Dan,
Congratulations on getting a great bike. As you have no doubt heard on this list, the upper end Peugeot's are great bikes, even though they don't have the expensive mystique of a Masi or Pogliaghi. They may not have the ultra-fine lug finishing of the more expensive bikes, but they ride great and are a welcome change from the "Shimangolo" equipment.
The mounting screw for the Simplex shifters should be tight enough to make contact with the braze-on or mounting post, but need not be forced until the screwdriver slips. Mavic improved this with an allen bolt, but many of the Simplex shifters have had the screw bunged up. They are supposed to be light when pulling back, and stiff when pushing forward. That was supposed to prevent unintentional shifts. You can't really loosen the mounting screw to make it shift less stiffly, but it may help to lubricate the inner mechanism to eliminate friction in the clutch.
Every Simplex shifter I have ever used seems to take a very long pull to get the largest rear cog. Your observation about the diameter of the cable wrap is correct--it does help with the mechanical leverage when pulling back, but like any other non-indexed shifter, once you get used to it, it is very easy to modulate for perfect alignment.
Spidel (not Spiedel) was a conglomerate of French manufactures who tried to pool resources to compete with Campagnolo and Shimano. It included Simplex (derailleurs), Stronglight (cranks, headsets), Mafac (brakes), and Maillard (hubs and pedals). You can often find each of these components from the late 70s and early 80s with either Spidel branding, or the original manufacture's label. I don't believe that Mavic ever was associated with Spidel, although they did use Simplex retrofriction shifters. Mavic used Modolo brakes, as did Sachs-Huret when they tried to develop an integrated group of components.
The Spidel brakes of this bike are undoubtedly the LS2, which is a beautifully finished brake, commonly fitted to the upper end, all French kitted bikes from Peugeot (as well as others). They have a rather unique mounting system, with a different length bolt for front and rear, so the calipers could be fitted at either end, as long as the brake blocks were turned the correct direction. I'm not sure why, but the levers were almost always stamped "Mafac" even when the calipers were labelled "Spidel." Some of the other Francophiles may be able to address this.
Enjoy the bike--its a great rider, and you don't have to worry about getting a little patina on it!
Galen Poole
Jackson, MS
>I just got a beautiful Peugeot PXN10E, and I believe from 1979. Or
>otherwies known as the Super Competition. It seems like it might be a
>wonderful bike. But I have questions about the Simplex retrofriction
>shifters, and also component history.
>
> The bike was set up so the force to pull the levers towards the rear is
> very light, but pushing towards the front is very hard. Is this like any
> other vintage shifter where I can loosen the mounting screw to adjust the
> feel for the push forward? Or is it like a modern downtube shift lever
> where this is more just the mounting screw?
>
> Also, it seems the diameter of the cable around the shift lever is smaller
> than for other shifters. So to get to the largest cog, even with the
> cable properly tightened, the lever pulls back probably 135 degrees, much
> more than any of my other bikes. Is this to be expected?
>
> Finally, the brakes on this bike are Mafac Levers and Spiedel sidepull
> brakes. They are beautiful sidepulls of very quality, reminding me of a
> modolo. But I am just not familiar with the brand Spiedel. Can someone
> give me the connection, or lack there of between Spiedel, Mafac, Modolo,
> Mavic, Simplex? Or maybe someone knows of a link that explains this?
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Dan Kasha
> Seattle Wa (Rainy today)
>
>
>
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