# Upgrading my 7 speed bike to 9 speed.... need help!



## someoneee (May 13, 2013)

Hello, I'm currently upgrading my 7 speed Schwinn Katana to a 9 speed bike and so far, I've put together some parts and pieces. Here's what I have so far and please tell me if they're good or not. The only thing I'm not quite sure of is what cassette and RD to get. There's a lot of hills where I am at and I don't really have a hard time climbing them, except a few.

STI Shifters/Brakes: Shimano 3 x 9 ST-3400 (*Purchased*)
Cassette: Uncertain of which to get
Pedals: Shimano PD-R540 (*Planning to get*)
Crankset: Shimano Sora FC-3403 50/39/30T (*Purchased*)
Chain: Uncertain which to get. Would like to have a masterlink or anything that doesn't require a chain breaker.
FD: Shimano FD-3503 Triple 
RD: Shimano Deore RD-M591 LONG

Thank you !


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## tednugent (Apr 26, 2010)

you'll be needing a long cage Rear Derailleur, because you're going with a triple crank

I also question the front derailleur. you bought one for a double.


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## someoneee (May 13, 2013)

tednugent said:


> you'll be needing a long cage Rear Derailleur, because you're going with a triple crank
> 
> I also question the front derailleur. you bought one for a double.


My mistake, I remember what it was about the FD. I'll be updating the list in a bit, could you tell me if this is okay now ?


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## tednugent (Apr 26, 2010)

Shimano FD-3503 is a front derailleur

I assume you meant FC-3503 for the crankset, right?


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## someoneee (May 13, 2013)

tednugent said:


> Shimano FD-3503 is a front derailleur
> 
> I assume you meant FC-3503 for the crankset, right?


Haha, you caught my mistake, fixed. I bought a FC-3403 Sora. Still not sure which cassette to get for hill climbing.


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## JCavilia (Sep 12, 2005)

Can you put a 9-speed cassette on a 7-speed freehub body? I thought the 8-9-10 bodies were wider.


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## someoneee (May 13, 2013)

JCavilia said:


> Can you put a 9-speed cassette on a 7-speed freehub body? I thought the 8-9-10 bodies were wider.


Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: Shimano M756/2,M570,M555,M540 freehub body, 8/9sp

This should do the trick I hope ?


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## wim (Feb 28, 2005)

someoneee said:


> This should do the trick I hope ?


It probably will. But after the freehub body transplant, you'll probably need to go to a wider over-the-locknut dimension. If you re-space your hub, you generally need to re-dish the wheel and if you want everything perfect, reset the frame spacing.

Frankly, I never understood the desire to "upgrade" from 7-speed to more "speeds." The effort and expense in doing so is substantial, the gains are small to non-existent. YMMV.


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## someoneee (May 13, 2013)

wim said:


> It probably will. But after the freehub body transplant, you'll probably need to go to a wider over-the-locknut dimension. If you re-space your hub, you generally need to re-dish the wheel and if you want everything perfect, reset the frame spacing.
> 
> Frankly, I never understood the desire to "upgrade" from 7-speed to more "speeds." The effort and expense in doing so is substantial, the gains are small to non-existent. YMMV.


Seems like a P.I.T.A. Looks like I'll be visiting the bike shop instead of going DIY on this. It seems that I haven't received any answers on which cassette to choose though. If you could point me in the right direction, that would be nice


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## JCavilia (Sep 12, 2005)

someoneee said:


> Seems like a P.I.T.A. Looks like I'll be visiting the bike shop instead of going DIY on this. It seems that I haven't received any answers on which cassette to choose though. If you could point me in the right direction, that would be nice


I think you're misunderstanding some of the advice here, so I'll try to be blunter. It's not just a PITA -- it's not worth it; it's a waste of money; you'll spend more money than the bike is worth, for very little gain in function. You're far better off to just ride the bike as it is, and save your money to buy a better bike in the future if you really want those kinds of upgrades.


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## tednugent (Apr 26, 2010)

someoneee said:


> Seems like a P.I.T.A. Looks like I'll be visiting the bike shop instead of going DIY on this. It seems that I haven't received any answers on which cassette to choose though. If you could point me in the right direction, that would be nice


you got a triple crank... it's going to help greatly with the 30T chain ring. I don't know what kind of hills you're dealing with... but on the conservative side... a 11-28


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## someoneee (May 13, 2013)

tednugent said:


> you got a triple crank... it's going to help greatly with the 30T chain ring. I don't know what kind of hills you're dealing with... but on the conservative side... a 11-28


Thank you very much! That was the answer I was looking for. I mean the hills here aren't super steep or anything, but that's just me. I'm looking to go fast down hills too.


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## Anders Moll (Jul 22, 2004)

Bottom bracket.


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## AndrwSwitch (May 28, 2009)

Looks like this thread was dying and got dredged...

OP, I agree with those who say it's not worth it. So, I hope you haven't plowed in more money in the last week.

Some other things to be aware of - if this isn't a contemporary bike, the rear hub spacing may be weird, and you may be using a freewheel, not a cassette.

If you do have a cassette, if your rear hub isn't a Shimano (and the right Shimano...) swapping freehub bodies may not be doable.


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