Cycling UK Forum

Wasn't the Benelux rear changer the one with the plastic bits in it? Or was that the Simplex?

Perhaps my memory isn't that good ......

Mick F. Cornwall

hehehe dave, no offence taken.

At ten bob a time it dug deep!!! Mind you, as a teenager, I did have a habit of falling off a lot (and I wasn't drunk) and I always seemed to fall on the right side

i'll bet it would cost more than 10 bob if you did that on a de-rail-er type, nowadays. (listen to us, sounding like old gits)

all i was pointing out is that for a short distance commuter, IMHO, SA can't really be beaten.

The Sturmey of half a century ago, like so much else from the British cycle industry of that time - Brooks saddles, the Raleigh All Steel Bicycle etc.,- was the best in the world of its type I remember, for instance, reading that the BSA gear was very unpopular in certain parts of the world because, unlike a Sturmey, it did not click and without the click people did not appreciate you were rich enough to own a hub gear. Raleigh in Nottingham had the biggest cycle production business in the world. But that was half a century ago. All those names are now, at best, stuck on imports just to trade on those names. Others are defunct. The present Sturmey has no more connection with the old Sturmey than MG motors with the original MG and so on. The leaders of many branches of the British manufacturing industries were complacent and the rest of the world moved on. Mick Agar

I personally feel we're all missing the point CNC mass produced kit from both Shimano and Campagnolo is all overpriced and falls into the 'what will the market price stand at' mentalilty for'luxury' goods.

It is a particulalrly male testosterone and self-feeding market, not unlike car stereos and go faster stripes. In fact lads why not drop your cycling shorts and acknowledge the one with the biggest wangeroon, thats really what its all about, My groupsets better 'n' yours.

Mines tiny by the way, its a suntour set from the 80's, albeit a triple!

Marc

Wasn't the Benelux rear changer the one with the plastic bits in it? Or was that the Simplex?

I can't remember what Benelux comprised of. The truth is, I fell off and wrote it off!!!!What I do rember is bragging to all my mates that I had Benelux gears when they didn't. But when I wrote them off I decided to just use it as a single gear bike. Thats says must have cost more than ten bob to repair them!!!!

Happily, I don't fall off as much these days (hope that hasn't tempted providence - watch these pages for news) and being in the grumpy old man category, I can run to the occaisional ten bob or so for repairs and servicing.

Pulled a Shimano equipped Raleigh out of a skip for a lad and the gears were still working despite rusty rotten cables, of course fitted a new chain. Shimano is better than some and Campag is simply the best!

"But that was half a century ago. All those names are now, at best, stuck on imports just to trade on those names"

the big difference is that SA were still made in england up until recently, you can still buy new uk made stuff from sjsc for example. SA stuff can still be going strong many years later, so the analagy with MG is not a good one, as you can't buy them new, and they didn't last long.

does it matter that they've moved production to taiwan? obviously it does for many nottingham people, who find themselves without jobs, but for the consumer? you'd be hard pushed to totally avoid taiwanese & chinese products in your life these days..just look at your phone, computer, watch, calculator whatevers on your desk now.

I have no problem with imports although I often wonder what will happen when workers in the far east decide they will not work for peanuts just to keep us in clover. In respect of Sturmey, the British stuff never really seemed to move on. In relation to the present stuff I can only say that something like a hub grear is not a regular purchase. It has to be right first time. Unlike deraileurs, there is not a huge user base to consult. I tend to put a lot of faith in Chris Juden on something like this - so I must put my hands up to not speaking first hand on SA but it is a risk I would not take. I do believe there is a difference between a UK company switching production abroad and a Taiwanese company buying the name for the UK version of its exports Mick Agar

third crank...i agree, neither would i risk a substantial investment in a 8 speed from tawain, but the point i was trying to make, and stick by, is that for a short distance commuter, an old raleigh three speed takes a lot of beating, both literally and metaphorically...and no they haven't moved on, the one i have (hub dated 94-2) looks very similar to either of these on the page at the bottom of this reply, from '62 or '76...i suppose that the old adage stands true in this case, if it aint broke, don't fix it. i would suggest that it was the marketing of alu farame, full suspension, and 24 gears for £99 that has killed this type of bike off, and not that they were actually improved upon. needless to say, i wouldn't invest in a £99 bike either, Y-frame or not

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/retroraleighs/sports.html

choice between Shimano and Campy. hmm difference between cyclist and bicycle rider?

Having once said somewhere on these boards that I don't like subjects posted just to provoke controversy, why is Mavic never included in the comparison? Mick Agar

Sorry.

Trouble is, My Better Half says that I'm a Campagnolo snob. Maybe I am.

Mick F. Cornwall

hehehe
i think this applies to me, and maybe you?

http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/?id ... _bike_snob

if memory serves the plastic derailleur of the 80s was a Huret. And very good it was too.

The plastic derailleur of the '70s was a Simplex copy of the Campag parallelogram mech. Mick Agar