Mid Century Mercier Meca Dural

Posted on January 16, 2017 by Nola Wilken

This winter’s crazy weather in Portland, Oregon finally gave me the time and focus needed to complete the restoration of a very interesting bicycle – a late 40’s/early 50’s Mercier Meca Dural. The frame is constructed with aluminum tubes joined with ornate aluminum lugs and internal steel expanders. The front fork is good old steel, but the rest of the frame is 100% “duralumin” – the same stuff that blimps were made from.

Once I finally had the rear wheel’s axle spacing and dishing issues resolved (the 650b Mavic rims/F.B hubs wheelset installed replace the incorrect 700c wheels on the bike when I acquired it), I could devote time to mounting the 650b tires and dealing with fender line issues. This bike’s beautiful hammered Le Martele Lefol fenders were meant for tires a bit larger than the Panaracer 40 mm Col de la Vie tires I mounted to the the vintage Mavic rims. That meant spacers. And, my favorite spacers are wine corks. Therefore, it was necessary and advisable to open a couple bottles of champagne (the higher priced, the better), to obtain the corks needed to meet this objective. The photos above show the champagne corks installed on the front and rear fenders.

Another issue was the chain line adjustment. Once I had the rear derailleur installed – a NOS Simplex Grand Prix – it became clear that even after adjusting it to push the derailleur as far in toward the frame as possible, and after re-spacing and re-dishing the rear hub, the chain line was off. It was going to be necessary to push the crankset away from the frame, by a few millimeters. Fortunately, with this unique frame’s method of joining of the bottom bracket with brass bolts to the chain stays, I determined that I could remove the bolts, and then re-position the bottom bracket accordingly. I removed the bolts from the frame, lubricated the bottom bracket shell – which is a beautifully machined aluminum cylinder, then began the process of moving it slightly over to the right. This took the work of a mallet as well as my Lozan BB lockring wrench, but finally I moved the BB cylinder enough to provide the chain-line I needed. One of the many interesting things about this bike is that the BB axle is hollow (to save weight) and the crank bolt on the left side is threaded backwards. Something not to forget in the future!

Ideale Model 80 leather saddle

Simplex shifter

Luxor headlight bracket

Luxor 65 headlamp

C.M. calipers with reversed hardware

Vintage french rack, Huret wingnuts

The bike’s leather saddle – an Ideale Model 80 – might be worth more than the bike itself if eBay seller pricing is to be believed. The saddle is a little dry, but after reconditioning it, I think it will prove to be very comfortable. The “C.M.” brake calipers are a long reach mechanism from the 40’s that I used to replace the incorrect CLB 700 brakes that were on the bike when I purchased it. You’ll note from the photo above that I reversed the hardware on the rear brake to accommodate this bike’s brake routing – to allow the cable to enter from underneath the caliper. I also installed a French rear rack from this same era, as the original rack was missing.

The above photo shows that the seat post lug is pinned, as compared to the rest of the lugs on this bike which are joined with internal steel expanders. There were other methods of joining aluminum tubes back in the day when these bikes were built, but I think these Meca Dural examples are likely to survive the test of time. We’ll see once I get this bike out on the road.

Before

After

It’s funny (but not really) that the before and after photos of this bike don’t look that much different. Perhaps what’s different is my perspective – the bike is now ready for a test ride, with appropriate components, and a period-correct restoration to make the bike 100% rideable. I threw my leg over the saddle today just to see how the bike felt and I was startled to find that this bike fits me perfectly. I can’t wait to get it out on the road. For that, the weather gods must provide.

An Illuminating Subject

Posted on January 14, 2017 by Nola Wilken

Dynamo lighting: who hates it? Almost everyone. But virtually all vintage bicycles, except those wondrous vintage Raleighs with Sturmey Archer’s dynohubs, use sidewall or bottom bracket-driven dynamo lighting.

