Mafac Racers?? And what appears to be Simplex plastic-lever shifters, the kind that controlled the old Simplex Prestige push-rod front derailleurs, on a lugged-steel frame? Ohmygod…..
This was considered quality equipment on the old Peugeot PX-10s and a lot of other European bikes (Raleigh/Gitane/Jeunet/Mercier/Lejeune) of the early-mid 1970s, back when I first got into the sport, and I actually craved stuff like this to the point that I bought a set of Mafac Racers and installed them in place of the cheap Japanese center-pulls (“Cherry High-Stops”, as I recall) that came with my Sekine. Sure there was always Campy, but that stuff was expensive, even back then.
Except that, as I found when I sold off a Gitane Tour de France to buy a Gitane Professional Super Corsa, that the French equipment performed better than the Campagnolo Super Record. If anything, the Campy (especially the brakes – which I paid extra for) were a big disappointment. Within a year, I’d justified the extra money by going completely drilling on them. And today, in my collection, there’s another Tour de France, one of my favorite rides. And I still use a lot of those components (especially Mafac brakes) on my restorations.
I learned back in 1974 that Campagnolo stands for overpriced, underperforming, snob components. And haven’t really messed with them to this day.
You learned in 1974 that Campagnolo stands for overpriced, underperforming, snob components? You *do* know that Tullio Campagnolo invented the self-tensioning parallelogram derailleur, right? Your “knowledge” is coming up on 50 years old; you should probably re-test it at some point to see how long it’s been outdated.
You don’t have to be retired to be a retrogrouch, I believe it’s partially genetic… I’m 42 and own a handful of bikes older than me (most are Gitanes, but with upgraded Simplex Retrofriction levers – best ever made 😉
When I raced back in the early to mid 70’s my preference was Suntour. Their products were reasonably priced and worked well. I never saw the value in Campy stuff. But then again I have a fair bit of Scots in me.
Mafac Racers?? And what appears to be Simplex plastic-lever shifters, the kind that controlled the old Simplex Prestige push-rod front derailleurs, on a lugged-steel frame? Ohmygod…..
This was considered quality equipment on the old Peugeot PX-10s and a lot of other European bikes (Raleigh/Gitane/Jeunet/Mercier/Lejeune) of the early-mid 1970s, back when I first got into the sport, and I actually craved stuff like this to the point that I bought a set of Mafac Racers and installed them in place of the cheap Japanese center-pulls (“Cherry High-Stops”, as I recall) that came with my Sekine. Sure there was always Campy, but that stuff was expensive, even back then.
Except that, as I found when I sold off a Gitane Tour de France to buy a Gitane Professional Super Corsa, that the French equipment performed better than the Campagnolo Super Record. If anything, the Campy (especially the brakes – which I paid extra for) were a big disappointment. Within a year, I’d justified the extra money by going completely drilling on them. And today, in my collection, there’s another Tour de France, one of my favorite rides. And I still use a lot of those components (especially Mafac brakes) on my restorations.
I learned back in 1974 that Campagnolo stands for overpriced, underperforming, snob components. And haven’t really messed with them to this day.
You learned in 1974 that Campagnolo stands for overpriced, underperforming, snob components? You *do* know that Tullio Campagnolo invented the self-tensioning parallelogram derailleur, right? Your “knowledge” is coming up on 50 years old; you should probably re-test it at some point to see how long it’s been outdated.
So, how old is Yehuda? Cuz I don’t see him past 35…
You don’t have to be retired to be a retrogrouch, I believe it’s partially genetic… I’m 42 and own a handful of bikes older than me (most are Gitanes, but with upgraded Simplex Retrofriction levers – best ever made 😉
Being a shameless lover of old bicycles, I can endorse the “bike retrogrouch” blog: http://bikeretrogrouch.blogspot.com/
Yehuda is actually 68 years old…
My first “racing bike”: https://www.flickr.com/photos/147196680@N04/32609007165/in/dateposted-public/
It had Stronglight cranks, 52 x 45, paired to 14, 15, 17, 19, 21. Low gear was 63, high was 101. Today my low is 38, high is 127 on a Cervelo R3d that I call Scorch because it blisters pavement. 😉 https://www.flickr.com/photos/147196680@N04/32609007165/in/dateposted-public/
OOPS https://www.flickr.com/photos/147196680@N04/31595479993/in/dateposted-public/
When I raced back in the early to mid 70’s my preference was Suntour. Their products were reasonably priced and worked well. I never saw the value in Campy stuff. But then again I have a fair bit of Scots in me.