Bicycle Classics has the A9 in French thread.
On a Swiss bike I'd probably use Campy derailleurs and Mafac brakes, as I r emember a lot like that In The Day.
For Campy, I'd say gum hoods don't last as well as others, whether repro or original. I often use Campy white Cobalto/Victory/Triomphe hoods which last much better than gum. I've heard it said that the classic gum hoods were natural rubber, which was why they didn't last as well, but I don't k now if that is true. If it is, maybe "gum" repros will be better, as I seriously doubt they would be made of natural rubber these days. I ha ve several pairs of CR member Robbie Fellows' Campy repro gum, or at least gum-looking hoods and they are excellent, but I don't have enough miles o n them to know how they will last.
Mafac Racers usually came with half hoods, never seen those in gum. Whit e was typical, and I've had good luck cleaning up dirty or yellowed white o nes with chlorine bleach. Many Mafac Competitions did have full hoods, b ut I haven't seen many Mafac repro hoods. Perhaps Weinmann/Diacompe woul d fit OK.
Malthauser are the best pads I have used, although the color looks strange on Campy NR's. There are somewhat similar pads in black, but I haven't u sed them. I think we had a lot of spirited debate here in the past as to whether the Malthauser Weinmann pads work well with Mafac. I think ther e may have actually been Malthasuers specifically for Mafac.
IMHO Mafacs stop better than Campys, if both have original pads. But it see ms to me original Campy pads are much harder, so maybe that is much of the difference. Don't know that I've done a comparison of both with Maltha user pads. I use Malthausers mostly on Weinmann or Diacompe.
The Stronglight 99 works fine as a compact double, but if you are going to use a 52-40 or 52-38, you could just as well use a Stronglight 93. A 52- 38 will work with a 14-28T FW, if you have a short cage Simplex RD, but wit h a Campy NR, you would have to go to 50-38 or maybe 50-40 or a rear cog sm aller than 28T. But if you are going with a long cage RD, then you may w ant to take advantage of the mod 99's smaller circle to use a ring smaller than 38T. Most parallelogram, as opposed to pushrod, FD's will handle a compact double just fine, including Campy NR, which I find, somewhat surpri singly, will hadle most triples with no problem.
I don't know of any particular problems with Simplex Delrin cable guides.
Regards,
Jerry Moos
Big Spring, Texas, USA
From: Jon Spangler <hudsonspangler@earthlink.net> Subject: [CR]Parts help and advice: TA pedals, Allegro build coming up To: "Dale Brown" <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org> Date: Wednesday, October 8, 2008, 1:05 AM
Dear listers,
I have purchased and will soon pick up and build up my long-awaited mid-1970s Allegro (Swiss) road frame (52 c-c seat x 55 TT), thanks to Craig Griffith. It is a sizing experiment, and, if I keep it, it will be a rider, not a show or "restoration" bike. (I plan on using used parts, which are fine if they work decently. I am on a budget, so NOS parts may be too expensive.) Here are some questions I have so far. Any and all assistance is deeply appreciated.
1) Are there any Stronglight A-9 needle-bearing headsets out there in FR threading any more, or is this a futile search?
2) I once had a complete set of TA racing pedals like the ones Hilary Stone just had for sale, but (don't ask why) I need just the right pedal body for these iconic 1970s-80s road pedals. (Everything else is fine.) Is finding just a pedal body going to be possible?
3) I have both my 1973-4 Campi NR sidepulls and 2 sets of Mafac Racer centerpulls in my parts collection. All of them would need new gum hoods. I am curious: which NOS or reproduction hoods work better, in your opinion(s)? Fit and durability are really the only issues here: I like the look of "natural" gum rubber hoods, but want to know which
type(s) are of better quality or are more durable, if there is a difference.
This also leads me to ask: which brakes will really stop better? Both Mafac and Campi are period-correct and appeared on Allegros at the time. I want to optimize (dare I say "modernize"?) and update their performance with more modern brake blocks, but the once-available Mathauser pads for the NR brakes seem to have disappeared. Has anyone in CR land had good luck using the currently-available more modern pads on either of these brakes?
4) I have my wife's Stronglight 99 crank set (formerly a 30-44-52 triple), which I plan to set up as a compact double on a Phil Wood #3 BB. (I have a new and fine 52t outer ring, so I'm looking for a 38 or 40T ring for an inner. I'd like to hear from anyone who has done this. (I have set up Stronglight 93 and Campi NR 144 double cranks, as well as Campi 9-spd racing Triples, but never a 99 as a compact double.) Any and all advice/suggestions welcomed regarding gearing, assembly, etc.
5) How well do the Simplex top-of-BB-shell Delrin cable guides work for folks? (I have a full Super LJ derailleur and DT shifter set ready to install.)
Please email me off-list if you have any suggestions, unless the knowledge is new to and belongs in the communal sphere.
Thanks very much,
Jon Spangler
Alameda, CA USA