Old Huret front der with STI?

[Art Harris]

Will a 20 year old Huret front der work with an STI left shifter (triple) and narrow chain?

If yes, how much better will a modern front der work? It will be used with a Stronglight 99 crankset
(47-36-28).

Thanks, Art Harris

 

[Sheldon Brown]

Art Harris a demand=E9:

> Will a 20 year old Huret front der work with an STI left shifter (triple) and narrow chain?
>=20
> If yes, how much better will a modern front der work? It will be used with a Stronglight 99
> crankset (47-36-28).

I'm always reluctant to tell people what _can't_ work, because a bit of=20 ingenuity and persistence
can often overcome minor incompatibilities,=20 but it is _very_ unlikely this could work.

Your old Hur=E9t derailer is unlikely to work well with those chainring=20 sizes anyway.

The only derailer nominally compatible with the chainring sizes and the=20 lever throw of road STI
is the 1997 and earlier RSX, but even if you buy =

one of those, the primitive design of the old Stronglight chainrings is=20 likely to make upshifting
pretty dodgy.

This is a fundamental problem with indeded triple chainwheel shifting.

Doubles are _much_ more forgiving, and can be made to work with just=20 about any combination of
shifter and derailer.

Sheldon "Maybe, But Probably Not" Brown +-----------------------------------------------------------------
+
| How harmful overspecialization is. | It cuts knowledge at a million points and leaves it
| bleeding. | --Isaac Asimov |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+ Harris Cyclery, West Newton,
Massachusetts Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041 http://harriscyclery.com Hard-to-find parts
shipped Worldwide http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com

 

[A Muzi]

Art Harris wrote:

> Will a 20 year old Huret front der work with an STI left shifter (triple) and narrow chain?
>
> If yes, how much better will a modern front der work? It will be used with a Stronglight 99
> crankset (47-36-28).
>
Not sure about that but it would shift great with an Ergo.

Here are the issues:

Many classic cranks such as your Stronglight 99 have a smaller space between the outer ring and
the inside of the arm than modern cranks. Most modern front changers are overly thick at the outer
cage plate compared to classic fronts, and so rub either the chain or the arm or both when in the
outer ring.

So do try the Huret front first. With a double it would have worked just fine, even with the STi. If
it proves difficult to adjust, adjust the center STi position so the changer is on the middle ring.
If that does not help, you may want to either try a different classic front or switch to an Ergo or
friction shifter for the front.

Remember you might change the cable travel by switching the wire from the center of a drilled anchor
to one side or the other (on some changers that won't change the travel). You don't mention the
model of changer.

--
Andrew Muzi www.yellowjersey.org Open every day since 1 April, 1971

 

[Adam Rush]

[email protected] (Art Harris) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Will a 20 year old Huret front der work with an STI left shifter (triple) and narrow chain?
>
> If yes, how much better will a modern front der work? It will be used with a Stronglight 99
> crankset (47-36-28).
>
> Thanks, Art Harris

Is this a gramhead question in disguise?

On that note, what was the story on the Jubilee: Is it still the lightest ever? If so, why? What was
its capacity?

 

[Art Harris]

A Muzi wrote:
>Art Harris wrote:
>
> > Will a 20 year old Huret front der work with an STI left shifter (triple) and narrow chain?
> >
> > If yes, how much better will a modern front der work? It will be used with a Stronglight 99
> > crankset (47-36-28).
> >
>
> Many classic cranks such as your Stronglight 99 have a smaller space between the outer ring and
> the inside of the arm than modern cranks. Most modern front changers are overly thick at the outer
> cage plate compared to classic fronts, and so rub either the chain or the arm or both when in the
> outer ring.
>
> So do try the Huret front first. With a double it would have worked just fine, even with the STi.
> If it proves difficult to adjust, adjust the center STi position so the changer is on the middle
> ring. If that does not help, you may want to either try a different classic front or switch to an
> Ergo or friction shifter for the front.

Thanks for the info. I've never worked on a triple before, and didn't realize all the intricacies.

