I've managed to establish that the old special Hi-E spoke nipples were compatible with 15 ga Robergel spoke thread, though not with most other brands, and have obtained 15/16 NOS Robergels and respoked two front wheels with Hi-E hubs, rims and nipples, the nipples salavaged from the old spokes or other Hi-E wheels.
But trying to tension the first wheel, I've had several salavaged nipples strip and I'm still a couple of turns away from full tension. So I think I'll probably have several more strip. Does anyone have any NOS Hi-E nipples for sale? I could just give up and use conventional nipples, but then all the effort of establishing the compatible spokes and obtaining them would have been wasted.
Regards,
Jerry Moos
Big Spring, Texas, USA
> From: Jerome & Elizabeth Moos <jerrymoos@sbcglobal.net>
\r?\n> Subject: Re: [CR] info needed on Suicide derailleur
\r?\n> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org, "Michael Allison" <cyclo_one@verizon.net>
\r?\n> Date: Monday, December 7, 2009, 11:19 AM
\r?\n> You don't say what brand FD. I
\r?\n> had the same concern, but the Simplex rod FD on my 1954
\r?\n> Duravia shifts a 50-36 quite well. So, at least for
\r?\n> Simplex, I don't think the tooth spread is a significant
\r?\n> problem. On the Simplex, however, the range
\r?\n> of movement is limited by the fact that the design has the
\r?\n> inner travel of the top of the rod stopped agianst the right
\r?\n> side of the seattube, so I don't think this design can shift
\r?\n> a triple. Another thing I found a little tricky was
\r?\n> adjusting the FD so as to shift onto the large ring without
\r?\n> overshooting and dropping the chain outside the large
\r?\n> ring. There are no stop screws like a cable-operated
\r?\n> FD, so you have to move the cage in and out on the
\r?\n> rod. But overall, these rod RD's shift a wider tooth
\r?\n> range than most people expect they would.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Regards,
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Jerry Moos
\r?\n> Big Spring, Texas, USA
\r?\n>
\r?\n>
\r?\n> --- On Mon, 12/7/09, Michael Allison <cyclo_one@verizon.net>
\r?\n> wrote:
\r?\n>
\r?\n> > From: Michael Allison <cyclo_one@verizon.net>
\r?\n> > Subject: [CR] info needed on Suicide derailleur
\r?\n> > To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
\r?\n> > Date: Monday, December 7, 2009, 10:52 AM
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > I'd like to use a rod operated front derailleur on my
\r?\n> 1958
\r?\n> > Holdsworth restoration. Does anyone have experience on
\r?\n> how
\r?\n> > well they handle large chainring differences? Will
\r?\n> they
\r?\n> > shift the chain on a 46/32 (or smaller inner)
\r?\n> combination?
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > Michael Allison
\r?\n> > New York, NY