Vintage French randonneuer's and porteurs.

Mod-Master said:
That juy rear mech is lovely.

It’s £1300 on pedal pedlar.
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....and then you need to pay for the paracetamol on top of that. Then about 6 bottles of wine.

I looked into the Juy 543 for a brief moment. Cheapest I found was 400 €.

It's rather odd and strange with it's preset for 3, 4 or 5 speed blocks (actually, very pointless in a way) and double cabling.

I just shudder at how fiddly and awkward it must be.

https://www.classiclightweights.co.uk/classic_components/simplex-juy-543/
 
Woz said:
....and then you need to pay for the paracetamol on top of that. Then about 6 bottles of wine.

I looked into the Juy 543 for a brief moment. Cheapest I found was 400 €.

It's rather odd and strange with it's preset for 3, 4 or 5 speed blocks (actually, very pointless in a way) and double cabling.

I just shudder at how fiddly and awkward it must be.

https://www.classiclightweights.co.uk/classic_components/simplex-juy-543/
Click to expand...
The Export Model 60 has a single cable and plastic jockey wheels, gonna have to prepare myself for a closer peek inside...🤪
IMG_20221218_162114_HDR.jpg
 
Making sure I'm on the right side of the line feeling slightly relaxed rather than anaesthetised the two little grub screws slackened and the top cover removed. Loosen the side nut so the n shape cable stop bar can slide up to the top. IMG_20221218_162902_HDR.jpg IMG_20221218_165259_HDR.jpg

With the chain fitted the default cable slack setting is first gear largest sprocket like on the Tour de France, or back to front, steering wheel on the wrong side sort a thing. What looks like cable guide adjuster is the pinch bolt that allows the mech to slide on the boss to set first gear limit. IMG_20221218_162915_HDR.jpg IMG_20221218_164739_HDR.jpg

Fed the cable through the guide and into the toggle, take up any slack and pinch tight. Now shift to top gear smallest sprocket on your 3-5 speed freewheel. Once trimmed slide the n cable stop bar down to the cable clamp and nip up the nut stopping the cable pulling further. IMG_20221218_165439_HDR.jpg IMG_20221218_162943_HDR.jpg

Same as the 543 so no actual pre-sets as such and without the extra jockey cage cable which is a relief, the cage spring tension can also be adjusted. I was too pissed to read any instructions so fingers crossed..🤪🤞
 
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Excellent write up there @vcballbat - some comments / questions though:

Interesting how they improved on the TdF, especially with setting the position to the large sprocket and having one RD for various blocks and wheel dishing. Wonderful brain melt-down idea to use that fixing pinch bolt to also run the inner cable through it - functionally whacked out to save drilling a cable hole elsewhere were there is little space left ;)

I found putting the cable in the pinch bolt at the end of a floppy bit of chain a real PITA on the TdF; almost a three handed job and lots of swearing with long nose pliers. This looks fiddly too, especially to trim the cable length - can you honestly get a cable cutter in there once attached?

To make it easier, is not best to initially and temporarily put a zip tie around the pulley cage and knuckle to compress the spring and thus to have a longer length of pull chain to work with, thread the cable in and temporary tighten the cable pinch bolt? Then release the zip tie and slowly loosen the cable pinch bolt which should result in no excess cable slack?
 
Woz said:
Excellent write up there @vcballbat - some comments / questions though:

Interesting how they improved on the TdF, especially with setting the position to the large sprocket and having one RD for various blocks and wheel dishing. Wonderful brain melt-down idea to use that fixing pinch bolt to also run the inner cable through it - functionally whacked out to save drilling a cable hole elsewhere were there is little space left ;)

I found putting the cable in the pinch bolt at the end of a floppy bit of chain a real PITA on the TdF; almost a three handed job and lots of swearing with long nose pliers. This looks fiddly too, especially to trim the cable length - can you honestly get a cable cutter in there once attached?

To make it easier, is not best to initially and temporarily put a zip tie around the pulley cage and knuckle to compress the spring and thus to have a longer length of pull chain to work with, thread the cable in and temporary tighten the cable pinch bolt? Then release the zip tie and slowly loosen the cable pinch bolt which should result in no excess cable slack?
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Cheers Woz, your cable tie hack is definitely going to be my third hand and to make things even more awkward my cable clamp/toggle chain has been turned 180° too far round so the clamp bolt is on the inside. Must have been like it when I striped it down but it's threaded into a blind hole and won't budge. I can't use too much force as I can only grip the chain but maybe I'm not thinking French and it's a left hand thread..💡 have to give it a go..🤞
Wondering if anyone decided to take up some cable slack backing out the adjuster and getting the mech mangled in the wheel..😱
Luckily the Export Model 60 launched in 1960 was for one year only and superseded by the lovely Export Model 61..😍

Simplex61.JPG
 
Seriously appreciating this discussion. On the EdN build the TdF mech. works, the top spring is a bit tired, and it feels it needs be in a tupperware oil bath 24/7 to be anything like smooth. :LOL: My fall back plan for the moment is very good condition Prestige with the horrid black plastic from a donor charity shop find, so I'm trying to figure what else is there. As you know, I have Simplex hanger which ........ errrr ........ is very limiting 🤦‍♂️

What I forgot to mention above is the chain tension or rather in this case, the top adjustment to help with chain wrap. Is this weird ass too where you would mount it from behind a plate hanger with a large nut, or if you had the threaded Simplex drop-out just screw it with a flat bladed screw driver from the front? I still don't get how chain wrap and the upper spring is loaded, but then again I've only had one bottle of wine tonight.

Lastly, does the chain with the pinch end not revolve in any direction like the TdF then? I think I get what you mean, if anything I wouldn't be that surprised if that was how it was designed to hide inner workings which are already hidden out of view by a plate anyway - inaccessibility is a French engineering obsession - ask any Renault owner :LOL:

.... you don't want that boring parallelogram 61 nonsense. You couldn't justify having a lovely Gigondas :LOL:
 
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