Pretty good guideline, but there are exceptions. My early 70's Gitane Tour de France (actually one of two I own) has forged dropouts but no integrated RD hanger, nor any indication that one was cut off. Others have reported seeing these same DO's. Evidently Simplex and perhaps Gitane's own "honeycomb" DO's were available with or without the hanger for several years.
Regards,
Jerry Moos, Big Spring, Republic of Texas
Thomas Adams <thomasthomasa@yahoo.com> wrote: My quick check for respectable quality is whether the bike has a forged drop out with a derailleur hanger as opposed to a claw hanger. Of course this only works for bikes newer than 1951 or so, when Campy and/or Simplex introduced the integral hanger drop outs. Any bike where the maker went to the trouble of using a forged drop out with a hanger is one of their better models.
Tom Adams, Shrewsbury New Jersey, USA, on the Atlantic Ocean, 40 miles south of NYC, near Sandy Hook.
Eric Phillips wrote: My mother-in-law has decided to help me by looking for bikes when she's out and about doing her resale and flea market shopping. She's got good intentions, but knows nothing about bikes, so I'm trying to put together a quick and easy summary of what to look for. Let me know any suggestions for the list.
Any bike with the following: - Campagnolo on any of the parts - Stickers stating metal is made by Columbus or Reynolds - Presta valve (tall and skinny) on the tube instead of Schraeder (like a car tire) - Brand is someone's full name - Cro-Moly, Chromium Molybdenum, Cr-Mo, etc. stickers - Schwinn if it's cheap and lightweight (I have a soft spot for Schwinn) - Does not have brake assist levers (suicide levers)
Brands to avoid: - Huffy - Kent - Mongoose - Murray - Next - Roadmaster - Triax - Pacific - Free Spirit - Sears
I'm not expecting much to come out of this, but you never know. She might be able to get a couple of things worth keeping. The goal is just to find something decent worth fixing up. Thanks!
Eric Phillips Southfield, Michigan, USA
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