conspiratemus1

Bravo for a lovely tandem restoration. And brava to your daughter-stoker.
Just make sure the cable housing from the stem shifter to the drum brake is that intended for brakes, like the classic tightly wound helical stuff we're all familiar with. SIS-style shifter housing may rupture under the high compression forces applied to it during braking. Even if the cable itself has to be shift cable (in order to fit the shifter lever), the housing must be brake-capable. So they say.

I've never had much luck using Sheldon Brown's technique for centering chainrings on their spiders. Don't be disappointed if you still have a tight spot and a slack spot after the operation. It's no big deal -- the frame will flex enough to accommodate the small variation. The mechanism won't actually bind up and seize.

Let us know how much you and your daughter enjoy it!

Aubergine 

No daughter involved. I bought this to rebuild for the fun of it, and will set up the stoker position for a friend who is interested in joining me.

That makes perfect sense. I actually ran a brake cable (and housing) through the stem shifter. The shaft of the cable end fits into the hole in the shifter, so I was satisfied that it would work acceptably.

I am obviously not quite at that point! But I will be keeping all the excellent info in mind. Thank you.

Aubergine 

Ok, I got the timing chain properly adjusted and aligned the cranks. I also put a spacer in the rear crank, drive side, so the granny might work now. Gonna button it up now and see how it functions.

edit: nuts. I need to put in another spacer. Should have just gone with a Phil BB so I would not need to put up with this.

second Edit: bb spindle is just not wide enough. Gonna need to get a Phil after all.

kc0yef 

Anyone in Washington State looking to do this same project Have complete bike sans cranks needs paint..

repechage

before you spend the big dollars on a phil BB, double check the chainline. the middle chainring should align with the mid point of the rear cog set. There was a mention of the Campagnolo derailluer not being the best unit for your use, I won't go that fat yet, but at the time of its design, it was deemed acceptable by Campagnolo for a triple with the smallest ring of 42t. They went smaller later- yes; but would be inclined to use a front mech designed for a wide range triple crank set. Campagnolo even made triple specific front mechs later, much later. From my quick eyeball of the images, I think the aft part of the front mech cage is marginal in how far it descends at the cage closing bolt, beneficial cage shaping is non existent.

Aubergine 

Ok, let me make this clear about Nuovo Record front derailleurs. I have been using them on triple cranks since 1979. I currently am using them on *all* of my vintage triples, with a granny of 26 teeth. They work just fine. Very smooth and dependable. I do not need a different derailleur for friction shifting. Now, I will agree that they don’t work well with indexed shifters (or even the older Campy Ergo semi-indexed shifters). I do use the modern Racing Triple derailleurs for that.

As for the bottom bracket, I did eyeball the chainline and it was off, pretty much centered on the second-largest cog (of five.) I was trying to use a Velo Orange 117.5 BB, which are nice but I have learned do not always play nicely with French Bottom bracket shells. When it tried to space the BB over I discovered that I could not move the adjustable cup in enough to tighten the bottom bracket properly. The reason is that the threading inside the shell is rather short and so the adjustable cup runs out of threading and binds up. (This has also happened on other French bikes I have had, so I should have known better.) The Phil BBs have narrower cups and so are much easier to adjust on old French bikes.

Aubergine 

I installed a 122 mm VO BB to replace the 117.5 I previously used. It shifts properly across all three chainrings now. I’ll button it up after I lop a few mm off the adjustable cup so it will screw fully into the shell.

ryansu

As others have said love that Green @Aubergine nice perseverance on getting the old Tandem back on the road, my only experience with Tandems was following them on the STP as they make a fantastic hole in the wind . Hope it all gets sorted so you can get out and enjoy it. I see an Orange Gitane tandem frame and bits on Seattle CL, I am not tempted.

Aubergine 

All done! Although I need to get some single-ring chainring bolts for the timing rings so I can replace the ones on there now, which are too long. Everything is nice and tight, and works as it should.

RandolphCarter

That came out looking fantastic!

merziac

You do know that Campy used the NR fd on their factory triple setups for years, sold 1000's, works great.

Even 40 years later, they work just fine.