QR Skewers - 03

QUICK RELEASE:
Simplex - curved handle quick release mechanisms - chrome plated steel end caps - post 1974 and pre 1980 matte chrome plated "ribbed" lever arms marked "SIMPLEX" and "MADE IN FRANCE" - post 1974 Black DuPont Delrin "winged" knurled adjusters with stylized "SIMPLEX" logo - model SX 3607 ... [Although contemporary sales literature would seem to suggest that 1977 and 1978 vintage Peugeot PY-10 bicycles could be provisioned having Simplex SX 3607, Simplex SLJ 3607, or Maillard 3700 series quick release mechanisms, I have yet to see an original example from these two years which was sold to the public at large and not fitted from new with a pair of Simplex SX 3607 skewers (...there is no doubt, however, that by 1979 those Maillard 3700 series mechanisms had become much more common if not standard issue for a PY-10, at least until the 1983 commercialization of the carbon fiber PY-10 FC model, but prior to that point in time they would appear to have been rarely if ever fitted). With regard to the two Simplex options, the only difference between the SX 3607 and SLJ 3607 components would be the lever handle itself where the former consists of a matte chrome finished "ribbed" arm marked "SIMPLEX" on its front side and "MADE IN FRANCE" on the back (...versions produced after 1979 have a bright chrome plating on their handle) whereas the latter uses a high polished chrome plated arm with molded Black plastic cover marked "MADE IN FRANCE" with Simplex "S" logo on its facing and having a "Red Dot" Simplex "S" logo on the obverse (...and underneath that Black plastic cover, there is not any manner of logo marking - do not ask me how I know this to be true). All other piece parts are quite literally identical, right down to their individual Simplex part numbers. Depending upon the particular event, stage, and/or rider, Peugeot-BP-Michelin team bikes were fitted at various times with either Simplex SX 3607 or SLJ 3607 quick release mechanisms throughout the entire 1977 season, and in fact, ample photographic documentation exists of both models having been used by the team during the course of that year’s Tour de France.]