The 1954 Duravia project has pushed me into an earlier era of components, as it is the second oldest bike I have after the 1950 Claud Butler Avant Coureur, so I have some questions. How common were trple chainrings in the 50's and earlier, and how well did the typical rod FD's of the day handle a triple? The Simplex rod FD on my Duravia shifts well, but only just has enough range for a double. However, the clamp is arranged so that the top of the rod is stopped by the right side of the seattube. Perhaps simply redesigning the clamp so the rod can slide in front of or behind the seattube would give this type of FD a much larger range. What rod type FD's were used with triples in the 50's and earlier?
Also, I bought the Cyclo chainstay-mounted RD Via Bicycles offered to the list yesterday, but this seems to be a single-wire design very similar to the Simplex Rigidex on my Duravia. But I believe many constructer bikes used a two-wire Cyclo. When did Cyclo change to a single-wire chainstay RD, or did they make both simultaneously? Anyone have good photos or explanation of how to fit a Cyclo two-wire FD?
Regards,
Jerry Moos
Big Spring, Texas, USA