The SLJ stuff seems to have quite often have been sold, at least in the US, as aftermarket upgrades. Other than the PY-10, I don't remember a lot of catalog-spec models that used complete SLJ "gruppos", if one can call the combination of Simplex, Stronglight, Maillard and MAFAC a gruppo. Even when the French manufacturers breifly joined together to offer a more or less complete gruppo under the Spidel badge, there were a lot of different models and price levels, particularly for the Spidel badged Simplex derailleurs, but also for the Stronglight cranks - I've even seen Stronglight 49D cranks, by that time several decades old, badged Spidel. In the Spidel era one often sees the MAFAC LS sidepull brakes, although centerpull Competitions and 2000's were often seen as well.
In short, there was a bewildering variety of models from the French manufacturers, and the PY-10 seems to have been one of the few stock bikes that used more or less all the top models from each of the French manufacturers. Most other French manufacturers had a top model that was all Campy, then other high end models that had some of the very top French components mixed with some second tier French components, often with some Campy components in the mix as well. Follis and Bertin, and to some extent Motobecane, were particularly fond of mixing French and Campy parts on the same model. Swiss bikes also had such a mix, as one might expect from a country bordering both France and Italy.
So you probably won't find many bikes that originally came with the same combination of parts found on a PY-10. But I personally think those parts would be appropriate on most high-end French frames of that era, and probably high-end Swiss and Belgian frames as well. I have an early 70's LeJeune on the CR site on which some of the original components were upgraded to Simplex SLJ/Mafac Competition, some of them by the original dealer. I think this was typical of how SLJ level French components were used In The Day, at least in the US market.
Regards,
Jerry Moos
Big Spring, Texas, USA
> From: Charlotte Bronte <j1847e@yahoo.com>
\r?\n> Subject: [CR] advice for Peugeot (or other French) build--gold Simplex and Mafac
\r?\n> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
\r?\n> Date: Monday, August 3, 2009, 3:56 PM
\r?\n> All the talk of the Motobecane has
\r?\n> got me thinking again about a French bike for the vintage
\r?\n> stable, to join the Belgian (78 Merckx and 76 Main D'Or) and
\r?\n> the Italian (77 Colnago Super). I have a lovely set of
\r?\n> parts that I would like to grace my future French
\r?\n> bike--matching gold Simplex SLJ derailleurs with gold
\r?\n> friction downtube shifters plus matching gold Mafac drilled
\r?\n> levers and Competition centerpull brakes. I also have an
\r?\n> appropriate Stronglight crankset. In my mind's eye is the
\r?\n> 1976 Peugeot PY 10 ridden by Bernard Thevenet in the Tour.
\r?\n> These parts, I believe, were on his bike. I have fallen in
\r?\n> love with the SLJs (thanks to advice given here) after
\r?\n> putting another set on my randonneur bike (82 Univega Gran
\r?\n> Turismo).
\r?\n>
\r?\n> My question to CR is this: aside from that year's PY 10,
\r?\n> what other bikes from that era would make a good match for
\r?\n> these bits? This would be a rider, and would need to be on
\r?\n> the lighter and more responsive side of the spectrum; my
\r?\n> club always hammers, and I like to keep up with the young
\r?\n> bucks as best I can. But I like to keep things more or
\r?\n> less period correct, too.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Any advice welcome.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Sore from 90 very fast k on the Colnago, as always the lone
\r?\n> KOF among the carbonistas.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Robert Aguirre
\r?\n> Detroit, MI
\r?\n>
\r?\n>
\r?\n>
\r?\n>
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