Originally Posted by
goncalompls
Thanks a lot for all the replies super helpful. I might follow the advice and stick with the Simplex. Is a harder one to decide as for that I need to get a new front derailleur to match as well as shift levers and the ones that came with the bike were broken.
Thanks a lot for these images
satbuilder! Very sad news about Scott, he seems to have an incredible skill! His posts are amazing. Unfortunately, I don't have the same skill but I might try it one of these days.
I've been riding my PX-10 with Criterium shift levers and they've been fine (and can be found
very cheap). I recently got a set of Retrofrictions to see what all the hype is about, but alas, they're missing some essential bits I'm still trying to track down to make them workable. If the original derailleurs on mine hadn't both been broken I probably would've tried to make due (until they likely eventually gave up the ghost)- instead I got SLJ front and rears from a forum member and I've been pretty happy with their performance.
My PX's finish looked in similar shape to yours and I went through the same paint/don't paint/patina etc debate... In the end I carefully sanded the rusty spots and sealed them with clear nail-polish, polished up everything and gave it a good waxing. I think it looks great and I'm glad I didn't go for a repaint. It's tough to know exactly where the line of 'acceptable' patina is, and it'll be different from one C&V enthusiast to the next! The Valgan I picked up had definitely crossed the line for me so got repainted.