5 speed chainset with a 10 speed chain.

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montage

God Almighty
Location
Bethlehem
To keep costs down, I think I will keep the old "custom" chainset, which is designed to go with a 5 speed rear cassette.

Is this chainset compatible if I upgrade to a 10 speed? (guessing the chain may not fit/may not shift)

If not then I may look into 7 speed to keep the cost low
 

swee'pea99

Legendary Member
Your old chainset will almost certainly not cope with a 10 speed chain. In any case, unless you really really need it, 10 speed is probably not the greatest idea - everything 10 speed is expensive, fragile and prone to rapid wear. You'd be much better off goign with your fall back - 7 speed will give you all the range you can usefully use (unless you plan on majorly exotic adventures) and will be cheap and robust and easy to maintain.
 
OP
OP
montage

montage

God Almighty
Location
Bethlehem
swee said:
I'm fully aware of 10 speed and defiantely prefer it - this is going to be the solid winter bike...was just thinking 10 speed is a little easier on the knees than 7, but I guess if I go for something like 28 tooth cassette I'll be ok.

5 speed chains are the same size as 7 right?
 
OP
OP
montage

montage

God Almighty
Location
Bethlehem
excellent, cheers for the help guys!

edit:

So I could grab a pair of shimano r500 wheels, and put an 8 speed cassette on, and use the chain and the chainset from my old 5 speed setup?
(I know I will have to splay the rear stays for the shimano r500 wheels to fit)
 

swee'pea99

Legendary Member
FWIW, I found (when I used to ride geared - I gone all fixie now) that I actually preferred 7 speed: 28 thru to 14. When I tried 'closer' gearing, I used to find the gaps between one gear and the next too small - I'd no sooner changed than I needed to change again. People do vary on this tho' - also I think it makes a difference how you change - I guess it would be less of a problem with STIs - I always had a downtube shifter.
 

PpPete

Legendary Member
Location
Chandler's Ford
I thought I recalled (from a very long time ago so could be wrong) that 5 speed used standard chain, whereas what we now call 6,7,8 speed chain used to be called "narrow".

******* edit *****
8 speed chain will work fine on what you suggest in post #5
 

swee'pea99

Legendary Member
To all practical purposes tho', a chain that'll be happy with that 'old chainset' will be ok with a 6, 7 or 8, but not a 10.
 

RecordAceFromNew

Swinging Member
Location
West London
From my own experience I have never had any problem with old (and I am talking about 30 year old) chainsets with new chains up to 9 speed. There is a potential concern that the narrower chains can slip in between the chain rings, but as Sheldon said it seldom creates any problem even for 10 speed chains. Perhaps one reason why it usually works fine is because old chainsets seldom have adjacent chain rings with large teeth difference.

For completeness, there can be problems in squeezing a 7/8 speed chain into a higher speed cassette. I looked into and eventually experimented with a Campag 9 speed cassette and found it ok albeit not ideal. However such chains are most unlikely to work satisfactorily with 9 speed Shimano cassettes because they have narrower pitch.

ps As usual Porkypete is right - old 5 and "standard 6" speed chains were 7.8mm wide, as opposed to the more recent 7.1mm (IG) to 7.3mm (HG) 7/8 speed chains commonly used nowadays for 5/6/7/8 speed.

pps Regarding "splaying the rear stay to fit" the frame should be steel and not more exotic than 653.
 
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