1989Pre 

I've never had a shift cable break in my life, and am not holding my breath. If you look closely, although the cable is frayed at the end, It is fine above the derailleur. That is just a pinch from the previous derailleur anchor bolt. For a mad dog, you seem to be afraid of a lot.

Mr. 66

Wingnuts lol

smd4

Sometimes people just want their bikes to look good; a reflection that they care about their bikes.

It may be wrong, but we always seemed to pay special attention to the bikes that came into the shop where it was obvious that the the owner cared about their bikes and took care of them. The bikes that came in trashed we diligently repaired, but without the kid gloves.

1989Pre 

You have a problem with that?

1989Pre 

So, I reused the cable and you admit to copping an attitude. Your inference that I do not "care about" my bikes is just hyperbole and rhetoric to me. Oh, by the way, bicycle shop "mechanics" are, in my estimation, about as professional as carnival workers. As a matter of fact, I think that's where a lot of ex carny workers ended up. Their dissatisfaction with their job and level of maturity is neatly illustrated by your comment.

smd4

You haven’t lived until you’ve manned the controls of a tilt-a-whirl!!

1989Pre 

Have you ever had a job that actually required training? Maybe you should have gotten yourself an education and a good job.

smd4

Do you frequently make assumptions about people you don’t know?

Mr. 66

lol, no, wingnuts, lol, and you have the claw. I don't have trouble with other people's bikes. I have a set of wingnut wheels. I just sold a bike with wingnutted hubs. Wingnuts work fine, so does nut and waffle washer. If you are happy with wingnuts and claw so am I. I stopped using the wingnuts after braking one when I tightened the rear wheel on my claw derailleur bike when I was like 13 years old, I think I was running a Suntour Honor rear derailleur. I have not trusted using them ever since.

I actually was wondering why you thought the Deore was salvageable, it is obviously broken beyond reasonable repair.

smd4

Assuming he could get a proper pivot pin, I think it was salvageable. Nothing jumps out at being too twisted or bent, and nothing appears "broken." Hope he at least saved the pulleys--he could have put 'em on his Suntour!

1989Pre 

These are N.O.S. Gripfast, and I doubt that I would want to (or be able to) apply enough torque to snap one. My dropouts on the Manufrance do not have an integral hanger, hence the claw. The club nuts allow me to leave a 17mm cone wrench at home and make things a little quicker. Also, they make the bike look older than it actually is, so that is a minor plus.
You may be wondering how British club nuts could fit on a French bicycle. The hubs (both of them) were made by Sturmey/Archer, and this wheelset was originally built for and used on my Grubb. So, Sturmey/Archer on vintage French (Wolber) rims on a French bike is probably not something that we see every day. Like I say, I'll probably, eventually go back to a French, period r.d., and it is looking like the common Eco is going to get the nod. There seems to me something incongruous about European or British club nuts and an 80's Japanese derailleur. I'll have to admit that the Vx GT gave me good performance, though.
I did not mean to infer that I had come to any type of assessment that the Deore was reparable. When it let go, on the ride, I looked for a piece of wire to string through that reinforcement plate that had swung loose and down. Fortunately, the derailleur allowed me to continue on my way on my middle sprocket. Who made the club nuts that broke on you two years ago? (just kidding)

Mr. 66

I think they were Huret, probably on Normandy high flange. I know the set I sold were on the Astra tour de Belgeque were on Normandy, what a tank!

I was never a fan of the Suntour Gt, and Gt V, I don't think I ever tried the Vx one. I used to like the Alvit but as a kid we, I, I'm only one lol, was not real gentle. They work great until they got smacked around. Back then I didn't have the the tools or experience to care or fix, like I do now.

Your bike is like a Motobecan? I have the Geminani (Gitane) it has the long cage Huret on the claw it does good on the higher gears but has a lot of chatter in the lowers. That bike rides alright, needs other attention, all was original when I purchased. I was going to build the hubs onto some alloy 700 rims but I torched the tool fitting on the freewheel. The hubs are on the steel Rigida cheese graters, lol. Omg! How those suck in the rain.

That bike had a cottered triple crank, with a granny, and half step that was an impossible downshift to. I had to I ended up putting a decent Stronglight vis to replace. That Frenchy has Huret push-rod front derailleur, that works good, well, for the timeframe.

I'm a better mechanic now, than I was with my old Falcon as a freshman in high school (last year).