Category Archives: Bicycle restoration

Simplex Grand Prix Rear Derailleur

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Simplex Grand Prix Dural

Simplex Grand Prix Dural

I thought I was looking forward to setting up this 1940’s Simplex Grand Prix Dural rear derailleur on the Mercier Meca Dural I have been restoring.  But, like everything else with this project, things didn’t go very well.

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Simplex 1939 catalogue courtesy of disraeligears.co.uk

With many resources available on the web, including a 1939 Simplex catalogue from disraeligears, plus a different Simplex catalogue I found from Peter Brueggeman, it looked like the technical resources would give me everything I needed to get this derailleur set up properly.

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1939 Simplex (Fonteyn) catalogue, courtesy of http://www.peterbrueggeman.com/

These Simplex bell crank actuated derailleurs were offered from the 1930’s – 1950’s. Their mechanical function is the same across all the various models: Grand Tourisme, Rigidex, Luxe, Light Tourist, and Grand Prix (the model I am installing).  The only difference among the models is the length of the pulley cage, and the materials used.  The higher end, more lightweight models use “duralumin” – an aluminum alloy, the same stuff blimps are made of – while the lower end models are made from steel.

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The Claw

The Mercier Meca Dural I am working on did not come with a special Simplex dropout, as shown in the 1939 Simplex catalogue.  So, that meant I needed to use “the claw” to mount the derailleur to the chainstay.

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This seemingly harmless derailleur mount is actually possessed by Satan.  First of all, the claw did not fit over the threaded cylinder of this Simplex derailleur.  I tried gently pushing it on, but with the resistance I felt, decided not to force it.  Instead, crazily, I decided to disassemble the derailleur so that I could place the claw over the threaded cylinder, avoiding damage to the cylinder threads.  Or so I thought.

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The nut at the back of the upper pulley engages the whole cylinder.  But, it was adjusted so tightly against the pulley cone that I could not release the nut.  After hours of experimentation on a different Simplex derailleur of this era (the Rigidex model) I finally found a way to hold the pulley cone with a Campagnolo crank bolt tool wedged against the pulley cage.  Unfortunately, this same technique did not work with the Grand Prix Dural derailleur, because its pulley cones had very small indentations, and any tool I tried could not hold the cone while releasing the nut.

However, one illumination finally hit my brain:  the claw doesn’t require disassembly of the cylinder – instead it is just tapped into place.  After I tried tapping the claw onto the steel Rigidex derailleur I realized this was true.  I never needed to disassemble the derailleur to attach the claw.  Satan at work…

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Once I had the claw on the derailleur it was time to mount it to the chain stay.  Of course, it didn’t fit at all.  So, it was necessary to modify the upper steel clamp of the claw’s mounting bracket.  I put the upper portion in my vise and with a wrench, opened it up quite a bit, so that it would fit on my chain stay. Hurray for steel, which is so forgiving. There is a set screw on the upper bracket which is used to keep the bracket from moving sideways under tension.

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Simplex shifter

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Cable routing

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Original housing for the derailleur

I decided to use the original shifter housing for this derailleur.  The creamy white color looks nice with my red brake housings, and to my eye looks better than the steel housing which came with this derailleur when I purchased it recently in eBay.

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The bell crank of this derailleur houses the set screw for the cable tension.  If you don’t really anchor this down, the cable will move around.  So, the set screw requires a lot of pressure to hold the cable in place.

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Yet another issue was the length of the spring which attaches to the upper pulley and a chainstay braze-on.  The supplied spring was too short, so I have modified a small wire from another derailleur, and will adjust this properly once I have determined the correct chain length.

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This rear wheel had a 4 speed freewheel which I was unsuccessful at removing. Even after re-spacing the axle to position the freewheel correctly in this bike, I was sad to learn that the rear derailleur I chose for this project is for 3 speeds, not 4.  I was not able to move the derailleur far enough over with the claw adjustment to  just to use the lower 3 gears on this freewheel. So, this bike will be geared higher than I would have liked.

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I hope other restorers and enthusiasts continue to share their technical resources – these are invaluable even if the devil is in the details.

Let Us Gather Our Shoes Together

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2015-08-08-002

If you have seen Monty Python’s Life of Brian, you will recognize the quote in the title to this blog post.  In the classic film, Brian (a contemporary of Jesus) has just lost his sandal while fleeing his admirers, who then stop to contemplate the spiritual meaning of his sandal lying in the desert sand.

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I have been on my own quest to find the right cycling shoe that will work well with toe clips.  Having clipped in and out of “clipless” pedals for the last 15 years, I have developed some chronic swelling and pain in my left ankle.  The sideways motion, and the fact that a number of “unclips” are required during my daily commute, has created a typical repetitive motion injury.

