pontius

Hey folks. I have this 90's Specialized Crossroads hybrid that I am messing with. I have been swapping stems and bars trying to perfect overall fit and am getting close to something I like that is comfortable. I was wondering if it would be easy and cheap to switch from a 3x7 to a 1x11 drive train? I was hoping I could simplify the drive train and still retain a pretty wide range of gearing for an all purpose or "gravel" sort of bike. i I really am a total novice concerning gearing, free hubs, cassettes, etc. I was hoping that I could simply change to a 10 or 11 speed cassette on this free hub and retain the 130mm spacing, and then pair it with a suitable rear dr and shifter. Is that possible? Here are a couple pics of what I'm dealing with. Thanks in advance for any advice on where start, what to read, etc.

Iride01 

First thing to do is measure the OLD of your hub or essentially the distance between the drops. If it is at least 130mm you definitely can put a 11 speed group on it easily enough. Flat bars will force you to use something other than a road group. Assuming you wish to keep most of the components you put on it from the same genre of group sets. If you don't, then you'll have to learn to look at spec's and compatibilities as 11 speed Road groups and other 11 speed groups have some things that don't work well together..

KCT1986

The issue with trying to go to 11 is that the width of the freehub is probably not wide enough to fit a 11 speed cassette.

Here are the aprox.width of HG and compatible freehub bodies.



Measurement to the 'backstop' of the splines, (where the innermost sprocket or sprocket 'carrier' rests.

If your hub is Shimano brand one, not 3rd party clone, it may be possible to swap in a 8-10 sp freehub body. Check for brand & model #. With an 8-10 sp body installed, it will allow the use of a couple of specific Shimano 11 speed cassettes that fits on the shorter spacing.

Even for Shimano hubs, a swap to a 'native' 11 speed freehub body is not usually possible.

If your hub is some other brand, no easy way to know if a freehub body swap is possible. Many of the 'other' brands are poorly documented, so you'll need to dissemble and see if anyone has seen similar and can assist.

70sSanO

If you are not running a spacer behind the 7 speed cassette, you can’t run anything more than 7 speed; or an 8 of 9, 9 of 10.

You will need to get a rim brake rear wheel, or wheelset, with a freehub body that accepts an 11 speed cassette. A shifter, rear derailleur, narrow wide for the middle ring, cassette, chain, cable and housing.

John

Trav1s

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...l#post23176086 shows my adventures in upgrading to 2x11. I'm at a bit of a standstill but that's probably related to some of my adapting parts to the project.

Duragrouch

Why is a narrow-wide chainring required for 11 speed rear? Will it drop chains at chainline extremes without that?

pontius

Ok thanks to everyone for the info so far. I have been reading more on this and it is very confusing. I do have the short 30mm 7 speed hub, so I might need a whole new hub or freehub body. I was hoping to be able to use this wheel. I guess it's more complicated and costly than I was hoping.

I have been wondering also, if I would be happy with 8 or 9 speed wide range. I just want something that can handle fairly steep inclines and also downhill road situations.

pontius

Can anyone tell me if this wide range 7sp cassette would work on my existing freehub? If so, would my rear DR and shifter be compatible? If so, this seems like it would be a pretty good option.

https://www.somafabshop.com/shop/590...500-6766#attr=

grumpus

7 speed freehub is too narrow for 8 speed and wider cassettes. If you want to keep that wheel you'll need to fit a 9 speed* or wider freehub body, and spread the back end to 135 mm (it may be easy to spring the frame to take the wider hub, in which case don't worry about setting the dropouts any wider, but setting the frame should be easy anyway). Then just fit a 10 or 11 speed MTB cassette and suitable shifter, and derailleur if your current rear mech doesn't cope with a larger/wider cassette, and narrow-wide chainring if it keeps dropping the chain (or use the front mech as a chain guide). You can see there are several things you may not have to do in the course of this conversion, if you're lucky ...

(* Early 8 speed bodies weren't as wide as later ones, so go for 9 speed to avoid that possible confusion. I'm assuming the freehub is Shimano or compatible - if Specialized decided to use non-Shimano-compatible hub and you can't find a wider freehub body that fits then you might need to replace the whole hub.)

andrewclaus

And don't forget about the brakes. If you change to a different rear shifter and it's combined with a brake lever, be sure the lever has the correct "short" pull for the cantilever brakes. Or change the brakes to V-brakes. (That can be a little tricky with the frame cable stops on that bike.)

Iride01 

Why don't you just have the rear hub replaced with one that has a free hub made for 11 speed cassettes? Or just get a new wheel with a free hub that accepts 11 speed cassettes. When you do that, you'll have to decide on whether you want SRAM/Shimano compatible or Campagnolo compatible. The SRAM/Shimano compatible with let you pick other stuff that runs the gamut from low tier and inexpensive to upper tier and expensive. Campy stuff will keep you mostly in the upper tier levels.

