dante73

Ok... Grand Record arrived last night. Looks like it was late into the life cycle of the Motobecane-in-France era. Still had the Nervex lugs but built up with Simplex (metal bodied, not plastic) derailleurs. It is a very pretty bike that doesn't look far from being able to ride. Having searched up and down for info on the web, but having found none, here are a few questions:

1. Rear derailleur. Works find but it has a chipped jockey pulley (wow, just like the Motobecane I had thirteen years ago...). Can I just buy some other Simplex unit and munge a good jockey pulley? Doesn't look like it would be terribly hard to do. Has anyone tried a Bullseye on a Simplex? Yes, I know it's easy to get a Suntour, drill out the derailleur hole, and replace the whole thing... but I don't want to ruin the aesthetics. Yet.

2. Chain - can I change to a modern nickel-plated chain? Any issues with using one of these causing wear on the metal in Nevar cranks or Helicomatic Super 700 series aluminum cogs? I'm probably going to save this part for next year.

3. Spoke guard. Can these be replaced?

4. Peg inside rear triangle a few inches up from the dropout. Is this a chain rest?!

Thanks in advance!
Dante