Dear Rich,
As someone who replaced the Simplex Prestige RD on my 1971 UO-8 with a Suntour, I can vouch for Jerry's endorsement of Rich's proposed Suntour conversion. It was done on many, many OEM Simplex-equipped bikes "back in the day."
Collins' Cycle in Eugene, OR, my LBS at the time, must have made a mint upgrading folks like me from Prestiges to Suntour and similar all-alloy RDs, as they recommended and performed that change on hundreds of bikes. They sold tons of Peugeots with those Prestiges. The derailleurs from the Mystic East cost relatively very little and made a huge difference.
Jon Spangler in Alameda, CA USA hoping to make Marc's classic ride in Livermore tomorrow, if we stay healthy...
On Dec 26, 2008, at 6:22 AM, <classicrendezvous-request@bikelist.org>
<classicrendezvous-request@bikelist.org> wrote:
>> From: Rich Pinder <rpinder@usc.edu>
>> Subject: [CR]My mid 70's Gran Sport
>> To: "classic"
>> <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
>> Date: Thursday, December 25, 2008, 1:56 PM
>>
>> I'm on a tear here, with mid level bikes! This one
>> is a Gran Sport,
>> the model DL 160 I think. I rescued it because I liked the
>> color.
>> Someone said it is 'Periwinkle' blue ? But I
>> found up on Sheldons
>> site the catalog picture (linked on my page - click the
>> Heron logo)
>> calls a reverse imaged scheme 'Lagoon Blue /
>> White'.
>>
>> In addition to being totally gucked up with years of grime,
>> this bike
>> came with an assortment of broken, plastic, simplex
>> shifters and
>> derailleurs. In another fit of Irreverance, I opted for a
>> VGT and some
>> allow suntour levers. (hey, I figured it was like droppin
>> a 283 in an
>> early Jaguar - no harm, no foul ??). I took it for a
>> Christmas Eve ride
>> - LOVE the ride. From the catalog: "...a more
>> comfortable yet
>> efficient riding position than an all out racing
>> bike..." - So that
>> translates into what... a 2 degree difference in the
>> head/seat tube
>> angles ??
>>
>> Seat tube has the 'Carlton' decal, and the
>> heronHeadbadge says
>> 'Nottingham'. Hmmm. Do I recall someone saying
>> all the 531 frames
>> were
>> done at Carlton (the Worksop shop) ??
>>
>> The seat is one worn Brooks... with a swap out, I think
>> this bike will
>> see a LOT of riding !!
>>
>> Pics at: http://www-hsc.usc.edu/
>>> I came up with a plan - I'm working on my
>> "Twelve Days of
>> Bicycle
>>> Christmas". Do any of you have those bike
>> projects, that are JUST
>>> about completed.... or you've got the bike
>> riding, but SOMETHING is
>>> not quite right ? We'll, my goal in this two
>> week vacation is to
>>> work on, and complete, TWELVE of these things (above
>> Trek is one
>>> !).... It'll be a GREAT feeling if I pull it
>> off.
>> Rich Pinder
>> Van Nuys, CA