Hi Harvey,
I have a similar series of decisions to make. I am waiting for the arrival of a 1969 Hetchins VadeMecum Mk 2 frame I just purchased. I'm excited about it and will likely go the easy route of mostly Campy, but we'll see....
As for your questions:
1) Suntour Bar cons go back at least as far as 1973. I pulled some from
a 1973 Sekine to put on my Jack Taylor when I built it in 1974.
2) Shimano offered their bar cons with their first generation Dura Ace
in 1973. See the 1974 catalog on Mark Bulgier's site:
http://bulgier.net/
So all the above (as well as many others) are good.
Hmm, I can see I've been no help at all in narrowing your choices!
Good luck,
David
David -- such dilemmas are the stuff of life -- White Burlington, VT
HM & SS Sachs wrote:
> I'm doing the final push for getting the '73 Hetchins Spyder back on
> the road after a full tear-down. Most of my previous efforts have
> been fairly predictable "factory" bikes like Paramounts, so choices
> were easy: put on what the factory spec sheet said.
>
> This was not a production bike, built for a specific person. So, I
> feel more freedom to change things around, as long as I respect the
> bike's mojo by using pretty nearly contemporary parts. Since it came
> with a rack (with matching serial No!), I hung a TA crankset with 1/2
> step + granny on it (and a cartridge bearing Stronglight bb). The
> original Suntour GT rear is a wondrous thing, but not very classy.
> The original reverse-shifting Suntour front will go bye-bye: doesn't
> mate up well with the under bb cable guide, since it needs housed
> cable. Installation looked kludgy. And I rode with it for a week w/o
> coming to like the reverse shifting, so any excuse in a storm.
>
> So, what to put on, and how inappropriate would these options be:
>
> 1) Shifters. Has braze-on Campy bosses, so the DT Shimanos & SunTours
> I have won't fit. Darn (I have some NOS D/A dt shifters, clamp-on,
> just sitting there and they won't go on). So, will Simplex Retros fit
> (not that I have a pair)? How far back do Suntour Barcons go? I
> actually have a pair of the Shimano barcons, too, but don't know how
> far back they go, either. CR site and Dancing Chain were not
> conclusive. Yeah, yeah, I was there, then, but my brain isn't, now.
>
> 2) Crane/DuraAce are age-appropriate, but Berto/Dancing Chain says
> they don't work as well as Suntour. Votes?
>
> 3) Berto/Dancing chain says Cyclones date back to 75. Would using
> them be immoral? :-)
>
> Right now, the options seem to be (rear // front // shifters):
>
> 1) Shimano Crane // D-A // campy DT or Shimano barcon or Suntour
> barcon => looks like it was thought out, might work.
> 2) Suntour GT // Campy record // campy DT => will work well.
> 3) Suntour Cyclone // Suntour Cyclone // Suntour Barcon. => pretty,
> fairly light, should work well.
>
> Ah, the terrible tension between historical accuracy re 73 or 74
> frame, vs. getting cleaner shifts and a classier look. Or, can I have
> it all?
>
> Your thoughts?
>
> Harvey Sachs,
> McLean VA
> NO: I will not install my Campgranolo Gran Trashmo gear crusher on a
> real bike. Never, not even for demolition derby. Yeah, it is
> historically accurate. Too heavy to hang on the wall. :-)