I'm trying to upgrade my wife's 1982 Motobecane touring bike. One of the big problems is lack of DT
braze-on bosses. The original shifters are Huret DT clamp-on friction levers. Upon removing the
right side lever, I found that the clamp presented something very similar to a Campy boss, but with
a weird attaching bolt (4.5mm and a 1 turn per mm pitch). I first tried installing a Dura Ace 9sp DT
lever on the boss, but the bolt was too short (only engaged about 1-2 turns). But I *was* able to
securely install a Shimano DT cable stop to the boss.

The original Huret front der and Huret friction lever do a decent job of shifting the triple, so I
may be better off keeping that. Then I'll either use an STI brifter or bar end for the indexed rear
shifting. The cassette is a 9-sp 11-32 with a Deore LX der.

Compared with the original 3 x 6 half-step arrangement, this will provide a higher high, lower low,
and a simpler shifting pattern. Also installed SPD pedals.

Art Harris

 

[Art Harris]

Sheldon Brown wrote:

> Art Harris a demand :
>
> > Will a 20 year old Huret front der work with an STI left shifter (triple) and narrow chain?
> >
> > If yes, how much better will a modern front der work? It will be used with a Stronglight 99
> > crankset (47-36-28).
>
> I'm always reluctant to tell people what can't work, because a bit of ingenuity and persistence
> can often overcome minor incompatibilities, but it is very unlikely this could work.
>
> This is a fundamental problem with indeded triple chainwheel shifting.
>
> Doubles are much more forgiving, and can be made to work with just about any combination of
> shifter and derailer.

Thanks for the straight scoop. By carefully bending the Huret front der cage, I have been able to
get it to shift the 47-36-28 pretty well (using the DT friction levers) without rubbing the chain or
the crank. So I think I will stick with that.

Art Harris

 

[A Muzi]

> [email protected] (Art Harris) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
>>Will a 20 year old Huret front der work with an STI left shifter (triple) and narrow chain? If
>>yes, how much better will a modern front der work? It will be used with a Stronglight 99 crankset
>>(47-36-28).

Adam Rush wrote:
> Is this a gramhead question in disguise? On that note, what was the story on the Jubilee: Is it
> still the lightest ever? If so, why? What was its capacity?

AFAIK, yes. A Huret Jubilee rear is an aluminum version of the Svelto. Clean, simple, dependable in
steel. Fragile in aluminum. The front had excessive deference to weight. A cever curved body allowed
a nylon roller on the cag etofollow an arc, eliminating two rivets and the lower arm. The body is so
spare, however, that simply clamping a wrong-size body on the bike ( 28mm Metric vs 28.6 Imperial,
something once commonly done with impunity and/or a piece of tape ) will easily crack the body. They
are not durable. ( Yes I bought them when they were in style).

The front is a classic shape double, 36-52 is about it. The rear being a road-sized vertical
parallelogran with unspring top pivot, these won't hold a lot of chain. Rear capacity 28t --with
chain sag if you combine that with more than about ten teeth difference in the rings.

--
Andrew Muzi www.yellowjersey.org Open every day since 1 April, 1971

 

[Art Harris]

A Muzi wrote:
> Remember you might change the cable travel by switching the wire from the center of a drilled
> anchor to one side or the other (on some changers that won't change the travel). You don't mention
> the model of changer.

The front changer is a Huret Challenger "S".

Art Harris

 

[A Muzi]

> A Muzi wrote:
>>Remember you might change the cable travel by switching the wire from the center of a drilled
>>anchor to one side or the other (on some changers that won't change the travel). You don't mention
>>the model of changer.

Art Harris wrote:
> The front changer is a Huret Challenger "S".

The Challenger front, a fancy-cage version of the timeless Huret 900, would indeed change travel
with changed cable position (on either side of the anchor). May take a bit of futzing but given your
classic crank I would say it's time well spent.

--
Andrew Muzi www.yellowjersey.org Open every day since 1 April, 1971