[CR] Chainstay Mounted RD's and cable routing

(Example: Events:Cirque du Cyclisme:2004)

Date: Sun, 8 Nov 2009 13:48:36 -0800
From: Jerome & Elizabeth Moos <jerrymoos@sbcglobal.net>
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
In-Reply-To: <174637.10758.qm@web58003.mail.re3.yahoo.com>
Subject: [CR] Chainstay Mounted RD's and cable routing


I'm making my first venture into 50's French touring bikes with the circa 1955 Duravia-badged Mecadural aluminum randonneur. It has a brazeon (actually rivet-on) shifter boss on the toptube and a plate on the chainstay for an RD on which Ive mounted a Simplex Rigidex 35. There are eyelets at the seatlug and brake bridge to route the RD cable back and down to the chainstay-mounted RD. Did this setup use any cable housing? In some photos of bikes with chainstay-mounted RD's (mostly two-cable Cyclo rather than single-cable Simplex) it seem there may be cable housing between the brake bridge and the RD, but it doesn't seem to change the path significantly. I've hooked up the cable without any housing and it seems to work OK. Any reason I need housing?

BTW another challenge was this bike has 115 rear spacing. I'm using old round-hole Normandy hubs with wingnuts, which I respaced from 120 to 115. Even though I took almost the entire 5mm from the offside, a 14T outer cog hits the chainstay, as this frame was evidently designed for a 4-spd FW. I'm reluctant to dish this wheel any more than I'll already be doing, so the only solution seemed to just remove the outer cog. I do have one 4-spd FW, but it's outside cog is in the same position as a 5 speed outer, perhaps it is spaced for 1/8" chain. Anyone had a 4 spd FW for 3/32 chain for sale? The final indignity (so far) is that I was unable to remove the outer cog from a Cyclo 72. Now I check Sutherland's 3rd Edition, they seem to be saying that the 14T outer on the French Cyclos are not removable. Is that correct?

Regards,

Jerry Moos
Big Spring, Texas, USA