Simplex Derailleurs - Plastic?
 

Looking at a Peugeot UO-8 on EBay, it is equipped with Simplex derailleurs, both of which appear to have plastic components where strength is required. Am I seeing this right? (the bike is supposed to be about 1975 vintage) Are the derailleurs original? How likely are 30-year old plastic components to break?

Yes.

Yes.

Very.

Sheesh - one of the big attractions of buying a bike of that vintage was that the components are all-metal, or so I thought. So if I buy a UO8, will probably have to replace the derailleurs.

For it's day (somewhere along the line of just before we all discovered Sun Tour), the Simplex line of derailleurs were THE low buck alternative to everything else out there. Considering the alternatives were things like the Huret Allvit (in my estimation the worst derailleur ever made) and Campagnolo Record (priced beyond what most any of us could afford at that time), the Simplex was a very credible alternative. And they were light, which was a major reason why they were made out of Delrin plastic.

The downside, of course, is that if you rode daily you didn't expect more than two years service out of one. Then again, they sold for something like $5.00 new, so it wasn't that bad a deal to go buy another one.

Would I ride one today? Definitely. In fact, my last trip down to the local used bicycle shop, I picked up a late (guessing early 80's) model which was Delrin on the pivot points, but the parallelogram is metal. I'm keeping it for a future project, when I'd like to do something heavily French.

Of the early ones, the red labeled jobs are the Prestige: Virtually all plastic. These were the common ones, and are still worth riding - after you've given it a good inspection to make sure it's not too worn. There was an upscale model which I believe was called the Criterium (please correct me if my memory is faulty) which had a plastic coated silver nameplate, and a bit of metal in the parallelogram for strength.

By the mid-80's Simplex had gone to the Japanese style horizontal parallelogram, by which point it was too late - most European manufacturers were using Japanese derailleurs, and no Japanese manufacturer would use European (which in itself killed off the European component industry, Campagnolo being the sole exception).

Just the same, for the 60's and early 70's, Simplex made a damned good product.

Syke
Deranged Few M/C

Perhaps the least satisfactory part of the system is the plastic shift levers, which were flexy and added a lot of slop to the system.

My guess is that with current freewheel tooth shapes and chains, these would shift just fine.

None of the rest of the components on a Peugeot UO-8 are any better than the derailers and shifters. Some people like MAFAC brakes, but I can't understand why. I don't think much of the frame, either. I'd look for a Japanese bike if I were you. You could probably do much better for the same money.

I guess you aren't familiar with Campy Valentino derailleurs, which were thankfully rare in the US, but did show up on some low-end Italians of the bike boom era. A really nasty little stamped steel POS....

C'mon, Dirtdrop, how do you really feel about U08's? Don't hold back, it's not good for you. :)

I have had two bikes with plastic Simplex derailleurs. Both broke after a few rides. Actually, I think one broke on the first ride. Not a big problem though, because new entry level derailleurs are dirt cheap and perform better than the Simplex. So, if you like the bike, just put new derailleurs on it.

Funny, because there is a Peugeot fan club in Japan. One of its members restored a UE-8 Caravan (very similar to the UO-8). Here is the link.

http://f13.aaa.livedoor.jp/~zenbike/...ugeot/ue-8.htm

On another one of his pages, he has some neat pics cycling in the mountains around the Japanese countryside. Note that he calls it the Zen Bike!

Fritz,

Don't listen to Dirtdrop. He's a . . . a . . . well, he's a Dirtdrop. That's it! That's what he is!! :p

Mimi (trusty '68 U08) has lots of new replacement components. Most were changed out after many miles of use and misuse. HOWEVER, the Simplex plastic rear derailer is still the original piece. It works fine and I have it currently shifting over a 7 speed rear set I concocted with a 31 tooth large cog. Seems to work fine.

Like someone else said earlier, ditch the plastic shift levers unless you are trying to keep your bike original (for whatever reason on earth that would be your goal).

Ride it hard and long. You will grow to appreciate a pudgy entry level Peugeot.

Tyson
Cushing, Oklahoma

Snapped the front clamp on my '75 Raleigh Super Course under heavy load. Scared the hell out of me! Now she runs on all Suntour including a straight block Ultra 6 freewheel. It was the best I could talk the old man into for my 17th Birthday, but with the Suntour upgrades, I think it rides as well as the Competition that I really wanted.

Guaranteed - unless you buy one that has already had them replaced. I've had a ton of vintage Peugeot and other Simplex equipped bikes pass through my hands. The most common problems are jockey wheels with missing teeth on the RD, and a cracked clamp/housing on the FD.

Of all the old Simplex equipped bikes I've handled, all but maybe 2 have had to have the FD replaced due to a cracked or outright broken clamp.

The good news is that Suntour replacements are cheap, easy to install, and work great..... :D

Remember that if a rear derailleur fails at any respectable speed, you will have a handful of snakes in your hands until you get it shut down. For some reason I haven't quite gotten figured, if you lock up the drivetrain, your rotational momentum gets transferred around the front hub. At best, you'll be doing a nose wheelie, at worst you'll be riding your nose across the pavement (I broke a super record rear derailleur once).

