86 SR500 Project is Moving into the Strip and Repaint Stage

[wild]

This Champion is way too heavy for camping, although it is called an RV generator. I prefer nothing but a tent and gaslight on my very infrequent forays into the wilderness. I even have a cot with 4" of foam padding to cushion the old bones at night. The campground that I use during my annual winter hunt has electricity and a hot shower, so I really don't rough it anymore. LOL

 

[SR400 -105]

The cantilever dropouts were first seen on the 3.0 series frames, introduced on the 1989 models. The OP's bike is older. There were SR500 models with both frame types.

Interesting so my thoughts were that my bike was an SR400 based on frame and color but the group set on the bike is largely 105 not Suntour. wondering now why?

 

[black lightning 1987]

Was your bike new when you bought it? It's hard to say why the components are not what the catalog says. My guess would be that the dealer changed them but it's possible that they ran out of the SunTour parts at the factory and substituted 105 from the SR500.

 

[wild]

I gave up on trying to figure out what mine is/was. It reminds me of the Johnny Cash song about the Cadillac, "One Piece at a Time". I'm still waiting on the cable guides, but this is going to be a great ride!

 

[SR400 -105]

Was your bike new when you bought it? It's hard to say why the components are not what the catalog says. My guess would be that the dealer changed them but it's possible that they ran out of the SunTour parts at the factory and substituted 105 from the SR500.

It was not new, actually I got it used from a racer who was using it as their winter bike now that I think of it. clearly they could have changed things around or run out of SunTour as you suggest I recall that this was the last days for those group sets. in those days Campy was king!

 

[black lightning 1987]

SunTour continued on for a number of years but with decreasing market share. A shame as their later parts are quite nice. I suspect that they weren't able to meet Shimano's pricing and gradually were excluded from the production bike market. There were still a few SunTour equipped Cannondale models in 1992. I would have to look at later catalogs to see if there were any after that.

 

[wild]

I am down to getting the rear derailleur adjusted, and it is giving me a headache. So far it seems to follow the index except either it misses the two low sprockets or, after I adjust the stops a bit, misses the high sprocket. I've tried using the takeup in the cable guide to compensate for the low end, but it took the high end out. I know it is something simple that I've missed.

 

[black lightning 1987]

Those shifters are different from the ones I have. Do they have a model number? Most Shimano 7/8 components are compatible, but there may be exceptions.

Could be a bent derailleur hanger.

Define "low sprocket" and "high sprocket". The largest sprocket gives the lowest gear ratio, so it's more clear if you state "big cog" and "small cog".

I begin derailleur adjustment with the shift cable detached. First step is to set the limit screws. Move the derailleur by hand from small to large cog. It should shift to large cog with light pressure, but not rattle or attempt to jump off the cog towards the spokes. Same at the small cog, should not hesitate shifting to small cog as you release pressure on RD, should not rattle. I will turn high limit screw in while shifting from 2nd to small cog until shift becomes impaired, then back it out 1/4 or 1/2 turn. Once limit screws are set correctly you can attach cable and set cable tension.

 

[wild]

I do appreciate the input here. The shifters appear to be working fine. At every click I get a gear change. From what you are saying here, it appears that my limit screws may be the problem. I'm going to check them before I take it out for a ride this morning. Thanks Much.

 

[wild]

Well, I got a pretty good ride in and didn't get off the 42T sprocket, LOL. I made a stand this afternoon and adjusted the derailleur low/high screws until it would shift down to the smallest sprocket and back up to the number 5 sprocket. I did get it to shift to the number 6, but it wasn't smooth coming back to the small sprocket. Right now I've basically got a ten speed with no hill climbing ability, not that we have hills here. The derailleur is a Shimano 600 RD 6400 and is supposed to handle 7 speeds as you can see in the photos above, and the shifters are the Shimano Road/MTB SIS SL-A050 2/3 x 7. It seems like the ratio might be off for this particular derailleur, but I'm not certain what to replace it with.

