Matching components

[brooster42]

Been a long time since I had a Triumph 10 speed back in high school...chrome drop bars and Brooks saddle - so I asked my dad about the old 10 speed he had lying around and he said "take it". Rode funny so I pulled the rear wheel and found the axle bent. Local bike shop hooked me up with a good used one. Then the loose crank drove me nuts. Turned out the bearing and cups were shot so I looked to see what make this bike was. Said Sears and Roebuck, Free Spirit, Ted Williams, and Made In Austria. A little research told me this was made with Reynolds 531 tubing - worth fixing maybe. So I got a new Campy crankshaft/cup set and Campy crank gearset. The rear hub and gears are suntour freewheel setup with the spin on cassette - the chain skips over the worn teeth. So...finally - should I get a more updated rear hub and cassette to better match my campy front crankgears? If so, what do I need to know to match cassette with hub (a splined setup)? Thanks!

[Surly LHT]

You say it's a 10 speed does this have five sprocket on the rear and you have two chainring up front right.As long as the front chainring is new and you put a new five speed freewheel on back you should be good to go.A pic or two can help out a lot here.If it was mine I would replace the chainring up front and the rear freewheel and a new chain all at once.And be sure to put on new cable's too.Check out the RD too if it's not working right replace that too.You can get good parts for that kind of bicycle pretty cheap.Have fun re doing it and let us see some pic's after you get done with it.

[DaveM]

If it has 5 speeds in the back, the frame is probably narrower than needed to fit a more modern cassette hub. You can spread the frame, but this is another step that needs to be done properly. I would just get a new freewheel and chain and ride it. If it has 531 tubing, it's probably something fairly decent. Definitely worth bringing it back to life.

[GeorgeET]

Interesting. We got a Free Spirit womans version coaster brake bike made in USA in clean shape for $35 at Salvation Army. My wife does not like gears. :-))I did some research on it and found it was made by Murrey bikes in Lawrenceburg Tennessee. For Sears and other dept stores.

The one you have, made in Austria, was made by Puch and good quality. If it is 531 butted tubes its a good frame. I would just replace the spin on freewheel and not spend lots of unneeded money on it. It all works.
Sounds like you went through the wheels and crank , so all thats left is the head. Clean and grease. Go through cables and tune up.

I got a 85 Fuji Del Rey and its Suntour friction shifters and everything works very well. So why mess.

I guess you are in USA????????