I never got into 10 or 11sp. Aren't they supposed to be significantly shorter lived than 7-8-9 drivetrains?
Ran 9x3 until this year. Switched to 9x1 and couldn't be happier. I find I switch gears a lot less now, so bar end probably won't be too much of an issue.
I did like the 6x2 suggestion, but 6-speed freewheels are getting harder to find and I don't want the pain of running a front mech. Friction shifter should be easy to work on 6 speeds.
Shifter wise, I've run micronew STIs 9x3 for miles and they seem to work very well. Right now have campy 10sp STIs in shimergo set-up on 2 bikes.
Campies are definitely nicer, but I still have a bruised & battered pair of micronews that will probably end up on this bike instead of forking out cash for another campy STI set.
Francine is getting ready for bottle cage surgery. Plugged in the wheels and compared the geometry with my other bikes. Should be a good fit.
The fork blades and seat stays have little vent holes. I've injected some Hydrate-80 into them and gave them a good shake to stop any rust that might have creeped into them over the last 70 years. Injected too much into the forks, so they kept leaking for hours.
There's 60mm clearance between the rims and the frame. Should be plenty enough for guards and chunky tyres.
Don't think mini-vs will have this amount of clearance?
Do any of you think I can use the old simplex mech mount to hang a kickstand there?
My only concern is that if anything goes wrong, it will jam straight into the chain.