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Dave Hickey

Greetings....First post.....I've been a fan of French frames for many years.

Sorry for my first post being so technical but this has me perplexed

I just finished building up my 1984 TDF.... I have a question for other TDF owners around the same year..specifically when installing Dura Ace 7400 series levers.

The down tube shift bosses seem to be brazed incorrectly. On normal frames, the flat sides of the boss runs parallel to the down tube. On this bike, the flat sides run perpendicular. The 7401 Dura Ace levers can only be installed with the lever in-line with the flat side of the bosses. With the lever all the way on the boss, the starting point of the lever(smallest cog) would be straight up instead of in-line with the down tube.

What's strange is I have an early Vitus 979 that has the bosses installed the same way yet my other 979's have them installed correctly.

does anyone know if this is a quirk of French frames of that vintage or was it just sloppy workmanship?

I have the lever partially installed on the boss and tightened down and it works fine but there is a gap between the boss cover and the boss..

Thanks

verktyg

I think that the problem is that Shimano used a non industry standard design on their downtube shift levers. I've used Suntour and Simplex levers instead. They fit the Campy style bosses perfectly.

Chas.

sandranian · Site Admin

My late 1980's Gitane frames have the "verticle" orientation on the bosses. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that my 2000 Gitane has one horozontal (on the drive side) and one verticle...or close to it...boss on the opposite! Now the 2000 was built specifically for the Shimano cable stops, whereas the older ones were built for shift levers.

Perhaps you can find a cable stop/adjuster which will work with the older frames?

Dave Hickey

Thanks to both. I believe it is more on a Shimano issue than the frame bosses themselves.. The only time I've run into this issue is with 7400 or 7401 downtube shift levers. Other Shimano and Suntour don't have this problem.. Or some reason, Shimano designed the Dura Ace shift levers to only fit on the bosses one way....

It's a graet bike. I had it out for a 60 mile shakedown cruise yesterday. I also own a 76 TDF. I'll post some pics soon

sandranian · Site Admin

I think I mistakenly thought you were using the newer shift/brake levers, and not downtube shifters...

oops. But seriously...my 2000 bosses are both different, which is bizarre. It didn't effect performance, but not very good quality control....

verktyg

I could be wrong but I tried some later model Shimano downtube index shift levers that didn't fit properly on Campy style lever bosses.

I just looked at a 1986 Centurion Iron Man frame and the bosses are industry standard. A NOS set 7 speed Shimano levers fit on them fine.

There's some 1/2 round aluminum castings that fit over the square on the lever bosses and fill the gap between the levers and the downtube. Dave may not have these parts with his levers.

I have a 1974 Raleigh Team that someone "restored" about 20 years ago. They put on a bunch of braze-ons that have damaged the bikes historical value.

The braze-on shift lever bosses don't match. One is like the industry standard the other has the flats oriented in the wrong direction. Campy levers work on them without any problems.

Chas.

Dave Hickey

Thanks again for the replies.

Chas, I have the chrome covers and they will fit on the boss without problems. The problem is inside the hole of the Dura Ace SIS unit. If you look inside the unit, there are flats built in whereas other shifters I have don't. Other shifters just have a round hole and the shifters can be oriented in any direction...

This problem seems to occur on early 80's frames. My guess is in pre-index days, it didn't matter. In the late 80's companies went to the standard orientation for the shift bosses...

Thanks again...This is a great board with a wealth of knowledge..

verktyg

The problem must be with the DuraAce levers. I have some 600 and 105 levers that fit Campy style bosses OK but I remember some levers that I tried that didn't fit.

Chas.