Hello all, I've been following this list for a fair amount of time now and figured it's about time to introduce myself so I can start contributing. The wealth of information avaliable here is amazing. I'm probably younger than most of you guys on the list- I'm a college student in Portland, Oregon (spending the summer in Phoenix, AZ right now). I originally got into vintage bicycles after I sold my first road bike, an OT aluminum Giant, and bought a mid-80s Pinarello. Even though that bike was about 5 cm too small for me, I had more fun on it than I had ever had on my Giant and my interest in vintage lightweights grew from there. My stable now includes a 1981 Pinarello with Super Record gear (I rode this one in a criterium against a field with all OT gear on July 4th), a KOF Recherche built by Dave Moulton, a 1950 Cavalieri with Cambio Corsa, and an OT Colin Laing track bike (my main form of transport in Portland). I ride the hell out of all my bikes- I have no display pieces.
I do have one question. My Recherche has Simplex retrofriction shifters. The right shifter (for the rear derailler) does not hold position and will always slip to the position with the least cable tension after a little while. I disassembled and cleaned the mechanism, which helped for a little while but after riding for about 20 minutes it was almost as bad as before. The mounting screw is tightened down as far as it will go. Has anyone else experienced this problem and know of a fix? I saw a mention in the archives of the spring inside the shifter breaking, but it appeared to be intact when I disassembled it.
Alternately, I have a 7 or 8 speed (OT?) Dura Ace downtube shifter I could swap out. It is missing the plate that fits between the actual shifter and the braze on (the piece with a square socket to hold the assembly in place). If anyone has a spare one of these they could drop in an envelope I'd gladly send something their way by paypal.
Ross Young
Phoenix, AZ, USA