But they don't fit Simplex dropouts. With few exceptions, cheap French bikes use a claw, so it's not a problem. If you have a good French bike, you have to get creative. The Simplex Super LJs are great, but they're getting stupid expensive. I've had good luck with the Simplex SX series. I paid $10 for the last one I bought. All it needed was some unidentified ball bearing jockey wheels I've had for about 30 years.



























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But they don't fit Simplex dropouts. With few exceptions, cheap French bikes use a claw, so it's not a problem. If you have a good French bike, you have to get creative. The Simplex Super LJs are great, but they're getting stupid expensive. I've had good luck with the Simplex SX series. I paid $10 for the last one I bought. All it needed was some unidentified ball bearing jockey wheels I've had for about 30 years.

I have to use a Prestige FD on my Gitane because it has a Simplex chain guard that only works with the Prestige. I just noticed that it has developed a crack. The Prestige actully shifts a double pretty well for a POS.

























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I've got several Simplex Criterium rear mechs,NOS and also the Aerodynamique both NOS and NIB if anyone wants one and makes a reasonable offer to Rodgoodfellow@bigfoot.com .They are at my home in UK but I travel frequently to Fl,USA in winter if that is any help.

My apologies for being unclear - when mentioning the Suntour as a replacement, I was refering to the FD. I've never had a problem clamping on a Suntour replacemment FD.

There's a problem there, too. French seat tubes are 28mm instead of the usual 28.6mm and non-French front derailers tend to slip. I had to resort to replacing the clamp bolt on the Campy NR I have on my Peugeot with an allen bolt so I can put more torque on it.

They're more likely nylon rather than plastic. My experience with them is that the rears, with two pivot points (top and bottom) are a PITA to keep adjusted but they had a wider takeup range than the Campys or the Hurets of their days.

Agree with your opinion re Huret Allvit I went through a couple of Schwinns with these pieces of crap and their poor reputation has been well earned.

"Plastic" covers a broad spectrum. The Simplex Derailleurs were made of DuPont Delrin, which is an acetal resin that is still being manufactured (albeit not as derailleurs). I had a Simplex Criterium on my early 1970s Gitane Tour de France that shifted quite well. However, my bike shop days taught me that Simplex derailleurs tended to break-down with time whereas their Campy NR counterparts tended to break-in.

I'll throw my experience on the pile here.

Fritz, if you are interested in some level of originality understand that "back in the day" the original owner might quite likely have replaced the derailleurs with Suntour after a few years. Skyerocker is quite right about the timing - Suntour was the cheap and excellent way to go when you wanted to upgrade. The surprising thing is that you found a bike with original derailleurs. But you won't be violating C&V-ness if you replace them, especially if you use one of the Suntour V models.

You can certainly use the Simplex derailleurs if they aren't broken. But do examine the front for cracks in the clamp, and the rear for cracks in both top and bottom knuckles.

As for Simplex copying the Japanese design, they did but they left out one key element. Suntour's big innovation was the slant parallelogram which made the cage move up and down along with out and in, respectively. Their patent ran out in, ah, '86 if remember right, at which point everybody started doing it. The later Simplex RD looked similar with the cage being horizontal and the rear pivot moved backwards, but they never put in the slanted axis that made it move up and down! So while they look like a slant parallelogram RD, they don't act like one.

Some people tend to break the levers, but I've been using Simplex DT levers on my UO8 since about '73 or '74. Have commuted on it about 800 miles this year. (I bought the bike in '72 [I think, though it may have been '73] but it came with stem shifters, and eventually I replaced them.) Operate them smoothly and by gripping the entire lever, metal housing and all, and they should be fine. Of course, now mine will probably break tomorrow.

I agree that modern chains and gears should shift fine with the Simplex. Anecdotal evidence: I put Simplex derailleurs on a tandem I rebuilt last winter, and so far they have shifted quite nicely.

I always considered the latter Simplex RDs were a copy of Shimano's design rather than Suntour's. (due to the patent as mentioned)

The no P content UO8 Appreciation Thread

Just re-fitted my step son's 1975 UO8 with Simplex derailleurs, the fd had broken, rear d was fine, and the shifters were on their way out. Thi bike was nearly mint 4 years ago and is still in beautiful shape and he adores it even more now that it equipped with some much better kit.

It also has a new crank and nice alloy wheels.

My nephew has owned a UE8 for the same amount of time and his bike has gotten the full set of upgrades and has been riding the hell out of this bike for 4 years... says he will never part with it.

I ride an AO8 that has a coaster conversion... and have a 1957 PLX8.

The Simplex Prestige derailleur shifts beautifully and is wickedly light but notoriously fragile... back in the day Suntour would have been the preferred replacement as it was inexpensive as shifted better than the higher priced Italian stuff... or anyone's stuff. It is still a suitable replacement for any old Peugeot.

Do a few more thing like changing the wheels and cranks and you have a nice middleweight bike that ha a ride quality that other bicycles can only aspire to.