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Campagnolo/simplex shifter update

A while back, I posted a question about my slipping Campy shifters (pictured below) and after being kind enough to point out that the wingnuts were Simplex, a few of you raved about Simplex Retrofriction shifters. After seeing what they go for on eBay (!! ... their reputation is clearly reflected in the price) I thought I'd go for Plan B, which was to buy a full functioning set of Campy shifters for as cheap as possible. Remember that one of my goals here was to have an all-Campy 531 bike for as little money as I could, given that I picked up the original bike for $20, and most of the Campy bits were in the parts bin as takeoffs from other sources.

I picked up a set of Campy Victory (also pictured below) for $8.00, and learned a couple of things which I'll pass on for the greater good:

1. Threading in the braze-on shifter bosses - at least on my '79 Peugeot PKN10 - fits Simplex, but not Campy; different thread count, and maybe pitch. The only way to put Campy shifters on this frame is to attach them with non-matching, and presumably French, nuts (unless Campy produced shifter sets with different threading for different bikes, but I doubt that).

2. The bushings in the Victory shifter set are interchangeable with those in the Super Record shifter set, so if you're looking for a set of Campy bushings for cheap, keep your eyes open for Victory. They're all over eBay for good prices. YMMV, of course, but the price for NOS bushings is startling.

As it turns out, my shifters in the condition in which I bought them only had one bushing per side; after I installed the full set, two per side, from the Victory shifters, all is working well ... even though I still have the Simplex wingnuts holding on the otherwise Campy assemblies.

So, how much total have you put into the bike?

Nice job by the way.

East Hill

one day, when you are ready to take the plunge, maybe buy a metric thread pitch gauge ($10 ?) and find out what the threading is on the simplex wingnut.. then you can replace it with a nice stainless button head cap screw or something similar

I have found that a crucial part to the campy shifters is the very small washer between the bolt and the outer cover plate. Without it you will get slippage as the washer is actually sprung (domed).

Quote:

Originally Posted by East Hill

So, how much total have you put into the bike?

Nice job by the way.

East Hill

$213, including new hoods and new tubulars.

I'm pretty proud of myself, if I do say so.

And to make things even better, it's a rider. I finished up an Austro-Daimler Starleicht at about the same time, and have to confess that right now the A-D is my #1, but this bike is a close second.

A little later than the popsicle sticks (87 or so) campy came out with retrofriction shifters that work just like the simplex retrofrictions. They started in that year with retrofrictions at several price points, and continued with the C-Record retrofrictions through the early '90's. The theory was that "real" bikies
didn't want clickers. You can often get these shifters pretty cheaply on da bay...and get the benefits of retrofriction shifting without the giant simplex price...