I'm trying to work out if these simplex shifters are worth keeping or landfill? The right hand one is 7-spd index and the left is friction. They sit under the bars and are basically upside down thumbshifters with a funny shaped lever.
They're a good idea, just poorly executed. I'm surprised Shimano never went down this route - just turn a thumbie upside down and change the shape of the lever.
Funny thing is Shimano did go down that route, as did Suntour and Mavic and a number of others. Shimano only used the design on low end groups and they disappeared as quietly as they appeared.
The really nice ones were the Simplex alloy ones. Simplex were also responsible for making Mavic's high end alloy wishbones but made thier own version which was better than Mavics as it used standard cable outer size and the ability to hand tighten the shifter action rather tha using a large adjusteable spanner a la Mavic.
On a side note I am now using a set of the Simplex 8 speed alloy wishbones along with a Shimano 10 speed cassette and a Campagnolo 10 speed rear derailleur on my flat handlebar commuter. The shifter actually has 15 shift positions and works perfectly in a 'Shimpagnolo' set up.