 

[black lightning 1987]

Hard to make a recommendation on gearing without more information. It's hard to quantify how much lower your low gear ratio needs to be to make you comfortable riding. You could go to a triple crank with a MTB rear derailleur and a wider range cassette/freewheel.

 

[wild]

The 42-52 is fine if I can get the chain to the larger sprockets. I remember that my old bikes were all 14-28 and I had always wanted to change them to 12-32s, but never did. Back then I was doing rallies in Western New York where there was a lot of straight ups and downs. The freewheel on this one is 12-22 in 7 sprockets, and I think it will work fine down here. My MTB is a triple crank, and I don't use the small one. I may pull the derailleur off of that one (Shimano) and see if it works better than the one on the Cannondale.

 

[wild]

I took your advice on setting up the derailleur, and, voila, I get all 7! Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?! I did find that the rear derailleur is worn pretty much in the hinge, and that is one of the reasons it was having difficulty getting onto the large sprocket. I've got a bid in for new one on eBay, but it is good to go until I get around to changing it out. Funny thing though, I did a mile today with the clock and it was only 1mph faster than the $40.00 MTB laps. That is an expensive 1 MPH! considering I have around $350 in this without counting labor. (Don't tell my wife)

 

[black lightning 1987]

On flat ground the lighter weight of the road bike won't help your average speed much, but could help out on a hilly ride. The main speed advantage for a road bike is in rider position and wind resistance. You have negated a lot of that with a more upright position.

 

[wild]

On flat ground the lighter weight of the road bike won't help your average speed much, but could help out on a hilly ride. The main speed advantage for a road bike is in rider position and wind resistance. You have negated a lot of that with a more upright position.

I'm too old to survive a fall off of a fast bike anyway. LOL The bike is a pretty good ride considering the tires and frame. I may change the freewheel to get a little larger gear spread, but it is a surprisingly nice ride. Thanks for all of the input. I joined the Vintage Cannondale Facebook group a couple of days ago, and enjoy the stuff those guys post from around the world. Now I'm going to find one for my wife.

 

[black lightning 1987]

I try to encourage folks to go with lower gears when possible. Road bikes especially in the 80s/90s were geared for racers whose abilities far exceeded the average buyer. It took Cannondale a while to address the issue, but they eventually added triple crank options to certain road models.

 

[wild]

I try to encourage folks to go with lower gears when possible. Road bikes especially in the 80s/90s were geared for racers whose abilities far exceeded the average buyer. It took Cannondale a while to address the issue, but they eventually added triple crank options to certain road models.

You are correct in the higher gear range up on the 52T sprocket. Even as mild a terrain as we have here, gently hills and such, the 11-22 doesn't offer enough low gear and a bit too much high gear for me. I seem to remember (50 years ago) that I had 14-28s on both my Raleighs and Frejus bikes and wished for a 32 on the low end, but that was in some serious hills of Western New York. I'm thinking that a 14-32x7 would fit the bill for where I am now considering my legs aren't what they used to be.

 

[black lightning 1987]

If you're considering a 32 large cog you'd probably be better off with a MTB rear derailleur. Something like an XT M735, 737, 739 or LX M452, M550, M560, M563. I'd get a long cage version in case you ever want to switch to a triple crankset.

 

[wild]

If you're considering a 32 large cog you'd probably be better off with a MTB rear derailleur. Something like an XT M735, 737, 739 or LX M452, M550, M560, M563. I'd get a long cage version in case you ever want to switch to a triple crankset.

I bought an Ebikeling 14-28 7spd for cheap on Amazon. The 14T will work for me, and having a little more low end just seems more practical for my usage. Hopefully it will work with the Shimano 600 derailleur. If not, I'll take your suggestion and get a new one.

 

[black lightning 1987]

I think the old Shimano RDs were rated for a 24 T cog, but they were rated conservatively to allow for differences in dropout and hanger dimensions. 28 large cog may work fine. Be sure to check your chain length. You don't want to find out that the 28 has stretched the chain too far when you are grabbing for lower gears on a hill.