Hi Clyde, Having recently fitted a Simplex seat post on a PX10 that I am building, I was also surprised at how short it is. I know that my post has not been tampered with.
It should be fairly easy to see if the post has been cut by looking for signs of a rough cut, lack of any bevel at the edge of the cut or chipped chome plating. My feeling is that you have a standard issue Simplex seat post.
Others may disagree, but I would worry about only having 1-3/8 in the seat tube. This would mean that the post may not reach below the slot in the seat post pinching lug on the frame. Of course, it is a steel post and the frames are pretty strong, but still it is not a lot of insertion.
If you need confirmation on the length of the post, I will measure mine up.
I hope that this helps.
All the best, Peter Rogers
Barrie Ontario
> Friends:
> I recently scored a 1975 - ish Peugeot PX-10 LE (I think...both date and
> model are conjecture due to missing wheels / pedals...but looking at
> catalogue scans I am gonna call it 1975 until proven otherwise.)
>
> Anyway, Simplex badged seatpost which seems suprisingly short. I know that
> "back in the day" posts were shorter, but the PX-10 LE I owned "back in
> the day" did not suffer in this way.
> I think my "back in the day" bike was a tad later, but not past 1980.
> I wonder if my 1975 got cut off at some point?
>
> Any input on normal length for badged Simplex posts, and if they got
> longer as styles changed?
>
> Also, any advice on minimum insertion? I *think* I will be able to have
> about 1-3/8" inserted. I plan to ride the bike occasionally and lightly, I
> am 5'10', 165 pounds so not hard on bikes.
> No insertion line on this one...pre CPSC I guess....
>
> Cheers from Dallas, TX, USA, Earth
> -Clyde "checking out those posts" Putman