devinfan

A little update - made a few changes! Managed to get the white paint off of the original Super Coureur saddle, so it is on now, with a little gold detailing of my own to match the gold on the seatstay caps. I also switched out the post because even though I'm all for keeping things original I can't stand the way those cheap steel posts with the separate clamps look, unless it's on a 3-speed.

Finally and most importantly I switched out the bar-tape as per Auchencrow's suggestion/admonition. After getting the bars up slightly and dialing in the saddle I was able to take it for a 60km ride (these slightly dusty pics are towards the end of that ride) without hands going numb. I've sprayed 2 coats of sneaker-saver on the tape, hopefully it will allow me to clean up major marks. It works pretty well on my son's sneakers!

The only thing I am missing now is a set of white Weinnman hoods for the levers. Also, since the Suntour isn't original, I was considering changing it up to a 1960's mix of Campagnolo Gran Sport (shifters and front derailleur) and cast-bronze Record rear derailleur. In my mind's eye that would look just right, but maybe that's because that was what I had on my 60's Cinelli. There is a square washer on the Poulidor behind the Simplex dropout that the Suntour VGT Luxe is threaded into, I don't see why it wouldn't accept a Campagnolo derailleur as well.

Let me know what you think! Loving the way this bike rides...

juvela

she's looking fine indeed! nice work.

thanks for posting.

wondering what that pillar is, an anpi perhaps?

rootboy 

Well, that Cinelli was cooler than you, Devin. Not sure about this one. But it sure is cool!

I love it. I'm partial to orange and black bikes. One query on the rear derailleur.
Not being familiar, is the hanger the same Simplex as early 70's French bikes?
Un-threaded hole and stop in the Simplex position? If so, I'm wondering how they got
that Sun Tour to work on there. Has the hole been tapped? Hanger had a stop ground in to it?

If it's a simple matter of just switching the Campy over to the bike, all the better.
Really neat bike.

rootboy 

By the way, those blue spare tire straps really clash with the color scheme. Better send those to me and I'll send you some black ones.
(with no imprint, of course

qcpmsame 

Very nice, Devin, looks great. The campy plans sound good to me.

Bill

juvela

i'm thinking Devin must have quite the iron constitution if he can abide that Coureur saddle for more than a spin 'round the block...

bikemig 

No. 1. Love the bike but the saddle was originally designed as a torture device . . . . Leather would look sharp on that bike and a brooks would be period correct for that build.

devinfan

Thanks rootboy and all for the comments! This bike is still cooler than me, don't worry. It looks like a classic Simplex round hanger, but it has this thing in it, I've attached a pic, that the Suntour is mounted directly into. If I'm wrong about being able to put a Campy derailleur in there somebody let me know after looking at the picture.

As for the saddle, it's actually pretty comfortable now, it was all about tiny adjustments. I have a beautiful Ideale saddle that would be correct, but I like to keep things original where possible and nothing says 60's to me like one of these unpadded plastic saddles.

Here is a pic of the derailleur mount, any input is appreciated!:

rootboy 

Great pic, Devin. I'm not good enough on these, however, to help much. Doesn't look like the owner ground a stop into the hanger, but maybe it wasn't needed? Does that SunTour have a "B" screw? And maybe that is working on the existing hanger? But I don't see how. I'm not sure.

devinfan

I'm not really a derailleur expert, but I'm thinking this pic will clarify. Good learning curve for me, maybe this is the only type of derailleur that will work with this set-up. No real worries since it shifts just fine, it just doesn't look that pretty...

Here is, I suspect, the "b" screw...

juvela

wrt rear derailleur mount:

is derailleur body free to pivot on mounting bolt or do they have it lashed down?

wrt saddle:

it reminded me of those horrid Freccia d'Oro black plastic saddles which came on so many base model bikes during the boom.

wrt gear ensemble:

one possibility to consider might be an original version SLJ. iirc it launched ~1973 which is probably just slightly later than the bike. machine must have come with a Juy ensemble ex-works so this would bring it back closer to what might have been there. perhaps o.e.m. ensemble would have been Criterium. one plus of SLJ is that you could fit the original version retrofriction controls.

