Upgrading 7 Speed Shimano 105 to 9 Speed Ultegra

I own an early 1990s road bike with Shimano 105 (7 speed) components.
I'd like to upgrade some of the components (lighter wheels, 9 speeds).
What components will I need to fully upgrade the bike to 9 speed
Ultegra specs? Is it even possible to upgrade a 7 speed to 9 speed
specs?

Thanks in advance--

chicago- What components will I need to fully upgrade the bike to 9 speed
Ultegra specs? Is it even possible to upgrade a 7 speed to 9 speed
specs? BRBR

If the frameset is stell, you may have to have the rear end spaced to 130mm,
Then a new rear hub that can accpet 9s cogs, right shifter and rear der...rear
der cuz I recommend Campagnolo Centaur or Veloce, Rear hub, shifter set, rear
der...10s as well.

I would stay away from ultegra,. it is going to go thru a major change in
2005(late 2004 actually) and a lot of ultegra is going to become obsolete,
then scarce..Ultegra is pretty scarce right now.

Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

Joe wrote:

I own an early 1990s road bike with Shimano 105 (7 speed) components.
I'd like to upgrade some of the components (lighter wheels, 9 speeds).
What components will I need to fully upgrade the bike to 9 speed
Ultegra specs? Is it even possible to upgrade a 7 speed to 9 speed
specs?

Easy enough if the frame is steel. Get the rear end stretched from
126mm to 130mm by a framebuilder or do it yourself (the latter won't
leave the dropouts perfectly vertical, but you'd be pushed to notice).

You'll need a new rear wheel build with a 9 speed hub and a 9 speed
cassette, and new shifters. The cheapest are Dura-Ace downtube levers,
which are really rather nice if you're used to shifting this way. Or
you can go the STI route like all the boy racers.

I changed the crankset and BB but you shouldn't really need to. The old
front mech is just fine. I also changed the rear mech because the old
one was getting on in years, but the 7 speed mech should be OK; the
sideways movement for a given amount of cable pull is the same for all
recent Shimano mechs.

On Mon, 17 May 2004 18:19:50 +0100, Zog The Undeniable
wrote:

You'll need a new rear wheel build with a 9 speed hub and a 9 speed
cassette, and new shifters.

You only need a 8/9sp hub body. If you space your hub for 128 mm, you
won't need a new axel or to widen the frame. If you'd like, you can
keep your 7sp hub body and put 8 of 9 cogs from a 9sp cassette on.

You'll need a 9sp chain. I'd recommend barends before downtube
shifters.