BartonSprings

I'm rebuilding (not restoring) a '73 Raleigh Super Course. I want to replace the Simplex rear derailleur. I'm new at this. What new derailleur will work in this swap. Was thinking about a Shimano Tiagra only because it seems to have the right specs and is in my price range. Good idea? Bad idea? Suggestions?
Thanks

bikemig 

There is a thread on this site of road bikes that have been modernized. Good idea? Sure if it fits your purposes. I'm a fan of modernizing road bikes. The bottom line is what do want to do with the bike. A modern derailleur like the tiagra is inexpensive and it has pretty good chain capacity. What is the capacity that you need the derailleur to handle?

Here is a useful definition of capacity,

Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Glossary Ca--Ce

The tiagra comes in a short and a medium cage so you'll need to figure this out before buying one.

Here's the thread (over a 100 pages!):

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...i-s-ergos.html

likebike23

As Bikemig said, it's a reasonable choice if you don't want to keep it period correct. You may need a derailleur claw if your frame doesn't have a derailleur hanger on the dropout.

cb400bill

many have swapped out the Simplex with Suntour

JohnDThompson 

What kind of gear range do you need to accommodate?

sykerocker 

Pick up any old Sun Tour with the claw hanger, as your bike doesn't have a brazed on derailleur hanger. This was a very popular upgrade back in the day. Looking around you can probably find a Sun Tour V (short cage) or V-GT (long cage) very cheaply. Like around ten bucks, and it would be a proper 1974-ish replacement. Once its installed, you may discover that you have to do almost a 180 degree pull on the shift lever to get into low gear. The Simplex shift levers have a relatively small take up (small diameter) on the cable. If the amount of pull you have to go thru is more than you like, just find a set of Sun Tour levers to go with it. The matching year levers have a ratchet action pulling onto the low cog and are absolutely wonderful.

VeloBase.com - Component: SunTour V (3rd version)

If you've gone this far, just find a matching Compe-V front derailleur. Very nice derailleur, but it works in reverse (Sun Tour characteristic back at that time). It'll take about two miles of riding to get used to it.

The Golden Boy 

It looks like there's a few Suntour V-GT Luxe rear derailleurs on the ebay around $25 buy it now. If you're doing the friction shifting, the old Suntour will look more "right" than a new Tiagra on a 40 year old frame, and it'll shift about as well.

If you're modernizing the whole thing, or you've got a eye towards modernizing it, it might be best to get the newer piece.

big chainring 

And to think today I replaced a newish Shimano derailleur with a 40 yr old Simplex. The most underrated derailleur ever made.

John E

If it were mine, I would definitely consider a SunTour derailleur. I built my UO-8 from a bare frame, first with a SunTour V-GT for my wife, later with a SunTour Cyclone II for me.

Lascauxcaveman 

Short answer: almost anything will work. And when I pulled the Simplex derailleurs off my 72 Super Course, they were working OK too. But I had a lot of derailleurs on hand, so I figured I'd experiment.

In order, I tried a Shimano 600 Arabesque mid cage, which looked very snazzy and surprisingly actually worked with freewheels up to 34T (!), then a Suntour V GT long cage which worked even better, then a 90's Shimano 105 long cage which worked better still (but looked too modern) and eventually I converted the bike to a fixie.

So you don't have to limit yourself to a modern Tiagra; almost anything will work. As mentioned above, you will need a claw hanger to mount the derailleur, or buy a derailleur that has the built-in claw like your Simplex has.

If you decide you want indexed shifting, you'll have to match the derailleur and freewheel to the shift lever (there are some overlapping combos that can be fudged) and same if you want to really modernize your bike with brifters; the brake/shifters and derailleurs have to matched up with a properly spaced freewheel to work together. If you stick with friction shifting, pretty much everything is interchangeable.

mountaindave 

If it were a French bike, I would insist on replacing Simplex with Simplex. All-metal RDs can be found for reasonable costs to replace the plastic/metal ones. But since this is a Raleigh, I would go the SunTour route - very period-correct and they look great (and apparently work quite well).

greg3rd48 

I concur. I replaced the Simplex RD's with VGT Luxe's on two U08's that I built up along with a Compe V FD on one and a Spirt on the other. I paired them with Suntour DT friction shifters and they work great. The Simplex derailleurs were so cracked with age and in my humble opinion they will fail at some inopportune moment.

BartonSprings

I like the SunTour idea and am going to go with that.

I'm just an old guy with an old bike that hasn't ridden in 35 years and wants to ride again. Bought this Super Course new in '73, rode it hard for a few years then it was stolen. Recovered 3 years later trashed. Frame, forks any wheels in good shape but most of the components were shot. Let sit until now. Thought it would be an enjoyable and educational project to rebuild it myself. Just want to end up with a dependable bike that I can put a few hundred miles on.

Thanks for all your excellent suggestions.

daf1009

That is a very good decision! Suntour looks appropriate (and great!)...and works well. I have a Super Course that is all original...but...were I to make changes I would follow the route you are doing!!!!

And...BTW...welcome to the Bike Forums!

Doohickie

One thing I would consider that will improve the shifting considerably is to replace the original freewheel with a ramped one (the modern kind designed for index shifting). It makes shifting much smoother even with friction shifters (little or no clackity-clack between gears). It's a cheap and easy mod and if you don't like it, it's totally reversible.

mountaindave 

That must have been a day of very mixed emotions. But at least you got the bike back!

Great starter project. I would plan on new cables/housing & brake pads all around and well. Nothing like rusty cables sapping (or snapping!) braking/shifting power. Be sure to snap some photos before you start, in progress, and after you finish.

+1 Welcome!

BartonSprings

Thanks, doohickie. The freewheel needed to be replaced anyway. Now I know what to order.

If anyone has suggestions for a front derailleur, I would appreciate it. After that I just need to overhaul the bottom bracket, replace cables and chain and I'm good go. Already replaced the center-pull Weimann brakes and the down tube shifters with parts from a same era Grand Prix. Original brake levers are good. Oh, I do need a seat. The worst thing the thief who stole my bike did was destroy that beautiful brown leather Brooks saddle.

Thanks, guys. I love this forum!

mountaindave 

You sound like you are well on your way to being a C/V groupie!

That monkey fighting thief ruined your Monday to Friday seat? I'd open some windows on that punk. (Oops, wrong thread...) Is there no way to save it? Unless it's rotten, it may be salvageable.

BartonSprings

The bike was left out in the weather. The leather is not rotten. The leather curled up on the sides of the saddle 'till they are more less even with the top of the saddle ... like wings. I could post a pix of it later if anyone things this is fixable. Would be wonderful if it was.

jeirvine 

Welcome to the forum. Here's a thread with info on saving a deformed leather saddle:
https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...ld-brooks.html

And here's some general Super Course inspiration:
https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...er-course.html

BartonSprings

Fabulous! Thank you SO MUCH.