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Giro, Vittoria, and Exustar

While I rarely take issue with Grant Peterson, guru of “normal” cycling, I do think that under some circumstances, having your feet attached to the pedals is both safer and more efficient.  Especially if you ride in the rain, at night, in the dead of winter. So while some of my bikes have plain old platform pedals that can be ridden in street shoes, I like my regular commuters and distance riders to have some kind of shoe/pedal attachment.  So, back to toe clips, which I rode comfortably with for twenty years or so.  I am not afraid of toe clips, and the only reason I stopped using them was because I drank the clipless KoolAide that was going around at the time.  There is no more danger of getting your feet stuck in toe clips than in clipless pedals.  (So many myths, so little time to dispel them…)

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Keen vs. Finn

Why not just use any good walking shoes as toe clip cycling shoes?  Well, I tried that first, but as the trend toward giant toe boxes has mushroomed (pun intended), it’s hard to find any modern sport shoes that actually fit into a medium sized toe clip and pedal. Plus, a stiffer sole does add a lot to your efficiency, since more power is transferred to the pedal.  Apparently, though, being clipped in IS NOT related to efficiency.  So, wearing a stiffer soled shoe with regular flat pedals should also improve efficiency, because a stiffer sole has been shown to transmit more power to the crankset.  The Keen shoes shown above have a much stiffer sole than their Finn counterparts. Unfortunately, the toe box of the Keen is too big to fit into a toe clip, so only the Finn’s work as a street shoe to use with toe clips.  Which is too bad, because the Keen’s are so much more comfortable.  However, I use Keen walking shoes and sandals with all of my flat pedal bikes, and they work great for that application.

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Vittoria 1976 Cycling Shoes

Exustar cycling shoes

Exustar cycling shoes

The Exustar shoes are really not comfortable off the bike.  They look nice with jeans, but intrude upon my ankle when walking, in an unpleasant way.  I tried out the beautiful Vittoria 1976 shoes, shown above, only to find that they were very narrow, and even more uncomfortable than the Exustars, although made with much higher end materials.

Finally I ordered these very pretty Giro cycling shoes.  They look so nice that I feel reluctant to strap them on, so haven’t ridden them yet.  I am worried that the Portland rains will ruin them.

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They didn’t come with a cover over the clip attachments, so I stole the covers from another pair of shoes and screwed them in place.  When the time comes, I’ll don these shoes and evaluate their performance relative to my other options, but I am going to wait for some warmer, dryer weather.

Braking News

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2016-12-26-003

Recently I overhauled a few of the Mafac Racer brakes I had in my bin. Why? Perhaps to keep the demons at bay.  Anyone involved in the vintage bicycle “industry” (an apt word involving boatloads of industrious activity) knows that Mafac centerpulls are the best.  However, Mafac Racer brake calipers are ubiquitous, and therefore of very little re-sale value.  In a few thousand years, archaeologists will find these brakes in their dig sites and ponder their significance.

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One of the nice things about Mafac Racer centerpull brakes is that they can accept these little T.A. front racks, which bolt directly on to the arms.  On the above brake I have added a vintage looking battery powered headlamp, which clamps conveniently on to the supplied T.A. bracket.  The little rack is really only good for strapping on a rain jacket, loaf of bread, or tiny tool kit, but it does come in handy as a light mount, and looks very elegant.

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Mafac Dural Centerpulls

Overhauling brakes is really a very easy process, and simply involves disassembly, cleaning, polishing, lubrication, and reassembly.  I won’t detail the steps here, as there are many other resources on the web and in print (Dr. Coles to the rescue), to help you through the process.  If you want to spend far more money than your brakes will ever be worth overhauling your Mafac centerpulls, you can purchase a restoration kit from Compass Cycles for about $125.00 or so.   As I was overhauling these Mafac brakes, I found that I didn’t need to replace any parts – they just needed to be cleaned and lubricated. Mainly, the steel bolts and nuts can rust, and sometimes the red washers can disintegrate – although that is pretty rare.  These brakes were meant to last, and they do.  I didn’t need to replace any parts on the brakes I overhauled – including the washers, which really held up well over many decades.

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Mafac Raid Centerpull Brakes

One exception to the devaluation of Mafac brakes is the consumer demand for and rarity of Mafac Raid brakes.  These are extra long reach brakes that can be used to accomplish a 650b conversion.  It is difficult to find these brakes, and I have horded the few sets that I have on hand.

One of the things that fascinates me about Mafac brakes is how un-glitzy they are.  The stamped logos are odd and unprofessional-looking, and it seems strange to me that their model names include quotation marks.  Yet, engineering-wise, these are far superior to many of the competitors out there.  A rare example of substance over form.