How Simplex Simply Went Out Of Business Because Of Plastic

Simplex was a French bicycle part manufacturer that made derailleurs, brakes and other parts. The company was founded by Lucien Juy and produced its first derailleur in 1928. In the 1930s, Simplex began to produce parts for the newly-developed mountain bike market and became one of the leading suppliers of mountain bike components. The company continued to produce high-quality bicycle parts until it ceased operations in the early 2000s. Although Simplex is no longer in business, its products are still highly sought-after by collectors and vintage bicycle enthusiasts. It was once the world's largest supplier of derailleurs. However, the company eventually went out of business due to its reliance on plastic components. In the 1970s, Simplex began using increasingly cheap and light plastic materials in order to stay competitive with other manufacturers. Unfortunately, these plastics were not as durable as metal, and they often broke or wore out quickly. As a result, customers began to lose faith in Simplex's products, and the company eventually went bankrupt. While Simplex's downfall is often cited as an example of the dangers of using plastic components, it is important to note that the company's use of cheap and light plastics was also a response to changing customer demands. In an increasingly competitive market, Simplex was under pressure to produce lighter and cheaper products, and plastic was simply the best material for meeting those goals. As such, it is unfair to blame Simplex's demise entirely on its use of plastic. Rather, the company's failure was the result of a combination of factors, including changing customer preferences and intensifying competition. In design and function, the Prestige and Criterium are the same. The Criterium had a cute red plug and a silver badge in the pivot bolts, while Prestige had a red-badged parallelogram. The Simplex uses Prestige made up of Derlin plastic and Criterium with steel reinforcement. Because of the materials this manufacturer uses, it is often perceived as low quality and cheap. However, they shifted quite well, given the standards of the time - not as good as anything SunTour made, but at least as well as most of Campagnolo's offerings. Aside from their appearance, the main criticism of those plastic Simplex derailleurs was their durability. Since the introduction of the first all-plastic Simplex derailleurs in 1962, increasing amounts of metal have been added to the higher-level models. Lucien July most likely reasoned that racers and tourists cycled more kilometers and in harsher conditions than recreational riders, necessitating the development of more robust derailleurs. (A Prestige could wrap the amount of chain required for a triple crankset, but it wasn't torsionally robust enough to last very long in this application.) By 1975, he'd completed the circle: his "Super LJ" derailleur was made entirely of alloy and was designed to compete with the Campagnolo Nuovo Record, SunTour Cyclone , Huret Jubilee,and other top derailleurs of the time. As a result of this situation, Simplex may have been the only component maker whose professional-level products were heavier than its entry-level products or anything in between! Simplex derailleurs were one of the few plastic components before carbon-fiber frames became ubiquitous. The choice of Derlin in their products might have been the best choice for Simplex as their cast aluminum parts seem to be prone to breakage. But they went out of business mainly because of plastic components- Derlin. The firm was controlled by the founder's son for the last decade or so, a development that is reflected in the change from a classic catalog-style business to a contemporary one with unfortunately unpopular pastel colors and new fonts. The fact that they didn't create sprockets and chains hindered attempts at innovation; not that it was, but the Telematic system could have been amazing if it didn't shift poorly on the standard sprockets and chains of the time. They hobbled on, but by the late 1980s, they were plainly trying to keep up with market changes but failing miserably. A successful game isn't made up of endless tiny variations on well-worn themes. Endless subtle variations on well-worn themes do not make a successful company, and if you make a slant parallelogram mech, it must be more than just cheap (in European terms) to sell. Wrapping Up The one thing that matters the most is choosing the right materials to have a sustainable cycling manufacturing business. Manufacturers should ensure that they use good quality material, so their business does not run into problems.  A good platform like Sprocket Bike App and a good understanding of the used bicycle market can enable anyone to create a business selling used parts and bicycles.