At 5:28 PM -0800 1/22/09, Norris Lockley wrote:
> I must be loosing the plot... or have I misinterpreted other comments on
> this bike? Is someone suggesting that a 58cms frame should not have a 5
>6 cms top-tube length ?
Almost all French constructeur frames in larger sizes were shorter
than tall. This allowed you to get the handlebars high enoug for
comfort without resorting to riser stems or other trickery. For
example, I usually ride a 60 cm seat tube with a 57.5 cm top tube.
>Another problem escapes me too. Singer has adapted a Huret Jubilee fron
>t mech, by removing the front clamping arm from the mech and by somehow fix
>ing the remainder of the derailleur to the back of the seat tube. I have lo
>ts of these extremely lightweight Jubillee front mechs..and the clamps,
>front and rear are always made of aluminium alloy...never steel.
The derailleurs aren't brazed on. Singer always brazed a little piece
on the seat tube that attaches to the hinge of the Huret derailleur,
and a little eyelet on the other side to which the bolt attaches.
That replaces the front part of the derailleur clamp. Almost every
Alex Singer from the 1970s onward has that system.
>I suppose that epoxy adhesives have been around for fifty years or more - t
>hey might do the trick where there is a large enough area to be bonded. Or
>am I loosing the plot?
No epoxy, and the derailleur remains removable. It's just converted to a braze-on attachment by replicating the relevant parts of the clamp in steel and brazing them to the seat tube.
Jan Heine
Editor
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