Crack

So long story short, I am tired to find modern Cro-mo frames due to their ridiculous price.
But still very into have Cro-mo frame as my second bike.
So, I found a Bridgestone 600 in eBay, looks nice but one concern is I am not good at thumb shifter in the downtube.
Is it available to use STi lever for that bike? like tourney (2x7)?
And is that frame compatible with modern wheels like the fulcrum race series?

Please let me know your valuable opinion and inputs.
Thank you

Mr. 66

All should work fine, if that is what you want, the rear triangle may need to be respaced for your desired wheels.

dedhed

https://www.bikeforums.net/early-bri...i-s-ergos.html

​​​​​​https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...-sti-ergo.html

70sSanO

Does it have a freewheel or a cassette?

John

canklecat

If the Bridgestone 600 is all original, it probably has Suntour components and a 6-speed freewheel. This will limit your choices for indexed shifting with commonly available integrated brake lever/shifter systems like STI "brifters." Suntour began using more index shifting components by the late 1980s with Accushift components, but Suntour and Shimano STI index shifting systems were generally not compatible, although some might sorta work in some cogs.

I'm accustomed to downtube shifters so I'd probably just keep it as-is. But if I wanted STI brakes/shifters, I'd switch the front and rear derailleurs to something like the Shimano 600 Tricolor derailleurs or comparable newer derailleurs for index shifting. And, on a budget, MicroShift R7 brakes/shifters. And I'd switch the rear wheel with threaded hub to 7-speed SunRace freewheels, either their chromed MFR-30 (13-25) or MFM-30 (13-28). I've used both and they're excellent values, compatible with both Shimano and Suntour index shifting systems.

Switching the rear wheel to use a freehub and cassette might involve squeezing in a slightly wider hub, but in actual practice with steel frame bikes, often all you need to do is gently squeeze the freehub/cassette wheel into the frame and check the alignment. If everything is centered, you're ready to ride. So far I haven't needed to cold set a steel frame to accommodate freehub/cassette rear wheels on my older bikes that came with 7-speed freewheels. I have occasionally needed to tweak the position of the wheel axle, sometimes using a shim on one side or another, to center the wheel, or dishing the wheel by adjusting spokes on one side. But on my '89 Centurion Ironman I was able to swap wheels between it and my '93 Trek 5900 OCLV, no problems. It's not the optimal way to do things, but sometimes it works.

If you do have the Bridgestone frame cold set to properly accommodate newer wheels, there's almost no limit to your choices for newer components. Some friends have updated their old school Bridgestones and other steel road bikes to use 10-speed Shimano or Campagnolo groups.

Crack

Thank you for all the inputs.
So in sum:
1) Shimano and compatible sti lever(brifters) are not working in stock condition, need new derailers
2) also, maybe need a new cassette (like 7speed-ish)
3) wheelsets compatibility is depends on space in rear triangle.

Is it correct?

shelbyfv

Correct

Crack

So spec in catalogue said it is 125mm rear wheel. that kind of rear wheel compatible with modern cassette?

70sSanO

Since it is a steel frame your “only” real option is to cold set the rear drop outs to 130mm.

The amount of effort to manipulate a modern wheel to fit close enough to 126mm is not worth it, if you can spread the rear triangle to fit a 130mm OLD wheel.

Once you are at that point, a rim brake compatible Fulcrum wheelset will fit.

The next step is to determine the number of speeds you want. There are only two concerns: 7 speed Tourney is terrible and above 9 speeds might have an issue with the chain floating between chainrings.

John

Edit added: I guess the first step is to make sure you have 700c wheels and not 27”.

Spaghetti Legs 

A more modern rear wheel for road bike is 130 spaced and very likely if you get a rear hub that requires a cassette, rather than thread on freewheel, it will be 130. I’ve had success using 130 spaced 8 speed wheels on 126 spaced frames although many will argue against this and say you need to cold set the frame. There are a few threads on here with detailed discussion of this issue.

Shimano 600, 105, and RSX are older brifter based 7 and 8 speed groups you can look into

Germany_chris

Since this is a sorta dup thread.. I have a set of 3x7 Sensah “brifters” they’re OK but since you don’t like Microshift you probably won’t like these. They shift great the hoods are great and they’re 3x7 but they’re not all that pretty.