Soubitez dynamo with Margil roller

Today, I was finally connecting the wiring on the Mercier Meca Dural’s lighting system – a project I have been putting off because, well, I hate dynamo lighting. The bike’s own original fork-mounted dynamo had long ago been lost, so I set up this nice Soubitez unit, shown above, which is very light-weight and free-spinning, as compared to its slightly older counterparts, shown below.

1941 Radios dynamo

1950’s Ducel dynamo

1953 EDELKO SELF dynamo

Lighting set-up is a project that I would rate right along side fender line adjustment and front rack mounting: patience and resolve can be sourly tested as one works through the glitches and conundrums involving wiring routing, bulb wattage, voltage mysteries, and the absolute worst: cutting electrical wires and clearing their housing so that they can be spliced properly to carry the current through the system.

dynamo1 dynamo2

There are very few resources which adequately discuss how to set up a sidewall driven (or bottom bracket driven) lighting system. For the uninitiated, setting up the wiring on these old systems can seem daunting. The most important aspect of the set up is insuring that the dynamo is positioned correctly so that a straight line can be drawn through the center of the dynamo, down to the center of the wheel’s drop out. This will insure that maximum efficiency is obtained from these already inefficient devices. Another mystery can be the wiring set up. Every dynamo needs a ground. For vintage steel bicycles, the ground often existed automatically via the presence of a “ground screw” which contacted the steel frame. The above illustrations are courtesy of Glenn’s New Complete Bicycle Manual. They show how to set up the wiring, and how to position the dynamo. Fortunately, the wiring part of these old systems is very simple: hook one wire to the front bulb, one to the rear, and both into the dynamo. These old systems are 6 volt/3 watt power that can easily be upgraded to LED lighting. One can apparently blow out the lights if going at very high speeds. I haven’t had that experience yet, though.

3 wires through the lug braze-on: shifter cable, brake cable, and dynamo wire.

Routing the dynamo wires across the bicycle’s frame can lead to frustration. If you are really obsessive, you can make the whole thing look magnificent (clearly, I am NOT in this camp). Ideally, you wrap the lighting wires wherever they can be wrapped, in this case around the brake housing. This Mercier Meca Dural has wonderful lugs which include many options for cable routing, so I ran them through one of the openings, and brought the wiring up across its sloping top-tube, to the front fork where the dynamo resides. In between, I wrapped the wires around the front and rear brake cables.

Amazingly, after changing out the wiring with something new and replacing a burned out front bulb in the Luxor 65 headlamp, the system worked! Testing this out on the road will be fun, as this dynamo’s drag is significantly less than other’s I have tested.

Soubitez dynamo on 1977 Jack Taylor Tandem

Soubitez dynamo on 1973 Jack Taylor Touring

Busch and Muller Dymotec 6

2015-10-25-009

If you really are interested in dynamo lighting for your own bike, you could consider using the more efficient Dymotec 6 from Busch & Muller. I’ve had one of these around in my shop, but haven’t tried it out yet. It is definitely lighter than any vintage dynamo I have handled. However, I will also say that Soubitez dynamos appear to have the least drag among all the vintage dynamos I have tested. I have two of these – each mounted on my Jack Taylor bicycles – a 1973 Touring model, and and 1976 tandem. They still work very well after all these years.

2017-01-14-008

I do love the engineering quality of these old steel dynamos. They are very pretty, but very heavy. And, while I still hate dynamos, there are lots of reasons to love them. They can be disengaged whenever you want, so are only creating drag when lighting is needed. They aren’t that much heavier than a hub dynamo, and are simple to add or subtract to an existing bicycle, without the complexity of a hub dynamo. So, if you like riding vintage bicycles, maybe you will like dynamo lighting.

Simplex Grand Prix Rear Derailleur

Posted on January 8, 2017 by Nola Wilken

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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…

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.

Simplex shifter

Cable routing

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Restoring Vintage Bicycles from the Hand Built Era

Portland, Oregon, USA

Category Archives: Vintage French Bicycle

Mid Century Mercier Meca Dural

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An Illuminating Subject

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Simplex Grand Prix Rear Derailleur

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