Cool bike. I like 35c tires for gravel riding; that's what I'm running on my 1973 Motobecane Grand Record. I like that Huret long cage RD. I used one when I toured across the country. It can handle a lot of chain. You do have to baby it a bit when shifting under a load. That's true with any RD obviously but this one is a bit more fragile. You really don't want to shift it under a load if you can help it. At least that was my experience. Of course I was carrying a fair amount of weight as well as this was a cross country tour.