[CR] derailleur hangers / dropouts formerly Re: Holdsworth frames on E-bay

(Example: Production Builders:Cinelli)

From: "Peter Brueggeman" <4peebee@peterbrueggeman.com>
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 2009 05:48:51 -0800
Subject: [CR] derailleur hangers / dropouts formerly Re: Holdsworth frames on E-bay


Charles Colerich said: "...I've never been able to figure out why the British makers used cheap stamped steel dropouts without derailleur hangers on nice Reynolds framed bikes??? Campy 1010-1 stamped steel dropouts had a derailleur hanger and they were dirt cheap! Maybe because they had the option to sell them as SS, fixies or 3 speeds?..."

Versatility as you say. That eBay no-hanger Holdsworth is said to be 1970s. Until Campagnolo style derailleur mounting won out, I speculate that it wouldn't be a given that every British buyer would want to fit only those few rear derailleurs that thread into Campagnolo dropouts. If that Holdsworth was made in early 1970s, then derailleur mounting versatility may well have been a consideration. British Cyclo Benelux rear derailleurs do not fit into Campagnolo dropouts, Cyclo Benelux having made their own dropout with hanger. As you know, Simplex differed from Campagnolo, as did Huret. Back then, it may have made sense to build with no derailleur hanger to allow the owner to fit whatever they wanted. By the late 1970s, one would expect derailleur mounting to have settled in favor of Campagnolo style (?).

Peter Brueggeman
La Jolla California USA
4peebee(at)peterbrueggeman.com