3 speed Manta rat need help

[tulsacruiser]

OK I bought this Manta rat from a member on here and today I transformed it into a 3speed, The problem is Im not sure if I have it all hooked up right and I need to find out how to shorten the cable its too long since this is a 24" and It came off a 26" also I want to add pull brakes but im not sure If any will work since the wheel is bigger on the bike then what it should be.
Here are some pics and tell me what you think.

Manta rat 3 speed

Which side should the cable run on the pully over or under??

Too much cable!

3speed!

Donor bike girls huffy

 

[Wildcat]

The cable can be shortened to work by moving the clamp on the frame tube farther up toward the front of the bike. That gives you more cable to the shifter but shortens it up toward the gears. The pulley should have that clip at the bottom instead of facing the rear. The cable sits between that and the pulley, on the bottom side. Slide that whole pulley assembly down toward the bottom of the frame also, that will give you less cable length to the gears also. Doing those things may take up enough slack to make it work, but you'll have extra cable to the shifter, but that won't really hurt anything.
edit: Put the shifter in 3rd when taking up the cable slack. Seeing how far down the frame the clamp is, it looks like it will work.

 

[tulsacruiser]

The cable can be shortened to work by moving the clamp on the frame tube farther up toward the front of the bike. That gives you more cable to the shifter but shortens it up toward the gears. The pulley should have that clip at the bottom instead of facing the rear. The cable sits between that and the pulley, on the bottom side. Slide that whole pulley assembly down toward the bottom of the frame also, that will give you less cable length to the gears also. Doing those things may take up enough slack to make it work, but you'll have extra cable to the shifter, but that won't really hurt anything.
edit: Put the shifter in 3rd when taking up the cable slack. Seeing how far down the frame the clamp is, it looks like it will work.

Thanks I will try all that. Now any ideas on brakes?

 

[deorman]

All they way down 'til it's practically touching the bottom bracket, and don't forget to transfer the brakes over as well! :shock: :lol:

 

[deorman]

I think the fork should have a mounting hole already, if not, you can attach a small stiff right angle bracket to the fender mount. Same for the rear.

 

[Wildcat]

Are those 26" wheels on a 24" fork? The brake off the donor bike may be too long when you adjust the brake pads as high as they will go. On the rear, making up a bracket like deorman suuggested will let you adjust to just about any size, but on the front, it's kind of limited. Rear brakes only are acceptable as long as they are good.

 

[icyuod2]

pardon me for saying so, but that entire pully type shift system seems a little goofy to me.

is this a shimano hub?

heres how i've always seen them hooked up (no pulley required)


small clamp is mounted to the rear stay to prevent the outer casing from moving (standard brake cable)
also i believe your missing the end of the shifter assembly that allows for ajustment.

1. cut the outer casing to length
2. cut the cable to length
3. insert cable into ajustable shifter assembly clamp and tighten.
4. fine tune (and and lock inplace with the 2 brass nuts)

 

[deorman]

It's not missing. On original cables, the adjuster is permanently attached to the cable end. The example from Icyuod2 is a replacement. The open cable/pulley is more precise than full housing, but the full housing method usually works fine as well.

 

[icyuod2]

It's not missing. On original cables, the adjuster is permanently attached to the cable end. The example from Icyuod2 is a replacement. The open cable/pulley is more precise than full housing, but the full housing method usually works fine as well.

my bad.

hey deorman, just out of curiosity, why is the open cable more precise?

that pulley assembly looks fragile to say the least.
snag a cable once and i'm sure your entire assembly would be rendered useless.
do they require constant fine tuning?

i'm pushing 3 years without ajustment.

 

[tulsacruiser]

Thanks guys for all the info!

 

[deorman]

No doubt the exposed cable is less protected from possible snagging, not usually a problem on dedicated street bikes. Once set, they hold their adjustment fine if all the screws are tight. It's more precise for the same reasons that welded stops with open cables are more precise. It's less of a concern with modern index housing/sheathing/casings/whatever, but the casing can be compressed, stretched, and develop kinks, and is also a source of friction. Fully housed cables can certainly work fine, but I can definitely notice the difference, especially on derailleurs and rear brakes. That's way high end road bikes and even MTB's usually (clearly there are exceptions) have exposed cables.

 

[Lil' rat rod]

Why dont you just put the pulley at the top of the downtube. That is where they put them on the Schwinns anyway.

Jon

 

[deorman]

:| Yeah, but lower stay cable is 8) coooool 8) :wink: