Hi there,

I need some help with my Peugeot PX10. I got this bike in France a few months back and when I picked it up the guy had a set of Campagnolo Nuevo Record derailleurs which I got for a decent price.
I was trying to fit the rear derailleur but then realised it doesn’t fit on the frame.

Any advice on how to make this work? I was quite keen to install these and I've been reading about what is the best solution without damaging the frame. I saw some people suggesting mounting a Wolftooth adapter or a hanger compatible with Campagnolo. Would this work? I saw rootboy had a solution for it here but sadly all the pictures are down, anyone tried this?

Another help I would like is for the stem and bars. I know the original stem is a must replace but I'm trying to find out what shall I replace it with for the year of my bike which I believe is 1969. Any other suggestions?

Some pictures of the bike in this post
Thank you very much.

I don't think the bars & stem are a 'must' replace (unless of course they simply don't fit you...)- examine them carefully for cracks (and in the case of the bars, sagging), especially the top of the slot in the stem where the binding slug goes. If the slot is squared off, round it with a file/dremel/drill. If there are not signs of cracks or weakness, if it were me, I'd use it (and in fact I am, on my '72 PX-10), and just pull the stem and check it every now and then. $.02....

On my '69 PX-10, I had very good luck for thousands of kilometers with the original Simplex Criterium rear derailleur shifting a 5 speed freewheel. I suggest that you stick with Simplex (maybe upgrade to an all alloy model). I hope to pick up a very weathered PA10E today and if the Criterium Derailleurs are too far gone, they will be replaced with Simplex.

A bolt on Campy hanger will move the derailleur outboard and while it will work, it will look bad.

Wrt stem and bars, they are a safety issue and I rode with a sanded down ITM combo.

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the machine's Juy forged gear hanger is unthreaded

run a 10.0mm X 1.0 tap through it

then grind/file a stop in the perimeter at the seven o'clock position and "Robert will be thine uncle"


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... or hack off the derailleur tab and use a claw. Lots of Simplex dropouts suffered that mutilation.

When I went to hang a SunTour Cyclone II on my 1980 PKN-10, I happily noted that Simplex had switched to a threaded setup that can accommodate a variety of rear derailleurs. When I gave the bike to my son, I put the Simplex back on and kept the Cyclone. He got the wider gearing he wanted, and I put the Cyclone on my UO-8. (Works fine on a 13-26 6-speed as long as you go half-step up front.)

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PX-10 Information Thread.

...look in that thread.

The absolute best advice given so far is stick with the Simplex rear derailleur. Believe it or not, they do work very well. The worst kind of advice is altering the frame of a highly desirable vintage road bike by hacking, drilling or filing. Why ruin something that is becoming increasingly valuable and hard to find? Just my opinion but if my opinion saves just one frame from the hacksaw, then I will feel that I have done us all a favor

Leave the campagnolo. Take the simplex.

I have an adapter that rootboy (Scott) made for me. I have plans to put it on a Mercier 300 if the Simplex Criterium ever gives up.
Scott passed away last year, unfortunately. Talented guy, and that’s an understatement.

pictures please

I had to dig a bit thru old conversations with Scott, to get reacquainted with the parts he sent me.

Here's what he wrote.
"I made this first one before I purchased the NOS Simplex stop plates. I made my first stop plate out of nickel silver as I didn't have the correct thickness in steel, which would have rusted anyway. The center hole in the stainless steel Simplex plates has two flats on it, to register on the back of the derailleur body. I have filed two flats on the "boss" of this bolt. The flats and hole are a tad larger than the flats/hole in the Simplex plate, but it works.

OK. I have to grind a small, wedged shaped notch in the edge of these Simplex plates, which registers on the modified boss on the back of the Nuovo Record top pivot body. Now, in order to make you a stop plate, I'll need to remove the NR derailleur off my Gitane, in order to fit it and make sure it stops the derailleur at the proper angle. AND THEN, you will have to alter the boss on the back of your NR derailleur to fit! As you can see in that tutorial I did, I used a 1/4 fine grinding stone in my Dremel to modify my derailleur. I used a rounded stone so the stop boss on the back of the derailleur would barely clear the outside diameter of the dropout hanger. If you have a Dremel, or small grinder, I could include one of those tiny grinding stones. I think it is 1/8 shank. Maybe smaller. The notch in the stop plate registers on the top, flat side of the derailleur stop boss, which I leave un-altered, as I remember."

So what I'm recalling from our conversation is the plate is a purchased item, and he machined the stud.

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.

...if you are replacing the front mech and the shifters, and you want everything to match, it's still pretty cheap and relatively easy to find one of the Shimano rear derailleurs that were made so that they would fit on Simplex rear dropouts without modification (other than threading the hole to the proper size and standard), and match it with a front derailleur and shifters from Shimano of the same era. Sometimes called "first generation Dura-Ace", the top of the line was "Crane". It comes in both long and short cage versions, and has a built in stop that works on Simplex. There were some slightly lesser models in terms of materials/finish that will also work. Look for "Titlist". Those are usually cheaper.
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^^^Simplex



^^^Crane


The short cage versions are cheaper to purchase, and have at least as much capacity as the standard Simplex. They are just more durable. The built in stop on the hanger bolt is of a similar design. I usually end up using a Suntour mechanism on the front, because they are just easier to find in the bins over at the bike co-op here. There are a lot of downtube and bar end shifters that will work. The Suntour ratcheting ones are very popular as a modification.
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