I have an off-topic bike that I use with friction shifters and 7-speed Shimano HG ramped cogs. It shifts great, never a "ghost shift". I'd recommend ramped cogs for friction and vintage set-ups with no hesitation based on my experience. The only somewhat odd thing is that the downshifts are usually eerily silent with ramped cogs. I don't get the audio clue that I've made a shift.
Kurt Sperry Bellingham WA USA
On Dec 4, 2007 12:33 PM, Adam Hammond <anhammond@gmail.com> wrote:
> Sorry for flooding all of your inboxes, but I'm new to the list, and
> have lots of questions. (Since only the first two years of my life
> were "on-topic," I have much to learn about things pre-1981).
>
> I have a feeling that this have been covered greatly elsewhere, but I
> can't seem to find an exact answer to my question. I'm in the process
> of putting together a randonneuring bike, and will be running a
> friction-shifting setup. Two of my bikes -- one with a Nuovo record
> drivetrain and one with a Shimano 600 -- shift with friction, and both
> have thread-on freewheels, and I like them very much. Since I will be
> using my randonneur for very long distances, I understandably want it
> to be extremely reliable. And since I'm building it from the ground
> up, I have a tremendous amount of choice in components. For aesthetic
> and practical reasons, I've assembled a largely Mavic SSC-based group
> of components (with Simplex-made retrofriction shifters), though I'm a
> bit reluctant to get the matching hubs. From reading things Sheldon
> Brown, for instance, has had to say, it seems that cassette hubs are
> simply a better design, and when buying something new, it would only
> make sense to go with a cassette hub. (The only cassette hub I think
> will look very good with the setup is the Phil hub -- which are not
> inexpensive.)
>
> However, friction shifting and ramped cassettes (from what I read)
> don't appear to go well together. It seems that "ghost shifting" is a
> problem. I'm only planning on running 8 gears in the back, so things
> aren't as narrow as a 9 or 10 speed setup would be. But it seems like
> it would still be a problem.
>
> Are there any Shimano-compatible non-ramped cassettes out there (is
> Uniglide sufficient)? Or does friction shifting work just fine with
> hyperglide cassettes? Or should I just get an "on-topic" hub with a
> thread-on freewheel?
>
> Thanks for your help. Please reply on-list if you think this might be
> of interest to others, and off- if you don't.
>
> Adam Hammond
> Toronto, Ontario, Canada