Unless you start drowning in a whirl pool of data suggesting that for a few dollars more this is better than the other, but for a few dollars more this is even better and so on and so on, then you can find a decently priced wheel. Or have one built for you from your existing wheel by just getting a new hub put in it and having it dished properly for a 11 speed bike.

Still, you need to start by measuring that drop out spacing. I think it's probably 130 mm on that bike. But you need to make sure. If it's less then there are other things to talk about first to see if you want to do them.

Iride01 

Oh, if the cost of a wheel is bothering you, then you really need to sit down and price all the stuff you are going to have to get. If you aren't scrounging parts, then new might have you almost at the cost of a new bike.

You aren't just changing out the cassette to make it 11 speed.

pontius

Yeah, that is the stage I am at right now, ... trying to see what options I have, and how much that would cost. I might be happy with a 7 speed wide range 13-42t that appears to be available, and then going 1x on the front. I was hoping to find a cheap solution that I could justify, but it is amazing how upgrading or modifying a bike can quickly become more expensive than a brand new bike with updated technology.

70sSanO

I don’t think it is necessary, especially on smooth surfaces. But for me it is cheap insurance if the chainring is being replaced anyway.

John

zacster

I upgraded a 1990 Trek 7000 from 7 to 10 speed about 10 years ago, this is what it cost. You can subtract out the cost of the dynamo lighting but you are likely to need all the rest. These were all rock-bottom prices from 10 years ago and most were decent quality, Deore, or better like XT, and all MTB components. I'd expect it to be a lot more these days, but I haven't priced things out. No one thing costs a lot but it adds up.



Since it was all better quality it has held up very well. I've never had to even re-true the wheels that I built myself. I may have replaced the chain a few times now, and I've added bits like better grips to the bars, and I had to replace an original chainring. I commuted in NYC on it for about 6 years before I retired.

pontius

Yeah, that's not real practical from a price standpoint. I am backing away from the 11 speed idea a bit.


But if that 7 speed wide range cassette works with my freehub, derailleur, and shifter, I can do all this for well under $75

zacster

That cassette is likely too big for your derailleur.

nathand

I recently converted a similar '90s Trek Multitrack from 3x7 to 2x10. For the rear wheel, I replaced only the freehub, with an 8-speed (which, as others have mentioned, will take a 10-speed cassette). I had a thread here with a question about this change; it's now running smoothly. I had a 26" mountain bike wheel with an 8-speed freehub being used in a 7-speed drivetrain (with a washer behind the cassette), so I just swapped the two freehubs. If you've got a Shimano hub, you can pull a freehub from almost any similar-vintage Shimano wheel - you might look for one with a damaged rim, cheap, where the hub is still good. You will probably need to take apart the axle and swap the drive-side cones and dust caps as well, so that the drive side matches the new freehub and the non-drive side matches the cups/races in the existing wheel. You will also likely need to remove or replace a spacing washer to maintain the correct distance between the outer locknuts screwed onto the axle (the OLD - Over Locknut Dimension), and re-dish the wheel (re-center it by adjusting spoke tension).

I picked up an old Shimano Deore derailleur that could handle a wider-range cassette (I'm running an 11-36) for $10 at my local co-op, and a lightly-used 11-36 10-speed cassette on Craigslist for $25. The more expensive part was the brake/shifter levers since I'm using a drop-bar road setup, but for your flatbar use, I'd think you can find an inexpensive 10-speed shifter. You could leave your existing chainrings in place and just remove the front derailleur to use it as a 1x; I wouldn't recommend trying to use your existing front derailleur with a wide-range rear cassette since the rear derailleur probably won't be able to handle the full range.

70sSanO

you can probably run that cassette with your existing rear derailleur and a Wolf Tooth RoadLink or equivalent.

You most likely won’t be able to ride it as a triple. “Maybe” a double, but a 1x is fine.

John

pontius

OK this seem interesting. 1x is what I am after. So for less than a hundred, (roadlink plus wide range cassette) this might be doable?

70sSanO

Probably. I run a RoadLink with a 13-40 on a couple mtbs with no issues. The RD’s were rated at 34t.

John

Duragrouch

Looks like perhaps so. BUT, before doing the conversion, plug all the numbers for old and new setup into sheldon brown gear calc or one of the others, to make sure you know what you are getting. You might not have as low a low-gear as you have right now, and that would be a rude surprise on your first big hill. That's what engineering is about, run the numbers first. Easy as pie using the online gear calcs. 13-42 is only 323%, I'm gonna bet money that is A LOT less gear range than you currently have. My bike has 400% range and that is bare minimum in hills, probably only 2/3 the range of your existing setup, mine sacrifices top end gearing.

pontius

It appears to my that I would be loosing the top 1 and a half gears compared to my current 3x7 setup (as far a range goes).

Duragrouch

What are the gear-inch numbers for the highest and lowest gears, for current setup, and the new 1X setup?

https://sheldonbrown.com/gear-calc.html

pontius

current 3x7
7.2 - 1.8


proposed 1x7
6 - 1.9