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Downtube shifters will really get you in touch with your bike--more than with many other shifting systems, I believe that I can actually FEEL the rear derailleur moving in my hand when I use them. Needless to say, I ride a lot of old road bikes. You will quickly gain the control to shift either from various hand positions on your road bars. Assuming ...

Downtube shifters can be hard to get used to. When I first used them (after having more experience with on handlebar shifters) I would feel a bit wobbly when trying to shift. It really just takes practice. If they are not indexed (click into gear) then just push the lever (up or down) until the gear changes. If there is some chain rattle, then adjust until ...

For downtube shifters, I prefer to run as little housing as possible. Your best bet is to look for some new old stock (NOS) vintage parts. You need two bits: a chainstay-clamping housing stop for the short housing loop to the rear derailleur, and a downtube-clamping cable guide for making the cable bend at the bottom bracket up towards the front derailleur ...

Unfortunately, your 1974 Campagnolo 5-speed hubs are likely to be 120mm spaced - you can see them in the 1974 Campagnolo catalog. You're going to have a difficult time finding even old road hubs to fit that spacing. I'm extremely doubtful that you have a 1974 Raleigh International in aluminum, since they were originally built with Reynolds 531 steel and ...

There's an outfit that makes a device allowing you to mount conventional friction-shifters up on the handlebars... I'll see if I can find the link. I have been using downtube-mounted friction shifters for many years, second nature to me. They are very forgiving as to what gears your running... I took my 5-speed freewheel up to an 8-speed freehub without ...