vintage derailleur question
 

i seen a picture,i think on this site, of a front dereailleur with a handle on top, appeared to me a hand shift set up. can someone tell me about this and maybe a picture. thanks

Schwinn used them on 1960 and part of 1961 Continental/Varsities. They were called suicide shifters for a reason The picture is of my 1960 Continental. Roger

My knowledge is very limited, but as far as I know, that design was common before cable-actuated shifters became available.

Here's a picture (I found this image with a Google search for "suicide shifters")

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_SZx2oaxuJS.../SSsimplex.jpg

thanks, now, can you make that work on any bike? i guess theres a little mounting tab on the frame, ive never seen one up close but could someone weld a mounting fixture on a frame for it to work? thanks

NO you can't :(. if you have a brazeon for a FD you are really out of luck unless you grind that off. However only certain of these shifters will work on certain frames. I bought one for a project and much to my dismay it would not work.

some are designed for real slack seattube angles with longer stays and sit toward the back of the tube. other mount in a more conventional position but both style generally need a close ratio on the chainwheels almost like a half step

They were made by Simplex - at least the ones most folks are referring to when "suicide shifter" is mentioned. There were cable-operated front derailleurs available throughout the period that the Simplex Competition front derailleur was in use, BTW.

Simplex, Huret and Cyclo all made rod shifters. The term suicide shifter I am told is an American thing. Generally made after the war until the early 60s. Seem to be most popular in the early 50s. This is a Cyclo.

http://i911.photobucket.com/albums/a...Model_B072.jpg

The Simplex Competition was available until 1970, believe it or not.

I only have experience with a Benelux shifter; it was made for a 48/46 front (with a 4-speed rear cluster, definitely a half-step kind of setup) but I've been able to run a 52/42 and a 48/34 with it.

My brother raced on one of those Cyclo units 1960-62, he still has the bike, mated to a Campy GS rear; he never had any complaints. I've been looking for one of these, any brand except maybe the Simplex but including the Campy one, for some time, if i could pick a nice one up for less than the National Debt.

Compared to DT levers, really, it's not all that much farther to reach.

BTW, his Cyclo, different imprint than sown on the cage, his had CYCLO so stylized the letters look like a picture of a cyclist on a bike, it was years before he figured out it was a brand logo.

OP, can you explain your interest in these? I can understand keeping a vintage bike with one of these intact, but if you're contemplating grinding off a FD mounting tab, that's a different story. Just wondering.

i just like old and odd things. i have a cheap japanese bianchi that doesnt have mounting tabs and it got me thinking. i seen and episode of auction hunters and they found one and the bike shop owner tells them its worth about 800 bucks. i found a simplex with an extra handle on ebay for 35 bucks. just asking thats all.