Originally Posted by
LeicaLad
Ah, you know what they say about wrestlin' with pigs!
When I posted images of my '71 TdF with 650B wheels, I expected reactions. Total silence. Re: these minor tweaks? I'm a little surprised.
Now, the taping and very slight grinding to allow for a stop is NOT the same as drewing off the hanger ala some SS hipster. The purity of Simplex dropouts is. . . pointless.
Pretty much everyone I knew did it, and I did it to my much beloved War Horse. It does not diminish the value, and opens up a world of better RD options. I am currently running a nice French Sach Quarz on my TDF now, but had a Campy NR on it for 30+ years. These were production bikes, and there's not a whole lot of reason to be forced into using only vintage Simplex. The Simplex RDs were adequate, but the synthetic bodies are old and brittle on most survivors. There are enough other old parts that break, why limit yourself to those?
My '71 Super Corsa, on the other hand, came with Campy dropouts, so no need to tap. Other than the components and dropouts, you cannot tell the difference between the two frames. Except that the SC does not have the rear brake bridge, either. It came with Campy brakes.
I still think Jon's is a '72, from what I see.
Anyway, ride it. And show us your photos of the progression.
Cheers!
LeicaLad, thanks for not taking offense, since none was meant. I sometimes can't resist doing a little gratuitous chain-yanking, which is easily misinterpreted on the Internets....
By and large, I agree that the hysteria about modifying Simplex hangers is overdone. If the hanger on this frame had already been modified, I wouldn't have minded. As others have pointed out, a modified hanger can use either Simplex or Campagnolo-type derailleurs, and you can't even see the modified area once the derailleur is in place.
The thing is, I just don't want to be the guy who alters a hanger that has survived unmodified for 40+ years. That's sort of irrational, I realize.
A couple of years ago, I did some work on a friend's PX-10. He had taken it to his LBS to have the original Simplex Prestige derailleur replaced, which the mechanic did by drilling out a big whacking way-off-center hole in the hanger on the frame, inserting one of those modern Dropout Saver nuts, and rigidly bolting a cheap Shimano mountain bike derailleur to it.
I concluded that the cleanest--and maybe most merciful--solution would have been to saw the already-mangled hanger completely off, then file the area to match the non-drive side and smooth it off nicely. That would have let him use any derailleur he wanted--Huret, Simplex, Campagnolo--with the appropriate mounting claw.
The thing is, I just couldn't make myself do it. ("Yet each man kills the thing he loves...the coward does it with a kiss, the brave man with a sword!" You said it, Oscar Wilde.")
Coward that I am, I left the mangled hanger alone and mounted a Suntour VGT Luxe on a claw on top of it. As far as I know, it's still like that. Others are more courageous than I am. I salute them.