Vintage French randonneuer's and porteurs.

Sorry for the delay what with Christmas now packed away... what a relief 🤣 I've got the plain unthreaded Simplex rear dropout hanger on Pugsy PX10 so nut fixed from behind, readin the 543 manual you can turn with a screwdriver and nip up the nut to adjust tension. Theres a spring inside the top barrel that can have tension in either direction so it actually is more for shock absorption and smooth shifts I'm thinking 🤔 You could tap a thread in your hanger to take a non weird rear mech.

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vcballbat said:
....... You could tap a thread in your hanger to take a non weird rear mech.
Click to expand...

Had a lot of thought about this, looked elsewhere. A very good read is this https://www.redclovercomponents.com/blog/1 amongst other places.

It's a nightmare with these Simplex drop-out mounts because I think there are essentially three. The thread in the Simplex Competition would be easy to sort out, less easy is shaping a Campagnolo stop / flat, and perhaps the big issue is that the plate is not at all in the same plane as a normal drop-out, it a fair bit more outboard so there could be issues with sufficient derailleur travel.

The best modification would actually be a custom made B-stop plate and top-bolt out of AL for say a 9 speed 105 Shimano derailleur - all it would need is a longer thread in a different diameter. Otherwise, the second best would be to cut the lot off and get a normal hanger plate - it would look a mess and the frame would be molested for good :eek:

I've decided I won't go down this path, and have just accepted it's Simplex and four speed at the back all the way (I mean the down-tube gear lever boss demands it will be Simplex too). What I do know, is that at least, Simplex did make their future derailleurs compatible with older drop-outs.

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For this bike, I would be happy enough to know I've not molested something historic and live with a good condition working but rather nasty looking Prestige that I know for sure will fit and work. Understandably, the prices of the Juy 543, Export 60 and 61 are utterly mental since they are about the last silver shiny refined Simplex mechs made - in small numbers too I would imagine.

There's no point of me even thinking about such a thing TBH. For such a price, I know it would be better value just to buy a complete bike with such a derailleur on it. Perhaps with patience something might turn up locally for peanuts ;)

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Trying to reassemble the derailleur after sobering up, Lucien realised 'Simplex' was misleading branding stemming from a Merlot fueled winter's night with no rosy cheeked French plumb to warm his mustache. But knowing that one day there'd be British folk undertaking the tedious chore of taking them apart got the blood rushing back into la saucisse de porc, and the patent papers were signed in a swift motion.
 
vcballbat said:
..... I've got the plain unthreaded Simplex rear dropout hanger on Pugsy PX10 so nut fixed from behind, readin the 543 manual you can turn with a screwdriver and nip up the nut to adjust tension.
Click to expand...

Loving this. You've just made that sound so simple which does not equal Simplex :LOL:

Normally, you set up a derailleur with a chosen freewheel / cassette on a wheel, wheel goes in the frame, chain is fitted and then you dial it in.

The only way to dial this in with the wheel fitted is if you have one of those very thin open ended spanners squeezed between the freewheel and inside of the drop-out in the left hand, and right hand with a screwdriver at the front.

The Prestige is similar, but actually impossible to set-up with a wheel in the frame - they used an allen key bolt from behind instead of a nut ‼️‼️‼️o_O The bolt is compatible with threaded or non-threaded Simplex drop-outs. The Simplex manuals most likely don't state the normal course of action is to keep fiddling with it trial and error and keep taking the wheel out and putting it in again :mad:



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