VERY FINE JOB & THANKS AGAIN FOR SHARING!

devinfan

Thanks juvela!

Just checked - the derailleur body does not move. The saddle is actually very "springy" and lighter than a bare unicanitor. I know because I could never make one of those comfortable and this one is. Your SLJ suggestion is an excellent one! I'm going to keep my eyes open. Now that you've given me the idea I'm thinking the gold version would look pretty sweet...

kroozer 

That bike ought to have period French derailleurs and shifters. How about Huret Svelto? They're pretty affordable and available and would look right. The coolest part is that you can then put on those ultra-long chrome plated shift levers.

devinfan

I would love this, and adore the shifters, but have heard nothing but horror stories about the derailleurs. This is a commuter as well so I need it to actually shift occasionally...

juvela

wrt saddle:

it's your, um, nether regions so i think us kibbitzers should prolly respect your choice & riding position.

wrt SLJ:

had not thought of the gold edition; that's one nimble mind you have there!

wrt Huret:

the make of the brake cable clips is not nearly so strong a clue as to the original gear ensemble as the dropout is. this is because Freres Huret and Juy use such different mountings, neither of which interchanges with other makes. the Juy is a no stop tab and the Huret tab with it's 4 o'clock stop position is quite different from the common 7 o'clock position employed by most other brands. if a manufacturer were to equip a bike at this time with a Huret gear they would either use a tabless dropout or a Huret forged one, not a Juy.

Chombi

An Ideale (TB90) saddle would even be better!....

Wildwood 

If it's used as a commuter periodically, I'd not be concerned about period correct derailleurs.
Very nice bike, I've only seen a Poulidor in pictures.
Looking at the head tube angle, my guess is that it handles nimbly. Or maybe the seat tube is overly slack?

noglider 

Yeah, you won't enjoy the original Simplex stuff that probably came on that bike. Leave it as it is. Good work. I have quite an affection for these bikes that ride 85% as well as high end bikes and cost less than half as much. This one is clean and well done.

JamesRL

I look forward to seeing this on the roads in Toronto.

non-fixie 

Liking it, Devinfan! I had a similar idea a few weeks back:

juvela

wrt wheels:

wonder if tipos original. if so one would expect to find metric threading. have you pulled a locknut to find a date yet?

tip: have found that the rear tipo skewer can be difficult to get to hold under heaviest climbing loads. if you run into such a problem just replace it with a record one and that will solve it.

tubeset: if three main tubes butted reynolds it is likely that quality plain gauge was employed for balance of frame. if you service bottom bracket you could examine the interior of the chainstays. if you service headset you could examine interior of steerer and head.

bb: in case you have not discovered it as yet i think you will find that the verot 55 spindle is hollow all the way through. those are very high quality rectified bb fittings btw.

rootboy 

Just checking back in here, Devin. I can't tell but maybe somebody can enlighten me. It looks like that "B" screw on the Sun Tour is riding on some sort of notch, or stop, on the hanger. Did earlier Simplex hangers have a notch in their perimeter? I'm just trying to figure out what I'm seeing here, out of curiosity.

devinfan

I HAVE an Ideale 80. Maybe I'll throw it on there and see what everyone thinks.

devinfan

Rootboy I was staring and staring at it but it's hard to tell whether it's a notch or the screw has just bitten into the hanger a bit. My memory of other hangers I've seen is that they're perfectly round.

devinfan

I wonder too, these are my own Tipos but I can check the ones that came with the bike, they were very similar but not in such nice condition. Thanks for the tip on the skewer!!!

I've checked inside the head-tube when I took apart the headset to service it. I found a seam in it, but otherwise the bike is extremely light so it can't be that bad.

I love both the crankset AND the bottom bracket. In fact after having worked on the headset and seeing all the little details, I love Stronglight.