I bought this bike either in the fall of '21 or spring of '22 as a cheap step into road bikes. I had never ridden a road bike before, but wanted to give it a shot. I had been (and still am) toying with the idea of using a bike to commute to work in the spring months, and I found this locally for $40 and I figured if nothing else, it could be a fun project that I could flip if I decided it wasn't for me.
I don't have any pics of the bike as it was when I picked it up, but it was a bit rough. Rideable in a pinch, but definitely in need of a tune up. The OG wheels were in need of truing, but the chrome wasn't too heavily pitted, there were no broken spokes, and the hubs were definitely still salvageable. Originally I decided I'd straighten them, service the bearings, and keep the wheels. The tires were a few years old but held air, so I was going to ride them until they became a problem. The brakes needed some minor adjustment and one of the crank arms was loose (which made for a wobbly test ride - especially given that the seat was jacked to the sky and I was only used to riding mountain bikes and cruisers). The OG bars had been swapped out for flat bars, which were fitted with cheap brake levers and worn out grips. The OG pedals had been swapped for newer (but cheap) cages. The OG seat had been swapped out. Everything else appeared original, and the heavy wear on the frame told me that the bike had seen serious amounts of use and love through the years; and probably a dash of neglect as well. It had been festooned with stickers, one of which was for a local used bike exchange shop. There are deep scars all over the frame, and the once bright yellow paint is worn and faded to nearly pastel, especially the rear triangle. It seemed the perfect platform for me to start with, so I brought it home.
I forget the exact order of things, but once it was home I started stripping and cleaning things up. I cleaned everything, trued the wheels, cleaned and greased all the bearings (surprised that none of the races were too far gone), got the cottered crank tightened up (quite a challenge, I think it had been ridden loose for about a thousand miles or so) and adjusted the brakes. Once this work was complete I got a sense for what really needed replacing. I was going to replace the bars because they just seemed too narrow, but figured I'd let that idea stew for a bit. I gave it new brake levers, grips, and brake pads. A few weeks later I tore into the bike again and started really fine-tuning the drivetrain, which seemed to act up after a mile or so.
This is where things got interesting.
It seemed to me that the chain was about one link too long, so I shortened it (first mistake). It turned out the chain was already as short as it could possibly be, so while pedaling the bike on the work stand with the shorter chain, I overextended the rear derailleur and broke it. This was easy enough to replace, $14 on Amazon got me a new SunRace RD-M10 unit that worked flawlessly with the OG downtube friction shifter. Next, while struggling to get the Simplex front derailleur to function smoothly, I decided I should (second mistake) remove it from the bike and really give it a deep clean. I had never seen a derailleur like this before. Pulling the cable in turn pulls a lever on the left-hand side downwards (towards the ground), which then pushes on a horizontal shaft, which is connected to the cage, thus moving the cage outwards (towards the larger chainring). Extra strange to me was that the cage moved out only - not up and out. I inspected the internals, which were really in fine shape, there was just a lot of crud built up. I gave it a cleaning and some oil and that was that. It was while reinstalling the front derailleur that I learned that the 45 year old plastic body had a crack in it, which immediately blew apart when tightening the clamp screws.
Here's the OG Simplex unit, after breaking the plastic body:
I could not find a replacement derailleur (other than NOS units that were out of my price range for this bike) so I opted instead for a 1x5 drivetrain swap. I took the crank apart and removed the small ring, made some spacers to get the chainline just right, and rode it like this for a short time. It was kind of terrible, especially on hills.
Here it is mid tune up and in 1x5 mode. This also looks like the OG rear derailleur, clearly stretched to its limit (what was I thinking?!):
While trying to figure out what to do, I realized that the strange front derailleur was simple enough that I could probably make my own. I still had the old one, from which I was able to take a bunch of careful measurements. I grabbed a chunk of aluminum round stock and set to work on my little hobby lathe (which is also outfitted for use as a horizontal mill), eventually winding up with this.
It uses all the parts of the OG Simplex unit, except for the hardware, which was upgraded. I also machined a PTFE bushing that presses into the aluminum body, which makes the movement of the cage shaft buttery smooth. I spent many hours on this piece, but fully expected it to not work. I installed it on the bike, hooked up the cable, and...moment of truth...it worked flawlessly. I was over the moon. I immediately returned the crank to its OG state and rode the bike like this a few times more.
Now that I had a load of time invested into the bike, my thoughts of flipping it were out the door. I decided to replace the wheels with a set of WheelMaster Weinmann LP18's, also from Amazon, for $160. 14G stainless spokes, aluminum hoops, 5/6/7 speed freewheel compatible, quick release skewers, sealed bearings, and probably half the weight of the OG steel wheels. I was sad to be losing the big flanges, but the new wheels were beautiful right out the box. I wrapped them in new rim strips/tubes/tires and fitted a new Shimano 6 speed freehub, upping the ol' gal to 12 speeds. It also got a new chain (two actually, I managed to booger up the first one when I used it to grenade the rear derailleur). I've decided I'm keeping the narrow flat bars, they are a good fit after all, I just needed to get more familiar with them. Out of curiosity I measured them today and they're 20" end to end. The bars on my Kona Mahuna are 30", which explains why this thing feels like steering a sheet of plywood in comparison.
The only thing I want to change in the immediate future is the shifters. I hate having to reach down to the downtube to shift, it's awkward and needlessly wobbly. The rest of the drivetrain has me dead set on keeping a friction shift set up, so I've set my sights on a cheap set of bar-mounted friction thumb shifters. Future plans may include a new seat and post, and I'd like to see what I can do about trimming some weight, likely from the crank. Those OG crank arms are solid steel and thus quite heavy. I'm considering adding a rack, or at least a frame bag if I can find one that fits nicely.
