David L. Johnson wrote:
> On Fri, 09 Jun 2006 18:42:25 -0700, Donald Gillies wrote:
>
> > "john" <[email protected]> writes:
> >
> >>Around 1970 a PX10 was $195 @ the good bike shop in Menlo Park, Ca.
> >>Calif. may have raised the price little. I would consider that a mid
> >>range bike. Perhaps a little above mid, but not top line Campy.
> >
> > PX-10 was the best that money could buy from france. It was by no
> > means a mid-range bicycle. And, it was lighter than a full campy bike
> > by 2 lbs - no lie.
>
> Oh, boy. Actually, the best that money could buy from France would then
> be mid-range. There were small-market builders who did better from
> France,
That's what the cycling mags of the time would have had you believe,
but it was baloney. Rene Herse and Alex Singer were the best that money
could buy from France or the world- is that what you meant by "did
better"? As to the production bicycles, as I said before, the PX10 was
not the best of them- that would arguably have been the Motobecane or
Gitane. But Thevenet won the Tour in 1975 (and again in 1977) on a
Peugeot (not a PX10), and when that happened even the cycling mags
admitted that the bicycle was as fine as anything available anywhere.
> but production bikes from Italy, or even a Schwinn Paramount or
> Raleigh Pro were much better.
Really? Consider the Cinelli, at the time the most prestigious, along
with Masi, of the Italian production bicycles. Look at the famous lugs:
pointed spear tips on the bottom, a poor design. French lugs were
nicely rounded on the bottom. The Raleigh Professional was a well-made
bicycle, but I would have rather had a Motobecane Grand Record, which
had a more useful design, with nice long chainstays. I'd have rather
had a Raleigh International than a Professional, for that matter (even
though it was not as nicely brazed), but I'd probably still rather have
the Grand Record than the International. Then there was also Gitane,
ridden by Anquetil, Van Impe, and others, as well as other famous makes
like Mercier, ridden by Poulidor, or Helyett, ridden by Anquetil for
many years, and still others.
The Simplex derailleurs were hit-or-miss
> compared to Campy. The Normandy hubs were decidedly inferior.
I think you are forgetting that the Simplex Prestige was not the best
derailleur from Simplex, that Simplex was not the only French
derailleur maker, and the same for Normandy with the hubs. I never
examined the expensive Normandy hubs, so I can't confirm or refute your
claim, but I do know that more expensive hubs were available from
Pelissier and Maxicar, and these command quite a premium today.
> And the
> PX-10 frame was neither particularly light nor strong. The PX-10 was no 2
> lbs lighter than a good Italian bike.
The claimed weight was certainly less- listed as 20lb vs e.g. 22lb for
the Raleigh Pro. Besides, which PX-10? It came inr more than a
half-doesncc
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