Regarding 40 year old tires. I currently have a Jeunet with steel rims and Schwinn Puff tires. They are approaching that age. I ride 'em.

My Gitane TdF had a Criterium on the rear. I replaced it with a more modern Simplex, later I changed it back because the Criterium shifted better. I did replace the FD with a more modern non-Delrin Simplex.

OK, but you wouldn't avoid a bike merely because it didn't have tires from the original manufacture era.

OK, who uses 40 year old grease, bearings, cables?

Oh, how wrong you are. Not about the Valentino being a turd - it ansolutely was. And, most un-Campy of all, it was fugly. Not as fugly as teh Nuovo Gran Sport, which looked like somene simply stopped caring, but fugly enough that Valentinop Campagnolo should have changed his name. (Shoe should Edel Ford have, for that matter.) But the Campy Gran Turismo was a bigger turd. Not in terms of performance, mind you - most would agree that they both pretty much sucked - but in raw size and weight. The GT was simply huge and weighed enough to anchor a fair-sized boat. It did look kind of cool, though, in a bloated, "look at the size of the fins on that 1959 Cadillac" sort of way.

Bashing Simplex derailleurs in bicycles is like bashing Lucas electrics in motorcycles. What the bashers don't remember, understand, realize . . . . . or are determined to forget . . . . . . . . is that both aforementioned bits of equipment were actually quite good. By the standards of the time when they were introduced.

If memory serves me correctly, the first Simplex parallelogram derailleur came out in 1962. The delrin Prestige followed about a year later. They were landmark mechanisms for their time. The performance of a Campy Grand Sport at a fraction of the cost, and lighter weight, too. Of course, the introduction of the SunTour patent changed the game completely for everybody and everything. Those derailleurs were a once in a lifetime technological advance, not just some new model upgrade from what had been used before.

Like the OP, I still use Simplex on my bikes and am quite happy with the performance. Of course, I've got no problem with the concept that I'm using a piece of 40+ year old used equipment, and I pick carefully thru all the derailleurs I find (I don't throw away Simplex anything) and build up good derailleurs out of parts of not-so-good ones. The Prestige is still a decent mechanism for a low level bike, and I love the way the Criterium set works. I wouldn't consider anything else for my Tour de France, or the PX-10 I'm building. The one place I will pan Simplex is those godawful Prestige levers. Too flexy and way to small a diameter cable takeup.

Like a previous poster mentioned, I'm riding an antique bike. Why wouldn't I want the complete antique experience? Sure, I can always put a later SunTour on that early 70's French frame. I can also always drop a Small Block Chevy into a 1941 Pontiac. Why would I want to? I've just killed the original driving experience. Like vintage cars, so like vintage bikes. And I don't do hot rods. Either way.

Well said. OK, I won't be looking for a yellow-scripted 105 after all. I just need a Simplex non-Delrin FD. Because I already have the Simplex levers, and they "might" even be the ones you guys keep mentioning. There's no model name or number, just Simplex, so I guess I'll have to google it.

Try looking for a front that came with the Criterium set, Spacemanz. Like the one Gran Bois describes above. Chromed front clamp. Still plastic, yes, but they hold together fine if you don't over-torque the mounting bolts. Mine has, anyway.

I think the biggest complaint I have against the plastic Simplex derailleurs is their looks. Granted, that's got nothing to do with performance, but it's part of the complete package. They're kind of ugly.

Hey, check this out! I got lucky, & didn't know it, my levers are "early" Criterium, made of the lighter aluminum, and have the winged logo. https://velobase.com/ViewComponent.as...24449&Enum=104 They obviously don't have the Simplex-branded clamp, but I'm still 90% sure that's what I have. Especially when Atala is specifically named, in this thread on the Gitane forum. https://www.gitaneusa.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=5343 Now all I need is that Criterium FD, and I'm set.

Those shifters should work well for you. They're not the crappy shifters that came on a UO-8.

Yellow/blue scripted Shimano 105?? Why did anyone have to go and mention that stuff..? UGGGH. Ugly as it gets!

I got my 79 PX-10, and the first thing I replaced was the front derailleur. It wasn't broken when I got the bike, but within a few days, I think on the first ride, Snap! I tried to shift into the big ring, and it slipped down the seat tube instead of moving. I ordered one of the NOS all metal Simplex FD's from Yellow Jersey I think? Maybe it was Velo Orange? I never looked back. The rear derailleur was a full alloy Simplex already, so no problems.. I prefer to change the plastic Simplex derailleurs on any bike I acquire that has them. An ounce of prevention, and all that jazz.

The Suntour VGT and Luxe derailleurs I like well enough, but they tend to get sloppy in the parallelogram joints. It depends on the amount of use they have seen though. One bike I had with a VGT, you could grab the lower jockey wheel, and move it side to side at least a half inch. A nice fresh one, sure gimme! But if the bike has a lot of road grime, and has seen heavy use, I check the cage play before proceeding.,,,,BD

Suntour Cyclone M-II, is my ALL time favorite friction derailleur, bar none.

They work well until the wingnuts split in half and fall off.

M5 bolts with winged heads are available, as are other substitutes. I got some such bolts from mcmaster.com for another purpose (a handlebar flashlight mount).

bikedued, where are pictures of your Peugeot? I had a 1979 and a 1980. I loved them.

Here's a couple of pics The sad part is, I only rode it a few times, like maybe twice. Money got tight when I first moved to LC, so I sold it. Someone drove all the way from Alvin TX to pick it up.,,,,BD

Ahh you are correct there, I forgot (and rightly so) all about that Turismo. It was perhaps the heaviest thing that was ever intended to be installed on a bicycle - and I include Wald baskets in that unfair assessment.

Don't be hatin' on Gran Turismo! Gran Turismo be the Grim Reaper of derailleurs (as you'd find out if you put one into your spokes: tear the drop-out right off your bike!)! Disrespect G.T., G.T. gonna come lookin' for you!

Now with Larger Pulleys for even more Intimidation!

I like the Simplexes. Replace the pulleys, and they work pretty good. Certainly they shift better than the Nuoco Record ever did. Mind you, that's not a terribly high bar to clear...

What's the word on the Criterium? I got one for my Lejeune but haven't had a chance to try it yet.

Dude (why do you spell it dued?), that's not a 1979. It's a 1978 or earlier. Ask miamijim if you want an accurate date.

I tried a Gran Turismo. I think it's beautiful. But it's terrible. It auto-shifts, spontaneously, at random moments.





Don't be hatin' on the Nuovo Record. It's one of the greatest of all time. If you don't like it, you just don't appreciate it.

I still have the Gran Turismo if anyone wants to try it. I'll sell it for a fair price. It's quite a collector's item, and I really shouldn't be selling it.

Why does looking at that photo make me want to tell somebody to get off my lawn?

You're right. You shouldn't be selling it. You should be throwing it at squirrels and pigeons.

Gran Turismo shifts when it wants, Tom. That's the way it is. You gotta be more Zen about these things...

Like you, I don't get the Nuovo Record hating thing. I've put many thousands of miles on one. Just replaced the pulleys (again) and it shifts beautifully. I also own or have used a variety of Shimano, Suntour, Sram, later Campy, Simplex, etc. etc., so I have a lot to compare it to. Within its range (which is wider than most people think) it does its job well. It is also absolutely reliable.

I think there is a certain type of person that commences to hating only because others love so much. Just to be contrary, you know. There's a certain notoriety to be found in claiming to diverge from the crowd.

I think the Criterium was sort of a beefed up Prestige. They added more metal, and maybe a fancier faceplate.