Changing a 6 speed wheel to a 5 speed?

[BrigmasterA]

My sister-in-law wants me to build her a bike cuz apparently mine are just that cool... I have a huffy cruiser-style frame that I'm gonna use, and she wants it to have gears, so I have a stickshifter I wanted to use, but it's a 5 speed shifter. The wheel I have is 6 speed. I guess I could just adjust everything to only use 5 gears, but I was curious as to whether anyone knows how to change a 6 speed into a 5 speed...

 

[SkidMark]

If your 5-speed shifter is friction (not indexed) you should be able to use it with the six-speed cluster. It's just a matter of setting the limit screws on the deraileur.

If the cluster threads on you just get the right freewheel puller and unscrew it, and then screw on a 5-speed cluster. If it is a freehub with a cassette cluster you are kinda stuck with the 6-speed.

And you'll need a chain for 6-six speed, those old 3/32" chain like on Varsity's won't work on a 6-speed cluster.

If any of this is Greek to you:

http://sheldonbrown.com/glossary.html

 

[GodHatesCleveland]

If your 5-speed shifter is friction (not indexed) you should be able to use it with the six-speed cluster. It's just a matter of setting the limit screws on the deraileur.

Derailleur limits are easy, and something everyone with a geared bike should know how to do. That was one of the more common adjustments we'd make on bikes donated to my local bike co-op.

That, or just put on a pair of tires so fat she can't use the lower gears because the chain will scrape the side of the rear tire. The extreme low and high gears wear out the drive train faster and should be avoided anyway.

 

[BrigmasterA]

Well, it's an indexed shifter... and I have the chain... So what I'm hearing is there is no way to run the indexed 5 speed shifter just on 5 of the 6 gears?

 

[johnny nightwolf]

Let me start by saying that I have next to no experience with multiple gear cassettes. It seems that you could probably just put a plate around either your high or low gear, and adjust the derailleur accordingly to keep the chain from moving to that 6th gear. However, if you're going to run a cassette, why not take advantage of that extra gear?
Alternatively, just take the back wheel off an old ten speed, and run that.

 

[SkidMark]

The spacing between the cogs is wider on the five speed, so it won't index properly on the six speed cluster.

 

[BrigmasterA]

I see. Thanks guys.