Don't think Simplex ever copied Campy. Or if they did they made one absolutely crucial improvement, namely the spring-loaded upper pivot. This was an innovation just as important as the SunTour slant parallelogram. The upper pivot was why the Simplex Super LJ, and even the plastic Criterium, was miles better than the Campy NR or SR. Shimano had the sense to copy it. Campy didn't. Just one more reason why Shimano now dominates the market.
Regards,
Jerry Moos
Houston, TX
> Jerry Moos wrote:
> >
> > (cut) One must remember that copying successful designs was
> > occuring long before the 70's. Perhaps Campy "copied" the Simplex or
other
> > successful parallelogram derailleur designs when Coppis Giro and Tour
> > victories in the late 40's or early 50's using Simplex made it clear the
> > older Campy lever shifters wouldn't cut it anymore.
>
>
> I don't think Simplex and Campagnolo rear derailleurs had anything in
> common till 1961, when Simplex introduced the Juy Export 61, which was a
> copy of the Campagnolo Gran Sport derailleur introduced in 1951.
>
> Juy Export 61:
>
<http://www.geocities.co.jp/Outdoors-Mountain/8676/celeste2000/SimplexJuyExp
ort61-1.jpg>
>
> SLJ 5000 CP:
>
<http://www.geocities.co.jp/Outdoors-Mountain/8676/brands/SimplexSLJ5000.jpg
>
>
> All the Simplex derailleurs that followed till up through the 1980s were
> clearly based on Campagnolo's design.
>
> Chuck Schmidt
> South Pasadena, CA
>
> .