Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 19,810
Likes: 597
From: NJ, NYC, LI
Bikes: 1940s Fothergill, 1959 Allegro Special, 1963? Claud Butler Olympic Sprint, Lambert 'Clubman', 1974 Fuji "the Ace", 1976 Holdsworth 650b conversion rando bike, 1983 Trek 720 tourer, 1984 Counterpoint Opus II, 1993 Basso Gap, 2010 Downtube 8h, and...
Once upon a time (1978?) I rode a Raleigh Record with Huret Alvit derailleurs. My sister rode a Peugeot UO8. My gears were never quite right, but my sister never had any trouble with hers. One time she showed me how to adjust the high and low end movement of the Simplex derailleur on her bike, and I thought that looked pretty easy. But when I looked at my own bike, I couldn't even find the corresponding screws. In my immature mind a simple dichotomy arose:
Simple good. Huret bad.
Say what you like about them now, but they seemed pretty nifty at the time!