Has anyone tried re-engineering old derailleurs to make them work better or even index shift?
For example, has anyone tried mounting a Super Record or similar derailleur horizontally, using a long derailleur hanger?
Several things have piqued my interest in this. First, Shimano now sells cheap "Mega-range" derailleurs of old Campy-clone design, mounted horizontally on very long hangers. These derailleurs can evidently index over a wide range of gears. What if the derailleur were switched out for something classic?
Also, and as an article in the last Rivendell Reader points out, Simplex derailleurs, including the much maligned "Prestige", have dual sprung pivots, which would seem to be useful in such a project. That article mentions the existence of "tricks", such as attaching the cable to the "wrong" side of the anchor bolt, to achieve compatibility (presumably with indexing). Anyone tried this? What other "tricks" are there?
I'd like to use classic derailleurs on my classic bikes, but I want indexing on something I ride regularly. What do you guys think (aside from "you are a wussy for using indexing").
Louis Schulman Tampa, Florida (where it was cold and rainy all day, is warming up this evening through tomorrow noon, and then is getting cold again, relatively speaking)