Ummmm, ....Gran Turismo.
http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/...anTurismo2.jpg

Should probably start a thread for the most dangerous-looking parts on a bicycle. Along with Rootboy's Bigboy, foot-long top-tube shifters on sting rays would get my vote...

I'm thinking of building a holster for that, Michael, if I can get a concealed carry permit.

You'd be a danger mainly to yourself, I'm afraid. There aren't many objects that I would want about my person less than a Gran Turismo.

Maybe on a chain around my neck. Gotta dig out my old Nehru jacket.

It's interesting to note Anquetil's glowing testimony for the Prestige, but one has to wonder how much is marketing hype, given the circumstances. Why did he start the 1962 TdF on a Juy Export 61? And why, when his team switched bicycle sponsors in 1963, did they choose a bicycle using Campagnolo? It's almost as if he was forced to switch to the Prestige so that Simplex's new derailleur get a kick start in sales. Regardless, the Prestige did have one legitimate start to finsh TdF win in 1967 with Roger Pingeon and Peugeot. Some derailleur manufacturers can't even claim a single TDF victory.

Well, Maybe it was 78 or earlier, I haven't owned it for three years now..sigh. Wish I did... I spelled it dued because Bikedude was already taken, though I have never seen a single post by them in the entire time I've been on the site?,,,,BD

That's why I took spacemanz as a username, because spaceman was already taken. I've been using that name since the late 90s on other forums, so it doesn't seem right, that someone else "stole" it, LOL. ;) Well, while you guys were all discussin' these fine vintage disraeli gears, I was out accumulatin'. We have a bike recycling place here, called Recycled Cycles, and they often get some pretty cool stuff. It's real hit & miss, because they stay pretty busy, but today I made a hit. :D I haven't really researched those funny looking levers yet, so I'll just let the pics do the talking, you guys will know what's there. ;) I suppose if I really need to mix brands, for the FD, the venerable Shimano 600 Arabesque should be OK. :) I'll start another thread, for my fancy French handlebar setup, so be sure to look for that. :Dhttp://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=293107http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=293108http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=293109

I can't complain about my black plastic Ofmega derailleur. It's been used on my indoor training bike for at least 10 years without a hitch. If exposed to sun might it explode?

I've still got the original one on my '71 (I think) Tour de France, and it shifts just fine. And I've tossed 3500 miles on the bike in the last six years, no idea what the first (or how many) owner(s) put on it. Both front and rear work very well, at least as well as anything did back in the day, and still put in respectable performance by modern standards.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=293139OK, one more pic, to show the Crit levers on the new-today clamp, which I just realized a bit ago, also has the "early" winged Simplex logo. This clamp is quite a bit lighter than the other one too. One of the plastic levers (on the parts donor) has a cable end cut off & left in it, because the wrong end was inserted, and it got stuck, so it was really just doing what someone else said, combining parts to make a good unit. :) I guess I'm not real sure if the RD is a Crit or not, but it has the silver logo plate. (?)

Finding a decent working, plastic bicycle part from the '70s is like finding a "Space food stick" that is still edible or a pair of nice brake hoods. It's worth mentioning the ones that passed but this thread should be a celebration of the survivors!

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8314/7...16a80f65b7.jpg
29 257 by barnstormerbikes, on Flickr

Good one Frank. There's some still around and putting in their service.
http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/...F/Gitane21.jpg
...although I currently have Campy bits mounted here.;)

:thumb:

I'll wager that jacket, if you can find it, is worth more than a NOS Prestige these days.

BigChainring made a good point about how so few of the entry-level bikes that wore Prestige mech's were likely set up properly.

Since the flexible nature of the Prestige shifters transduces any added cable friction into unwanted lever flex and hysteresis (lack of motion accuracy of derailer travel), the cables firstly must be operating smoothly. In this light, the Prestige derailers can work better than they ever did back in the day just by using modern cable housing!

I have yet to meet a vintage bike mechanic who copped to ever having adjusted a rear Prestige's A or B-pivot tension setting (which is so critical to shifting response).
The adjustment is per the post~2001 Campag method of tightening the A-pivot spring for use with smaller freewheels, but on the Prestige models there is a hex locknut (against the cage plate) to be loosened before turning the pivot shaft with a 5mm Allen key (which tensions the spring and requires the removal of one of the upscale Competition's red plastic plugs).

The limit screw bosses on the rear Prestige tend to crack, but go on working just fine that way, just as a split Campag pulley usually go the distance until worn out. I use a LOT less lever force after fitting the modern cable housing, and so can't imagine breaking these bosses or the levers for that matter with the lever moving so much more easily.
I find no improvement whatsoever to the durability of the Competition model of either the front or rear Prestige mech. The Competition rear mech's pullies are more susceptible to crumbling away from their ball-bearing hubs (the basic Prestige has no metal hub for the teeth to be molded onto).
The Competition rear mech has thicker cage plates, but these are amply sturdy on the basic Prestige, and the basic Prestige also has the very same metal reinforcements added to the para-links.

The front plastic Simplex mech's do crack from the clamping forces, but usually from overtightening and seemingly in a gradual fashion. It makes sense to install one onto a cleaned seat tube free of wax to avoid having to clamp it so tightly, or best onto a freshly-painted surface for extra adhesion(?). This is an unfortunate failure of engineering imo, but I've also seen a couple of the cheaper, all-metal Simplex mech's crack at the end of their clamp plates.

I've been riding my recent Steyr Clubman hundreds of miles lately with it's original, basic Prestige mech's, and they now work very well over 52-36t chainrings and a 13-24t five speed freewheel.
The front mech offers somewhat sluggish downshifting immediately after being pelted with wet, sandy road dirt, but becomes normal again shortly thereafter. A sealed ferrule atop the aft end of the front mech's cable housing greatly prevents this from acting worse.
Front shifting leaves nothing else to complain about, even as most of the miles have been ridden over hilly terrain amongst a competitive group of riders and racers. These are intense, 2-hour rides over ever-rolling terrain, which doubly emphasizes shifting performance.
The rear shifting benefits from the use of a 9-speed modern chain and from the previously-mentioned adjustment (tightening) of the A-pivot spring tension (to suit the now-smaller 24t Uniglide freewheel). The shifting would be better imo with a retrofriction shifter or other metal friction shifter with a more positive or "crisp" friction mechanism. These plastic levers have that vague feel that offers no immediate tactile feedback, that "creak" that tells you that lever motion has commenced, but this is not the fault of lever flex imo. The Prestige shifters suck even more for their tendency to snag a long-fingered glove's fingertip on the stop plate.
Overall, these derailers handle my hill-country gearing with ease (and did so even when I was still using a 28t in back, albeit with less shifting precision over the smaller cogs resulting from the larger pulley-to-cog gap).

Oh, and the Ofmega derailers were made by Simplex btw, perhaps all of them.

Photo from today, note that the pullies are modern, thinner ball-bearing replacements which btw pull the cage plates closer together around the 9-speed SRAM chain. There's 3 French bikes behind it, ORLY (Motebecane), LOOK (steel, btw) and PEUGEOT ('79 PX10E), and the Orly's still riding on ~40-yr-old Wolber tires.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8097/8...97241622_z.jpg