Simplex skewers

Simplex skewers on this page: Vintage Quick Release Skewer Set | 2nd Generation Quick Release Skewer Set

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Simplex founder Lucien Juy owned a bike shop in Dijon, France, when he began making his first derailleurs in 1928. His innovative designs were a hit and by 1933, Juy said he was making 40,000 derailleurs a year.

It wasn't until 1961 that Simplex adopted the deforming parallelogram that Campagnolo had popularized with its ground-breaking Grand Sport derailleur a decade before. But Juy's Simplex derailleurs had a sprung top pivot, the way all derailleurs are made today. At the time, that Simplex Export 61 was probably the best-shifting changer made.

A year later Juy decided to make Simplex derailleurs out of an acetal resin (OK, plastic) made by Dupont called "Delrin". It was a terrible mistake. Juy took what was the best derailleur in the world and turned it into a flimsy, delicate changer.

In the early 1970s Juy again began producing superb changers when he came out with the alloy Super LJ series. They were nicely finished, well-designed, good shifting derailleurs.

Simplex also offered hubs in the 1960s. Some were made by Normandy and others by the now nearly forgotten French Excel company.

No amount of innovation or quality improvement could stem the Asian onslaught, exacerbated by association with those delrin derailleurs that came on so many bike-boom bikes. Simplex ceased production in the 1990s.

Simplex Vintage Quick Release Skewer Set. Used, $75.00/pair.

These were made sometime in the 1960s. They might be the first skewers Simplex produced.