brad stockwell wrote:
There was a how-to article advocating the de-Simplexification-via-hacksaw of innocent French bikes in the December 1972 issue of Bike World, page 27:
"Converting From Simplex to Campy" by Kurt Miska
Kurt had a Gitane Tour de France with Simplex dropouts and wanted to use a Campy rear derailleur. He noted:
"Trying to buy a metric tap for the 'Nuovo Record' upper pivot bolt proved impossible."
"The decision to saw the lug off is not made lightly. Nevertheless I went ahead & tackled the job."
Who knows how many other innocent dropouts were irrevocably altered by these fateful words of advice. ---------------------------------------------------- I have no idea where I picked up this tip as an alternative to hacksawing the Simplex hanger, but it has worked for me:
A common-garden-dragon 1/8" (tapered) pipe tap has about the pitch of the 10x1 hanger. Being tapered, the diameter varies. start tapping, check often, and voila, it works. Then the merest slip of a filed notch works as a swing stop. When I've done this, I've generally used a backing nut, since the Simplex is relieved on the back and there aren't many threads engaged by the now-threaded hanger. I will admit having replaced my pipe tap with a proper metric tap some years ago...just about the time I no longer needed it.
harvey sachs
mcLean va