There wasn't anything not to like about the SLJ's. One wonders whether if Simplex had abandoned the ill-fated experiment with plastic five years earlier if perhpas they might have survived. I still think the plastic Criterium RD was better than Campy NR, but the public image was never favorable, at least not in America.
Regards,
Jerry Moos Big Spring, TX
Bob Hovey <bobhoveyga@aol.com> wrote:
>
> CRers,
>
> Can anyone help me pin down when the Simplex Super LJ changers where
> introd
> uced
> and what year they stopped being made?
>
> Bill Talbot, enjoying our extended riding season here in,
> New Hartford, CT USA
>
> --
Ahh, the memories.... I recall putting SLJ front and rear ders on my PX-10 in fall of 1973, soon after I returned to school. It was the very first tweak that began my fervent retreat from the 'stock' PX-10. I'm really not sure how I found out about them... I have a copy of "The Second Two Wheeled Travel: Bicycle Camping and Touring" that has Rebour drawings of the rear deraillerur, but it was published in '74 so I don't think I saw it there first (but come to thing of it, the copy I have now is a replacement from a listmember, so mebbee my original was an earlier edition).
Anyway, my memories of this derailleur are very favorable. I found several reasons to like it better than the Nuovo Record which was also under consideration for purchase at the time. It had an upper spring, it was a bit easier to adjust (limit screws were next to each other and facing the same diredction), easy to clean (one pivot was removable, allowing the front plate of the paralelogram to open). Visual design and finish quality were impressive... as stated in Two Wheel Travel, it was the kind of thing you wanted to hold in the palm of your hand a while. The front derailleur was also quite nice. I do regret not getting the levers tho.
Bob Hovey
Columbus, GA USA
http://bhovey.com/