Huret dropouts have caused me a few headaches as of late. My last issue is finding a RD for use with a 1975 Grand Jubile with Huret dropouts. I have a Huret Eco RD that will do the job, but I wanted something a bit better. I read here that the Shimano Crane RDs were made to work with Huret AND Campagnolo type dropouts. So, I bought one.

But, when I went to mount it to the Motobecane something didn't look quite right. I asked Nlerner, who is currently using a Crane GS on a Grand Jubile for some pics to help me out. It looks as though the piece that acts as the stop is in a different orientation on the two derailleurs.

Neal's Crane GS



My Crane (short cage)



Neal also sent a pic of his RD installed so I could see how that "stop" piece sat in relation to the dropout.

When I tried to mount my short cage Crane with the "stop" piece in that position, the RD was at an incorrect angle (say 3 o'clock when it should've been at 6 o'clock).

So, as I'm want to do late at night whilst drinking brown liquor in the bike dungeon I call a basement I decided that it seemed perfectly plausible that the position of this "stop" piece could be moved. So, I removed the sir clip that held the "stop" piece to the mounting bolt. I didn't see a second hole for the spring end or any other way to change the position of the "stop" piece while keeping the spring taut so I just tried to "put it back how I found it". That worked, although the spring is now not as tight as it was before I removed and reinstalled the sir clip.



I mounted the Crane to the Jubile and it looks like it might work, but the derailleur mounting spring is decidedly more flaccid than the usual Shimano RD of this type design.





Here's what Neal's looks like mounted. Mine would NOT mount like this. It's as if the diameter of the entire dropout is too large for the "stop" piece.



So, any advice?
Reckon this thing will work as is?
Should I stop tinkering with small RD parts?
Should I stop drinking bourbon all together?