Re: [CR]Huret and Simplex timeline

(Example: Events:Cirque du Cyclisme:2004)

In-Reply-To: <20050104161250.69576.qmail@web81005.mail.yahoo.com>
References: <20050104161250.69576.qmail@web81005.mail.yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2005 11:51:47 -0800
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
From: "Jan Heine" <heine93@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [CR]Huret and Simplex timeline


Raymond Henry's "Du Velocipede au Derailleur Moderne" has a Simplex catalog repro from September 1975 showing the top-of-the-line Super LJ derailleur with the old shifters, not retro-friction. One would think that they must have been introduced later. At some point, VBQ will do a timeline, but it requires digging through all the old magazines and pulling it all together. Especially for the 1960s, there was a plethora of designs.

The rumor of Retrofrictions still for sale in France can be dispelled. Even two years ago, nobody in France knew of any source to get them.

Finally, I do have one copy of the above-mentioned book (Henry, Du Velocipede...) left from the VBQ order a year ago. It's the perfect companion to the Dancing Chain, with full-color photos and much more detail on the French derailleur history. $ 59 including shipping. French language, but worth it for the photos. -- Jan Heine, Seattle Editor/Publisher Vintage Bicycle Quarterly c/o Il Vecchio Bicycles 140 Lakeside Ave, Ste. C Seattle WA 98122 http://www.mindspring.com/~heine/bikesite/bikesite/


>I think the Retrofrictions were out in 1974 or earlier. The reason
>I say that is that I first saw them on Thevenet's bike at the 1974
>World Championships in Montreal, where Merckx outsprinted Poulidor
>to take the title. At that event, spectators could wander around
>among the mechanics and machines before the race, and I was close
>enough to have touched Thevenet's Peugeot. Of course, those could
>have been prototypes available only to select pros. There were
>reports just a couple of years ago that Retrofrictions were still
>being made for sale in France to the randonneur/touring market, but
>I don't think that was ever confirmed.

>

>Regards,

>

>Jerry Moos

>Houston, TX