Re: [CR]Re: Jubilee (was Simplex) shifting

(Example: History:Ted Ernst)

Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2003 00:04:21 -0700
From: "Chuck Schmidt" <chuckschmidt@earthlink.net>
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: Re: [CR]Re: Jubilee (was Simplex) shifting
References: <299F7653-51DB-11D7-85C2-00039356BD92@mac.com> <018d01c2e6d2$5c107be0$57b21b18@cinci.rr.com>


Steve, my wife got the same bike early in 1976. The problem with the Jubilee on her bike was that the riveted links were too tight so there was a lot of stiction (static friction?). Since it was riveted together there was no way to loosen the pivots. I suppose with enough use it would have loosened up but since it would hardly shift correctly it wasn't going to get much use (Catch 22)!

About a week after we got the bike I took it back to the shop for the mechanic to take a look at the derailleur. As I watched, the mechanic grabbed an adjustable crescent wrench, put it on the lower end of the linkage and started twisting it back and forth!!! Well that's one way to loosen everything up I guess :(

Well now it was working, but this was the day of the Bikecology mail order catalog with everything you would ever need to know about bike parts in one book. They made the SunTour Cyclone sound so wonderful that I decided that this would be the solution to all my French derailleur problems. Well the Cyclone was actually as wonderful as Alan Goldsmith said it was.

Chuck Schmidt L.A.

Steve Neago wrote:
>
> I find CR comments about Huret Jubilee derailleur interesting.. I have
> owned a set since I purchased my first Raleigh Competition back in 1975.
>
> The rear short cage derailleur has not given me any problems over 25 years,
> but the front has twisted once and required replacement. As I get older, my
> only slight regret is the the rear short cage derailleur can only handle a
> max 28T and there are some gear combinations that did not shift smoothly...
>
> I believe that Huret put out a service advisory stating that 52-28T gear
> combinations were not advised... this may have caused my twisted front
> derailleur. Does anyone recall this this service announcement?
>
> Regards, Steve Neago
> Cincinnati, Ohio
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jerry & Liz Moos" <jerrymoos@sbcglobal.net>
> To: "Stephen Barner" <steve@sburl.com>; "Brandon Ives" <monkeylad@mac.com>
> Cc: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
> Sent: Sunday, March 09, 2003 11:27 AM
> Subject: Re: [CR]Re: Jubilee (was Simplex) shifting
>
> > I don't think the Jubilee shifted all that badly by the European standards
> > of the time. About like a Campy NR. The problem was the Jubilee was
> > fragile, while the Campy was virtually indestructible. Of course, it was
> > inferior to the all-alloy Simplex Super LJ, with its spring-loaded upper
> > pivot, and far inferior to the slant parallelogram SunTours. Huret did
> make
> > some good derailleurs in the Duopar and the Success and later models, but
> > these were perhaps too late, as the Japanese were alway two steps ahead of
> > them. Oddly, when you look at the Huret derailleurs on Louison Bobet's
> > bikes in the 50's, they seem to be at least as advanced a design as the
> > Simplex or Campy designs of the time, but somehow Huret didn't make much
> > progress for the next 20 years, though they did at least avoid the
> adventure
> > into Delrin which was part of the undoing of Simplex.
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Jerry Moos
> > Houston, TX
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Brandon Ives" <monkeylad@mac.com>
> > To: "Stephen Barner" <steve@sburl.com>
> > Cc: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
> > Sent: Saturday, March 08, 2003 8:59 PM
> > Subject: Re: [CR]Re: Jubilee (was Simplex) shifting
> >
> >
> > > On Saturday, March 8, 2003, at 06:26 PM, Stephen Barner wrote:
> > > > I always wondered what it was about the Huret Alvits and Sveltos that
> > > > made
> > > > them shift so bad.
> > >
> > > Bad design and worse execution, the Success was the first deraileur
> > > they made that I felt shifted well. I do have 3 Jubilee's in my bins
> > > cause I think the look cool. Check out
> > > http://www.yellowjersey.org/dha.html
> > >
> > > This leads me to think about why people like Herse and Singer who
> > > seemed to never be satisfied with the quality of the parts available
> > > for their bikes spec'ed Huret deraileurs. When national pride
> > > outweighs your need for good shifting it's pretty sad. It's not like
> > > these guys didn't have the skill to make their own copies of the Campy
> > > or Simplex setups at the time. As a mechanic it just boggles my mind.
> > > Jan (or other Francophiles) any thoughts on this?
> > > thanks,
> > > Brandon"monkeyman"Ives
> > > SB, CA