Changing away from tube mounted friction gears

[mythste]

Bit of a weird one, me and the SO have been getting out quite a lot on our bikes but shes been struggling as she has a little shopper with 20" wheels - but loves the darn thing.

I found a really good nick bike which looks very similar but with 26 inch wheels and gears so she wont cry every time she sees an incline, but it has friction gear switching mounted on the top tube (all be it actually almost on the stem, easier than those old racers you see)

Would it be a mental undertaking for me to try and change to thumb mounted shifters? Or am I better off convincing her it adds to the charm? Its a 5 speed hub, if that helps, and the bike is an 80's Saxon Voyager. Rocking.

Cheers!

Stephen

 

[PlymSlimCyclist]

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, however I'm sure this is easily changed. You'll obviously need longer cables and cablehousing, but easily changed to have the gears placed on the handlebars.

I'm unsure if you can use indexing gears, but someone will definitely be able to help with that.

 

[raleighnut]

Bar end shifter might work, The Shimano ones can be used indexed or friction

 

[Fab Foodie]

There are Sturmy Archer thumb shifters available:

http://www.sturmey-archer.com/products/shifters/cid/2/id/4.html

There are a few different types there.
Personally I like the original stuff kept where possible ....

 

[TheJDog]

It might be difficult to find indexed shifters for a five speed nowadays.

 

[ufkacbln]

It might be difficult to find indexed shifters for a five speed nowadays.

+1

However the conversion itself is fairy easy...




The converters are between £10 - £30 depending on the quality

 

[gbb]

I converted a 5 speed friction shift system to gripshifts, no real problems.
Cables needed replacing for longer ones, even the very basic original rear cogs worked well, didn't have any shifting problems.
It did have a Huret RD which i replaced for a basic Shimano one, only because i wanted to make it look a tad better.