Advice on groupset for a 90s audax frame

[Aaron76]

Hi all,
I'm looking for some advice for a 1990s Dave Yates audax/light touring frame. I'd welcome any advice as to which groupset to consider for this 7-speed frame (or at least that's how the last owner had it). They also fitted black Deore LX (which I think is similar to what Dawes Super Galaxies were fitted with back then), but would a Shimano 105 of similar era be just as good? Or even Tri-colour 600? The bike is fitted with canti-brakes, I'm not sure whether to stick with these or fit v-brakes.

Open to any suggestions or advice. The bike will be used as a bit of a multi-purpose do everything bike, with rear panniers and general touring bits and bobs.

Thanks for any recommendations.

Best regards,
Aaron

 

[Jameshow]

Sounds more like a heavy touring bike with canti brakes.

I'd recommend a deore xt groupset triple chainset would be ideal for loaded touring.

But if wanting a audax bike (apart from the brakes) then a nice campy ergo groupset or older 105 / ultegra would be nice. Just remember at that age you'll have washing lines.👍

 

[C R]

Hi all,
I'm looking for some advice for a 1990s Dave Yates audax/light touring frame. I'd welcome any advice as to which groupset to consider for this 7-speed frame (or at least that's how the last owner had it). They also fitted black Deore LX (which I think is similar to what Dawes Super Galaxies were fitted with back then), but would a Shimano 105 of similar era be just as good? Or even Tri-colour 600? The bike is fitted with canti-brakes, I'm not sure whether to stick with these or fit v-brakes.

Open to any suggestions or advice. The bike will be used as a bit of a multi-purpose do everything bike, with rear panniers and general touring bits and bobs.

Thanks for any recommendations.

Best regards,
Aaron

Something to keep in mind about the brakes. Vs are not suitable for use with road brake levers, as the cable pull of road levers is not enough for Vs. If you want to move away from cantis you would need to look for mini Vs, which are pull compatible with cantis.

 

[KneesUp]

I have a bike that sounds similar-ish: steel, drop bar, mounts for a rack at the rear and mid fork eyelets on the front, cantis … I’m not sure on the age of mine (or if its even the bike it is stickered as to be honest)

As CR has said, v brakes and drop bar levers are difficult - as far as I know there are no integrated brake/shifters that are drop bar and have linear pull to work with Vs. You could use Travel Agent adaptors but they seem a bit of a faff. I e stuck with cantis. Good pads make a world of difference.

I’ve gone 3x10 with mine. My frame was already re-spaced but it’s easy enough to do. There is no reason to go for an “age appropriate” group set from a practical point of view. The older the group set you use the more annoying it will be trying to find replacements when you need them, surely?

 

[Dogtrousers]

What is the spacing of the rear dropout? Can you mount an 8 speed cassette? Or as @KneesUp suggests 10s

This will give you better choice of gearing.

What kind of gear shifting do you want. Friction (either down tube or bar end) would be easiest and least faff.

If the dropout is less than 130mm (I think. I often get these numbers wrong) and/or has horizontal dropouts then the faff levels for getting indexed gears to work start to increase.

Also what size wheel rim is it ? Is it modern 622mm or 27" which I think is 630mm

 

[Aaron76]

Thanks for the advice, good tips. I'll have to dig the frame out and take some measurements of the rear spacing. It was sold to me as a frame-set, plus some extra bits and bobs, but I will have to hunt to remember what I bought and where I've hidden those...

The intention is to go with a flat handlebar (as much as I like drops - I end up riding on the flats most of the time), and yes probably friction gears on the down-tube. It's just going to be nice practical bike, it sadly lacks front attachments on the forks but the rear has mounts for a rack, which is what I'd use more.

I was toying with finding a used Dawes Super Galaxy (in fact may still yet if I can find a 57cm), but this one has such a cool paint job I just fell in love with it. The wheelset was 700c, I've attached a few pictures of how the previous owner had it before it was stripped down. Part of me would like to keep it period correct, I've managed to find some details from the seller, who had an 8-speed Deore gearset. It was a pretty cool build.

I quite like the hunt of cycle-jumbles to find old parts, but definitely agree that older parts in good condition are getting harder to find and more costly. I will end up with a garage full of spares at this rate...

Thanks for the information

 

[C R]

As it is flatbar you should be able to convert to Vs easily, but you will need V specific brake levers.

 

[Paulus]

Great colour scheme.

 

[Ajax Bay]

If the previous owner had an 8sp on it, the OLN will be 130mm and all (iykwim) rim brake wheels will fit. Better to have a 8/9/10sp freehub (rather than 11).
A flat bar but running down tube shifters is esoteric.
Plenty of excellent 3x9 or 3x8 bar shifter/brake combos available, or the two separately (and the LHS 3 will do a compact) - most will have the cable pull for V-brakes but as @C R says, have a care.

 

[PpPete]

If you can find a set of Campag 10 speed Ultra-Shift levers they will work nicely with 8 speed Shimano FD and RD.
Canti brakes are remarkably effective if properly adjusted, just a bit fiddly/time consuming. If you want more braking power at the back
https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/brakes/0-suntour-selfenergising-se-cantilever-brakes-rear/
But this is one product where it is important to read the instructions carefully - they are different to normal cantis,

 

[KneesUp]

I have Campag 10sp partly so that if I ever want lower gearing I can put a Shimano 8 sp wheel and rd on the bike. In my experience the springs on Shimano front derailleurs are too strong for Campag shifters though - they definitely were for Campag 8 speed shifters. I’d stick with a Campagnolo fd but the beauty of their levers is the many trim clicks. You need Chorus or Record for that though iirc? Veloce downwards only had a few trim clicks.

 

[Ajax Bay]

The intention is to go with a flat handlebar (as much as I like drops - I end up riding on the flats most of the time),

NB Flat bar!

 

[wafter]

Something to keep in mind about the brakes. Vs are not suitable for use with road brake levers, as the cable pull of road levers is not enough for Vs. If you want to move away from cantis you would need to look for mini Vs, which are pull compatible with cantis.

I'd consider mini-Vs as less incompatable with road levers rather than compatable - the necessary pull ratios are less compromised but still not great.

I bought V-specific levers for my Fuji as the mini-Vs required a long lever throw and were mushy with original "road pull" levers; it was workable but far from ideal.

If going with Vs I'd recommend specific levers which aren't very common; Tektro RL-520s are the standard but I think they might have been discontinued.. I got mine from SJS for a good price

 

[C R]

I'd consider mini-Vs as less incompatable with road levers rather than compatable - the necessary pull ratios are less compromised but still not great.

I bought V-specific levers for my Fuji as the mini-Vs required a long lever throw and were mushy with original "road pull" levers; it was workable but far from ideal.

If going with Vs I'd recommend specific levers which aren't very common; Tektro RL-520s are the standard but I think they might have been discontinued.. I got mine from SJS for a good price

I think the OP has flat bars anyway, so getting suitable V compatible brake levers should be easy. In fact, most of the integrated brake/shift levers for flat bar tend to be for V brakes.

 

[cyberknight]

I have heard it say that cantis are bad but even though i have never used them till recently i managed to get them working as good enough not to consider them bad , certainly on par with rim brake set up .