely looser). They used to be more consistent (like RD-MC31 or FH-HG20), but this has grown over time (to numbers like FD-M310 and RD-M4000, etc.).