JulesCW 

I have a 1970s bike with braze on mounts for down tube shifters. I'd like to put bar-end shifters on this bike. I have several sets of Shimano and Campy bolt-on cable stops for braze-on down tube shifter bosses from the 1990s or so that will functionally work fine, but I'm wondering if there is a 1970s-era equivalent that would not stand out as glaringly out of timeline in this application.

dedhed

https://www.ebay.com/b/downtube-cabl.../bn_7024954409

unworthy1

don't think so, there are clamp-ons cable 'guides' from several brands (the most common being chrome-plated steel Sun Tour bands and used for bikes with stem shifters or barcons) but nothing made by anybody back then with the express use of screwing into brazed-on bosses that I ever saw.

Who would have wanted that back in the 1970s?

Anybody with a "modern" bike wanted the sleek aerodynamic braze-ons they paid for and "real" road bike riders shifted down-tube levers!
But styles and needs change...

But having said this there MIGHT have been some French (Huret or Simplex) items with Delrin bodies, or with rollers, that screwed onto FR threaded bosses. Never saw any that I kept to use, myself, but some Francophile might have info...

noobinsf 

Pulling from the search results above:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/38510999809...oAAOSwMttjHWB~

JulesCW 

I'm very familiar with these -- have a few in the stash -- but as I said, the bike in question has braze on shifter mounts -- I'm wondering if there are period appropriate cable stops that bolt on to those mounts (I have later Campy and Shimano ones, but am seeking something period appropriate if possible)

repechage

I have seen the bosses hacked off and a cable stop clip fitted adjacent- so sad. This was a frame from the late 1950's, when braze ons were uncommon!

I have seen where Campagnolo shift levers ( the earlier ones with the backing plates- reconfigured, here the hacksaw and file was taken to the levers then assembled and the cables run through the backing plate as a cable housing stop. At least period correct parts used

JulesCW 

Ouch! I'd far rather use newer stops and not be period correct than engage in butchery!

Meanwhile I'll do some stretching exercises to make dt shifting easier (I ride 65-68 cm frames, so those dt shifters are faaar away...!)

noobinsf 

Whoops, I read that too fast and thought you were lacking the bosses… Sorry…

daka

What you are looking for exists but I think it's more of an 80s thing. Bikes from the early/mid 70s were more likely to have clamp on shifter assemblies. I'm thinking that touring bikes like the Cannondale ST 500 that came with bar-end shifters might of had adaptors of the type you are looking for.

tiger1964 

uncle uncle

https://www.ebay.com/itm/26585471280...QAAOSw6lRi7XIM

^So... when I think of 70's bicycle esthetics, for mounts like this, I think sheet metal, with chrome over it, construction. That's really going to be a hard look to mimic, since most of these down tube cable stops are casted aluminum constructed. I think what may make stops look more "era correct" is to use adjuster barrels that look era appropriate, like the ones pictured above.
****
https://www.ebay.com/itm/23408676928...gAAOSwWRthUKez
^And, again to make it look more era appropriate, I'd use an older style mounting screw/fastener, like those used by these cable stops. Even better would be to use some fasteners that where chromed, with hex heads (I couldn't find any for sale that used anything like that).

You could also play around with grinding the stops into a less organic shape, to a more angular look (think 70's Campy derailleur as opposed to 80's Campy derailleur). Also, polish the casted aluminum to a mirror finish. (Let us know what you come up with...)

markk900

I agree with uncle uncle : it would be pretty easy to hide most of that stop with an appropriately sourced (non-buttonhead) screw; I also agree with polishing the stop to a chrome like finish as that would mimic the cheap chrome on steel of the era.... Once they're on there you'll never notice.....

I converted my Trek 600 to IGH, and used those very stops - to cover the ugly (without a lever) left side I put the matching stop on with no cables or anything. After a while you just forget its there.

dedhed

I don't know there are '70's ones. Mostly you see the Shimano, Campy, and a couple others like this VO one.

​​​​​​https://velo-orange.com/products/dow...ops-w-adjuster

madpogue 

If the shifters you'd be decommissioning have slot-head screws typical of the era, you could perhaps use those to mount the stops referenced in post # 11; that should approximate the intended look.

JohnDThompson 

Late 70s - early 80s Diablo made plastic stops that fit over standard Campagnolo-style lever bosses. A reasonable facsimile could probably be 3d printed by someone with the requisite skills and equipment.

bulgie 

If you want to be strictly period correct, there is a Suntour part that was made in the '70s.

Certain Suntour front derailers* had an optional thread-in housing stop, to use for those frames with a cable housing leading to the F.der. Most of those derailers got mounted to frames that didn't use that bit of housing, so the thread-in housing stops tended to accumulate in the junk bin. They have a M5 x 0.8 thread just like a Campy DT shifter boss, so thread 'em in there et voilą.

It's a bit ugly though because (1) it doesn't hide the shifter bosses and (2) it sticks out wider than the Diablo-Shimano-Campy type where the cable passes below the boss. On the plus side, they're small, and polished bright chrome.

*Maybe someone here knows which derailers came with those thread-in stops. I did see them used on shifter bosses a couple times, and I'm pretty sure as far back as the '70s, but don't sue me if they're really from the '80s. This advice is worth no more than you paid for it.

I can probably find one to photograph if my explanation is not clear.

Mark B

JulesCW 

Thanks all for input -- as I suspected, it is likely what I want does not really exist. I do have a couple of the housing stops bulgie mentions somewhere -- I'll dig them out and see -- although I think they will look bad. Perhaps modding something as uncle uncle suggests will be the way to go. Or maybe I'll just say the heck with "authenticity" and go with a set of Campys from the late 80s/early 90s.... or stick with the dt shifters. Options galore, I guess.

cudak888 

Somewhere here, I have a pair of aluminum cable stops - probably from the 1980s - which look similar to the Dajia Cycleworks pieces, but are a bit more gaunt in their use of aluminum and definitely look a lot more 1970's.

I'll post a pic if I can find them.

-Kurt