Restomodding - Parts Compatibility

[The Pedal Dancer]

Good afternoon all, what a fine Saturday afternoon it is.

Currently have an old 1994 (I think) GT Talera in the shed in Purple Haze.

Picked it up for £40 and it needs a bit of TLC and I'm thinking of restomodding her.

The shifters are of the pull and twist variety but I'd much prefer push and click (no idea of the proper term!)

I'm unsure of compatibility though, any ideas where a good place to start is for reading up?

I'll dig the bike out the shed later and investigate the exact parts. Was thinking either a modern upgrade of Altus or Acera would be good or are there older parts that are of reasonable value to look out for?

Cheers

The Pedal Dancer

 

[FluffyChicken]

Most lower end stuff will work.

Higher end gets more complicated as you need to change more things and check it is the old standards you are using.

But get pictures up, parts and see what's needed.

 

[ishaw]

Grip shift are the twist shifters. Not sure what normal shifters are called other than shifters.

Parts compatibility can be a minefield but a basic rule of thumb for MTB is that any Shimano MTB drivetrain of 9 speed or less will work together, though easiest approach is matching things. Some rear cassettes hubs are limited to 7 speed, but usually you can run 8 or 9 on most hubs. Sram will not generally work with Shimano (there are some shifters that do, but I wouldn't worry about them).

9 speed chains are fine with 8 and 7 speed systems.

V brake levers won't be very food with canti brakes and vice versa.

If you change your cranks, ensure you use the right bottom bracket width for the frame and axle length for the cranks.

How far of a resto are you planning?

 

[FluffyChicken]

Also prices are high at the moment, and availability of any think is low.
I just had a look recently on Chainreaction/wiggle and merlin. Two of the largest online retailers.
And next to nothing available.
A simple SLX mid range chainset/shifter/cassette/rear mech will set you back 400-500 quid.

Alivio etc will be cheaper but watch out for ebay as copies from China are now (apparently) ripe for this level of stuff.

Microshift and Sunrace are alternative companies that sell some nice stuff for restomods.

 

[The Pedal Dancer]

Gripshift, that's the one!

And cheers for that rule of thumb, something to keep in mind.

And brake levers, always found this confusing too as never sure which can be used with each other.

The bike currently has Canti's, I assume I can't just put V-Brakes on and matching levers?

I do have in my spares box some Tiagra flat bar levers, would these work?

And in terms of how far a restomod, depends on availability and cost. New I've looked briefly at Shimano Altus / Alivio Acera but no further.

And thanks for the help.

 

[ishaw]

You can bolt on v brakes and levers no problem. If I were you I'd be looking at decent second hand kit as new prices are high as fluffy pointed out.

 

[RetroDavy]

If you haven't come across it yet, Sheldon Brown's website is a treasure trove of information on parts dimensions, interchangeability and modification.

This link is to one example of a useful page, there are many more: https://www.sheldonbrown.com/k7.html#transplant

 

[slackboy]

microshift do a wide range 1x8 drive train that I hear good things about. Its cheap - about £75 for mech, cassette & shifter from chain reaction. Seems to be better and cheaper than low end shimano stuff.

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/microshift-acolyte-rd-m5185-m-mtb-rear-derailleur/rp-prod204820
https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/microshift-acolyte-h083-8-speed-mtb-cassette/rp-prod204824
https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/microshift-acolyte-m7180-8-speed-mtb-gear-shifter/rp-prod204814
an 11-48 cassette and re-using the chainset and middle ring on the front will give you decent rideable drive train.

Avid single digit v brakes and levers can be picked up pretty cheaply on ebay.

 

[The Pedal Dancer]

Spot on, thank you all.

Have read Sheldon Brown before but completely forgot about that website.

Good shout on the Microshift stuff.
I actually have a GT Outpost too that has a seized seat post so I'm going to try and salvage parts from that first and see how I get on.

I do also have a Diamondback Ascent for a project too.

First things first though I'll get some pictures taken of the Talera layer on today.

 

[ishaw]

I did a quick scour of the eBay groupsets section and you could get some drive trains at a good price on there (zee, deore etc). Or put a wanted ad on here, plenty of friendly folk with parts, and if course check the for sale sections.