I've also been struggling to come up with a suitable name and am open to suggestions.
I don't have any pics of the bike as it was when I picked it up, but it was a bit rough. Rideable in a pinch, but definitely in need of a tune up. The OG wheels were in need of truing, but the chrome wasn't too heavily pitted, there were no broken spokes, and the hubs were definitely still salvageable. Originally I decided I'd straighten them, service the bearings, and keep the wheels. The tires were a few years old but held air, so I was going to ride them until they became a problem. The brakes needed some minor adjustment and one of the crank arms was loose (which made for a wobbly test ride - especially given that the seat was jacked to the sky and I was only used to riding mountain bikes and cruisers). The OG bars had been swapped out for flat bars, which were fitted with cheap brake levers and worn out grips. The OG pedals had been swapped for newer (but cheap) cages. The OG seat had been swapped out. Everything else appeared original, and the heavy wear on the frame told me that the bike had seen serious amounts of use and love through the years; and probably a dash of neglect as well. It had been festooned with stickers, one of which was for a local used bike exchange shop. There are deep scars all over the frame, and the once bright yellow paint is worn and faded to nearly pastel, especially the rear triangle. It seemed the perfect platform for me to start with, so I brought it home.
I forget the exact order of things, but once it was home I started stripping and cleaning things up. I cleaned everything, trued the wheels, cleaned and greased all the bearings (surprised that none of the races were too far gone), got the cottered crank tightened up (quite a challenge, I think it had been ridden loose for about a thousand miles or so) and adjusted the brakes. Once this work was complete I got a sense for what really needed replacing. I was going to replace the bars because they just seemed too narrow, but figured I'd let that idea stew for a bit. I gave it new brake levers, grips, and brake pads. A few weeks later I tore into the bike again and started really fine-tuning the drivetrain, which seemed to act up after a mile or so.
This is where things got interesting.
It seemed to me that the chain was about one link too long, so I shortened it (first mistake). It turned out the chain was already as short as it could possibly be, so while pedaling the bike on the work stand with the shorter chain, I overextended the rear derailleur and broke it. This was easy enough to replace, $14 on Amazon got me a new SunRace RD-M10 unit that worked flawlessly with the OG downtube friction shifter. Next, while struggling to get the Simplex front derailleur to function smoothly, I decided I should (second mistake) remove it from the bike and really give it a deep clean. I had never seen a derailleur like this before. Pulling the cable in turn pulls a lever on the left-hand side downwards (towards the ground), which then pushes on a horizontal shaft, which is connected to the cage, thus moving the cage outwards (towards the larger chainring). Extra strange to me was that the cage moved out only - not up and out. I inspected the internals, which were really in fine shape, there was just a lot of crud built up. I gave it a cleaning and some oil and that was that. It was while reinstalling the front derailleur that I learned that the 45 year old plastic body had a crack in it, which immediately blew apart when tightening the clamp screws.
Here's the OG Simplex unit, after breaking the plastic body:
I could not find a replacement derailleur (other than NOS units that were out of my price range for this bike) so I opted instead for a 1x5 drivetrain swap. I took the crank apart and removed the small ring, made some spacers to get the chainline just right, and rode it like this for a short time. It was kind of terrible, especially on hills.
Here it is mid tune up and in 1x5 mode. This also looks like the OG rear derailleur, clearly stretched to its limit (what was I thinking?!):
While trying to figure out what to do, I realized that the strange front derailleur was simple enough that I could probably make my own. I still had the old one, from which I was able to take a bunch of careful measurements. I grabbed a chunk of aluminum round stock and set to work on my little hobby lathe (which is also outfitted for use as a horizontal mill), eventually winding up with this.
It uses all the parts of the OG Simplex unit, except for the hardware, which was upgraded. I also machined a PTFE bushing that presses into the aluminum body, which makes the movement of the cage shaft buttery smooth. I spent many hours on this piece, but fully expected it to not work. I installed it on the bike, hooked up the cable, and...moment of truth...it worked flawlessly. I was over the moon. I immediately returned the crank to its OG state and rode the bike like this a few times more.
Now that I had a load of time invested into the bike, my thoughts of flipping it were out the door. I decided to replace the wheels with a set of WheelMaster Weinmann LP18's, also from Amazon, for $160. 14G stainless spokes, aluminum hoops, 5/6/7 speed freewheel compatible, quick release skewers, sealed bearings, and probably half the weight of the OG steel wheels. I was sad to be losing the big flanges, but the new wheels were beautiful right out the box. I wrapped them in new rim strips/tubes/tires and fitted a new Shimano 6 speed freehub, upping the ol' gal to 12 speeds. It also got a new chain (two actually, I managed to booger up the first one when I used it to grenade the rear derailleur). I've decided I'm keeping the narrow flat bars, they are a good fit after all, I just needed to get more familiar with them. Out of curiosity I measured them today and they're 20" end to end. The bars on my Kona Mahuna are 30", which explains why this thing feels like steering a sheet of plywood in comparison.
The only thing I want to change in the immediate future is the shifters. I hate having to reach down to the downtube to shift, it's awkward and needlessly wobbly. The rest of the drivetrain has me dead set on keeping a friction shift set up, so I've set my sights on a cheap set of bar-mounted friction thumb shifters. Future plans may include a new seat and post, and I'd like to see what I can do about trimming some weight, likely from the crank. Those OG crank arms are solid steel and thus quite heavy. I'm considering adding a rack, or at least a frame bag if I can find one that fits nicely.
I've also been struggling to come up with a suitable name and am open to suggestions.
