Re: [CR]Duopar Eco - Versions, Look-Alikes ? & Hilary's comments

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Date: Fri, 02 Jun 2006 12:26:27 -0400
From: "Daniel Artley" <dartley@co.ba.md.us>
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Subject: Re: [CR]Duopar Eco - Versions, Look-Alikes ? & Hilary's comments


I do agree with Hilary that the Huret duopar Ti is a delicate derailleur. I have bent the lower cage twice when the chain locked between the granny and chainstay, but was able to straighten the cage by hand on the road and fine tune it with an adjustable wrench when at a convenient location. A third eye chain watcher and a slow pedaling stroke (when down shifting twenty cogs, a bit extreme, but works for me) since the derailleur arm's not terribly strong spring takes a long time to retighten the chain have eliminated that problem.

The derailleur when used with a gentle touch still seems to work as well as most any narrow range setup, just snicking into gear with barely a sound. I'm just a sucker for them and even used one on a tandem for years. As other recent postings refer to older component parts, I do feel the duopar works better with the older freewheels re: Suntour over Sachs, and perhaps stiffer chains, although my chain of choice for some time now has been the Rohloffs.

Happy trails, and have fun at Cirque'.

Dan Artley in Parkton, MD

Archive-URL: http://search.bikelist.org/getmsg.asp?Filename=classicrendez vous.10606.0034.eml Date: Fri, 02 Jun 2006 00:35:50 +0100 Subject: Re: [CR]Duopar Eco - Versions, Look-Alikes ? From: Hilary Stone <hilary.stone(AT)blueyonder.co.uk>

No I have seen Duopar Ecos with ball bearing pullets - I think the early Ecos still had ball bearing pulleys. One caveat with Duopars (all types) is that they are quite fragile compared to the long arm Simplex mechs and you should not wheel a bike with a Duopar backwards - some nasty chain jams can result.

Hilary Stone, Bristol, England
> From: r cielec <teaat4p(AT)yahoo.com>
> Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2006 16:24:18 -0700 (PDT)
> To: classicrendezvous(AT)bikelist.org
> Subject: Re: [CR]Duopar Eco - Versions, Look-Alikes ?
>
> Are ball bearing pulleys a sure indicator of titanium? That is, assuming
> b-bearing pulleys weren't swapped into the non-titanium Eco.
>
> Richard Cielec
> chicago, Illinois
>
> John Thompson <JohnThompson(AT)new.rr.com> wrote:
> r cielec wrote:
>
>> Before me are two, nearly identical -
>>
>> No. 1
>> Clearly stamped "DUOPAR-ECO" in cage plate.
>> Manufacturer name on body is "Sachs-Huret".
>>
>> No. 2
>> Looks nearly identical to No.1. Observable differences are:
>> Not stamped with any model name.
>> Huret logos-type "H" in upper cage plate
>> Manufacturer name on body is "Huret"
>>
>> Can anyone explain these?
>> I assume No. 2 is a Duopar Eco re: looks like a duck, etc...
>>
>
> The original Duopar had a titanium body and cage plates, with ball
> bearing pulleys. The Eco version, released about a year later, was
> identical except the body and cage plates were steel, and the pulleys
> were plain sleeve bearings (like Campy and most others). In the early
> 80s, Huret was bought by Sachs, and the labeling on the body was changed
> to "Sachs/Huret" reflect this. AFAIK, nothing else changed, and both the
> titanium and steel versions were still available.
>
> I suspect both your specimens are "Eco" models, but from different
> production years. Take a magnet to the body -- maybe you're lucky and
> one of them is titanium.
>
> --
> John (john(AT)os2.dhs.org)
> Appleton WI USA