OMG, this is heaven. :shock:  Mmmm, leathered clips, Ostrich panniers,, and NOS retro friction shifters. I may faint!

I just binned two sets of Simplex friction shifters, one plastic one ally.  $85 is taking the piss in the extreme.

Horrible pieces of sh*t are simplex deraillers (well, the plastic ones anyway).  Make me want to cry.

Quote from: maximusotterI may faint!

Dont blame you. Oh look, theyre made of unobtainium too, well they would have to be at those prices :mutley:

Quote from: funkychicken9000I just binned two sets of Simplex friction shifters, one plastic one ally.  $85 is taking the piss in the extreme.

Horrible pieces of sh*t are simplex deraillers (well, the plastic ones anyway).  Make me want to cry.

Do not confuse the plastic ones with the legendary Retro-Friction shifters, which are one of the best designs ever! They were spring loaded so you loaded the mild spring whilst downshifting, and it assisted upshifting, giving a wonderful even light feel. If I was building a retro ride, Id gladly pay $100 for some NOS ones. Id use a modern derailleur though, like a Veloce, no reason to go retro there, and with a hyperglide 7spd freewheel on vintage hubs.

Simplex made some great derailleurs for the time,  but they couldnt compete with the Japanese, thus the attempt to save money with plastics. A lot of bikes from the 70s, including a Raleigh "racer" in my garage have had their plastic Simplex kit replaced with the early Suntour parallelogram rear mechs. The earlier Simplex kit from the 60s was just fine.

I have a soft spot for suntour stuff.

Still wouldnt give up my ergopowers though

Got a beautiful Suntour crank on one of my bikes. Its a total Campy ripoff, but well done. Id love to build up a retro ride with some NOS Suntour Superbe kit, circa 82ish. Modern rear cluster and chain of course.

my Aunt just found my old Ribble frame in her garage, i forgot i had given it to her.  I might steal it beck because its covered in "Retro" type Campag and Shimano kit.  Including a set of stainless friction shifters.

Slap on a modern rear corncob and fresh chain, and youd be surprised at how good the old friction stuff shifts. And you can do wacky things like, er, trim the front derailleur cage if it rubs. If you want to put a modern rear wheel in the frame, old kit shifts 8spd clusters just great if you set the stop screws a bit further out.

Quote from: maximusotterSlap on a modern rear corncob and fresh chain, and youd be surprised at how good the old friction stuff shifts. And you can do wacky things like, er, trim the front derailleur cage if it rubs. If you want to put a modern rear wheel in the frame, old kit shifts 8spd clusters just great if you set the stop screws a bit further out.

i dont think i would touch it TBH, at least not beyond what it took to basically make it roadworthy.  It she said the box of spares i gave her with it is still there.  If it then there should still be a spare chain, packaged in grease and dropped into a plastic bag

Ill have a look, i only got rid of it because she wanted a Good Bike and i wasnt using it.  At the time i had a crappy bike i took to work, the ribble was just sat there :\

Ill have it off your hands if you give me a bit more info and a reasonable price

Id make an offer if I was in the UK. I need a 14 speed randonneuring bike in a bad way. All the ones on the local listings have been too teeny. Im a 60cm kinda guy. Seriously though, you can find old Miyatas and whatnot for $50 when you get lucky, and with $100 more in spares--its party time. Inspiration from the master, Rene Herse.
http://www.vintagebicyclepress.com/images/herse1974.jpg

Quote from: maximusotter

Quote from: funkychicken9000I just binned two sets of Simplex friction shifters, one plastic one ally.  $85 is taking the piss in the extreme.

Horrible pieces of sh*t are simplex deraillers (well, the plastic ones anyway).  Make me want to cry.

Do not confuse the plastic ones with the legendary Retro-Friction shifters, which are one of the best designs ever! They were spring loaded so you loaded the mild spring whilst downshifting, and it assisted upshifting, giving a wonderful even light feel. If I was building a retro ride, Id gladly pay $100 for some NOS ones. Id use a modern derailleur though, like a Veloce, no reason to go retro there, and with a hyperglide 7spd freewheel on vintage hubs.

Simplex made some great derailleurs for the time,  but they couldnt compete with the Japanese, thus the attempt to save money with plastics. A lot of bikes from the 70s, including a Raleigh "racer" in my garage have had their plastic Simplex kit replaced with the early Suntour parallelogram rear mechs. The earlier Simplex kit from the 60s was just fine.

Having had the metal ones on my old frame for years I was very happy to change over to rotary handlebar ones.