Peugeot Ultima 653 Question

[Balb0wa]

Hello,

I had this new in 1989 or 1988 , it cost £540 at the time,i was 14 or 15 it might not look it, but i used it a lot for 2-3 years before i turned 17 and learnt to drive.

Since then it's been in the garage, i want to get back into cycling, ive put new tyres and tubes on, all is good.

What i want to know is can i put a 10 speed cassette on? i understand i will have to change the chain, but will i be ok with the front and rear mech i have?

The groupset is the standard ultegra 600 , pretty good at the time, 7 speed, 13-23 i think.

Thanks

Rob

 

[Maca]

Not sure about your 10spd question as I am only just returning to the road to, but just wanted to say great buke and what good condition its all in.

Oh and on your front brake do you have a washer between the fork and the brake caliper or is it just the star shaped one as on the rear ?

 

[Balb0wa]

Not sure about your 10spd question as I am only just returning to the road to, but just wanted to say great buke and what good condition its all in.

Oh and on your front brake do you have a washer between the fork and the brake caliper or is it just the star shaped one as on the rear ?

Cheers, it looks like the star shaped one to me on the front

 

[531 pro]

Nice bike! I've got the pink and purple 653 athena.

As regards 10 speed, you can get most of the way there. It's a bit difficult to see from the pictures, but I suspect you have something called 'shimano uniglide' on the back. What you can do is replace the freehub body for a 7 speed hyperglide one and then you can fit 9 of the 10 sprockets on! Your rear mech will work ok - i take it you're going for sti type combined brake/gear levers? Obviously there wont be enough clicks on your downtube levers for more gears than you've got, and 8, 9 or 10 speed on friction gear levers is horrendous (but it'll physically operate, if you've a steady hand!).

Good luck with it anyway.

 

[Maca]

Cheers for that.

Your frame is virtually the same as mine and the group set is the same so I wanted to see if thay had fitted it with washers ...... I can take mine off

 

[Balb0wa]

Nice bike! I've got the pink and purple 653 athena.

As regards 10 speed, you can get most of the way there. It's a bit difficult to see from the pictures, but I suspect you have something called 'shimano uniglide' on the back. What you can do is replace the freehub body for a 7 speed hyperglide one and then you can fit 9 of the 10 sprockets on! Your rear mech will work ok - i take it you're going for sti type combined brake/gear levers? Obviously there wont be enough clicks on your downtube levers for more gears than you've got, and 8, 9 or 10 speed on friction gear levers is horrendous (but it'll physically operate, if you've a steady hand!).

Good luck with it anyway.

thanks, sounds a bit more than what i wanted to do really, gear levers have changed since i last had a bike (ie on the brakes now!)

the thing with brake gears is your left with a space/hole where the old style gear levers went , its a tricky one, will have to think about it.

i suppose i could just go for say 12-25 7 speed on the rear? is that ok?

 

[Balb0wa]

Cheers for that.

Your frame is virtually the same as mine and the group set is the same so I wanted to see if thay had fitted it with washers ...... I can take mine off

back in the day it was a brilliant groupset , i still think its good 24 years on

 

[Maca]

Yep it was always the group set I wanted back when I was 15, I had mostly 105 on the bike I used and the odd bit of 600 (all used). And new 600 bits on the one I never finished.

Thats why on the one I'm building now its all nos 600, I think it looks good and works really well and at risk of getting shot down I always did think it looked better than campag stuff.

 

[tarloone]

Awesome bike, not much better bang for the buck back in the day!!

I think you need to ditch the 10 speed idea and buy my Dura Ace 7400 groupset for it

 

[Balb0wa]

Awesome bike, not much better bang for the buck back in the day!!

I think you need to ditch the 10 speed idea and buy my Dura Ace 7400 groupset for it

haha, i dont want to spend a great deal on it, i just want to see if i can get back into biking, ive started running and do 30-40 miles a month, just fancy a ride a few times a week.

Some hills around here, rowsley bar, mam tor, and i used to struggle like mad to get up them with a 23 on the back, i just want a better ratio for hills, i think these 10 speed cassettes are overkill , its like why do you need 20 gears?

would that work ok?

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-cs-hg50 ... -cassette/