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"Peter,
Last month you asserted that the French Spidel components were "at their peak" at around 1980 a while back, roughly when the following Spidel seat post auction came to light:
ebay # 350367192787
I am curious to know what brought you to that conclusion about the ca. 1980 Spidel "group" compared to other nations' offerings and compared to previous French components. Would you (and anyone else who wants to jump in) please address this for us?"
Except for Mavic's SSC group (of which the brakes were actually Italian-made Modolo's), the Spidel Group was the last hurrah of the great French components: Simplex, Mafac, Maillard, Stronglight, Ideale and I maintain were lighter on a per component basis, better finished (compare the finish and crispness of machining of the seatpost in question with Campag Super Record) and more functional, too: compare the adjustment of this seatpost with Campag SR and superior shifting of Simplex derailleurs.
The Maillard dural freewheel was the lightest of its era. Ditto the Mavic Argent 7 rims of the same period. The lightest leather saddle was the Ideale 90R titanium. The lightest headset then was the Stronglight A9, the later Hinault model was lighter still. Although not part of the Spidel group, the Huret Jubilee, of course, the lightest derailleur although the Mavic SSC 501 was only 15 gms. heavier. If you put all of this on a Reynolds 531SL or Super Vitus frameset, you simply wind up with a lighter bicycle than one with comparable SR. And one that I, at least, feel is superior in form and function. And my collection has sufficient examples of both from the same era and comparable frame sizes to compare. My 1982 Peugeot Pro-10 in a huge 64 c-t framesize in Reynolds SL with a full Spidel group weighs just 20.5 lbs and that's with a steel bb spindle until I can find the titanium variant.
I only wish Maillard had produced their superb 700 series pedals with titanium spindles; does anyone know why they were not?
Peter Kohler
Washington DC USA