sortieavelo

Hi, I installed a Simplex LJ on an old Motobecane Grand Record with bar-end shifters. Five-speed freewheel is not a corncob…when I shift RD up the freewheel, it won’t go to largest cog because the RD pulley wheel is literally touching it.

Since there was no b-screw on Simplex, I installed a Suntour Cyclone with b-screw. Even with it, it still touched when I try to shift to largest rear cog.

any suggestions appreciated!!!

Troul 

road link/der hanger extender.

WelcomeSir

Many of the older Suntour Cyclone short cage RD's had a max cog size of 24-26t. It looks like you have a bit larger than that so like the other poster mentioned you can get a roadlink or switch to a smaller cassette.

Sometimes you can stretch out the RD with a longer B screw found at a hardware store, but this design might not fair well with that method.

Good luck

Bill Kapaun

Is the chain properly sized?
It appears it may be too long???

JohnDThompson 

Looks like a Gipiemme-branded Simplex Super-LJ derailleur. Nice derailleur, those tend to go for significant $$$. The stated maximum sprocket size is 30 teeth, and a wrap capacity of 26.

Sometimes you can change the derailleur/sprocket clearance by adjusting the chain length. If your gearing will allow it, take a link out and see if that improves things.

70sSanO

I'm not sure you can get enough, but those horizontal dropouts can help to provide additional clearance. If you have enough tire/seat tube gap I'd move the rear wheel forward in the dropouts and see if it helps.

It has been a long time since I played around with getting more clearance with horizontal dropouts.

John

79pmooney

No answers but several thoughts. 1) How big is your biggest cog? (You don't show the whole freewheel so counting teeth isn't easy.) 2) That hanger is short! The top of the derailleur looks quite close to the QR nut. Hanger distances vary quite a bit. Here, using a "claw" (the add-on for bikes without a hanger) would make your life easier. Just go to the local coop and find a deep one. (Now, a claw may not play nice with the hanger. A hacksaw would cure that in a hurry but there might be some C & Vers rolling over in their graves. 3) As a poster above mentioned, there are aftermarket hanger extenders for exactly your issue. I've never used one so I can help you further.

Cyclones do far better with larger cogs if you use the GT cage arm. (The top wheel is on the cage axle, not forward, so it never rotates up and hence handles bigger cogs. Shifting is virtually the same.) See if you can find an old one in good shape. (Bring yours and make sure they are the same. I hear the later ones are not compatible with the earlier ones. If they are indeed compatible, you can use the cage from a wrecked one.. I rode them interchanging cages from the mid '70s through the '80s paying $5 for wrecked ones but all were probably older ones.)

And an aside that doesn't help you. In fact it did the opposite. The first bike I raced had a triple. 52-42-32 which I quickly turned into a 52-42-28. Came with a 13-24 FW which soon became a 21 then 19. Bike didn't have a hanger and came with a claw. I replaced the stock RD with a SunTour VTG Lux. Saw the big gap between the top wheel and the FW and decided a shorter hanger would shift better so I made one from a scrap of aluminum plate; so short the derailleur actually did hit the skewer nut. Shifting was race quick!

tkamd73 

Get rid of the drop out screws, and move the rear axle as far back as it will go, if that doesn’t work you will need a smaller low cog, or preferably a rear derailleur with a mid or long cage.
Tim

zandoval 

Yep... I got the same problem on my PR-10. I am still having problems even though I went to a long cage derailleur. It is my derailleur hanger it self. It is a Simplex hanger that I threaded in order to fit a Campy long cage. It has just never been right so my plan is to hack saw it off and weld on the bottom section of a Sunrace hanger.

Here is an old pic of the same type of modification I made on an old PUCH frame that did not have a hanger at all. It came out great after a little cleanup and paint...

70sSanO

It is easy to dismiss this option. But if the hanger is too short and the only recourse is to hacksaw it off, it would be foolish it not to try one.

The biggest complaint some have has been poor shifting performance on small cogs. I have not had any issues running a RoadLink on my mtb’s. But my smallest cog is a 13t.

That’s probably what you are running, or a 14t.

John

ofajen

My short cage Cyclone definitely prefers dealing with 24t or less, and still works great!

Otto