Brazed-on front shifter

[compo]

The Raleigh road bike I am doing up has a brazed on Sachs Huret front mech. There is some rust on it, and although it has virtually polished out and is perfectly useable it will almost certainly come back. I am thinking of replacing the mech with a Shimano unit. The question I have is this, are brazed ons fairly universal with the bracket placement or are the brackets brazed onto the frame to suite the chosen mechanism. In other words can I fit a Shimano in place of the Huret?

I am aware of checking for top or bottom pull.

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

It depends, a couple of common ones are in this pic but rarer ones exist e.g. see here.

 

[compo]

Thanks for the contribution but I wasn't referring to the shift levers but the actual gear mechanism itself that is bolted to a bracket on the seat tube.

 

[shouldbeinbed]

I'm mulling over changing my 10 yo roadie to flat bar, to help my neck, and have been advised that this one will do the job if my existing braze on 105 shifter doesn't like the change. http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=38446

whether they're interchangeable to a different manufacturer I dunno, might be one to get the calipers out to preciscely measure or take a punt for a tenner and hope it'll mackle right when you get it.

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

Thanks for the contribution but I wasn't referring to the shift levers but the actual gear mechanism itself that is bolted to a bracket on the seat tube.

Ooops should have read your question more carefully. If yours is like below you are likely to be ok subject to large ring size typical for bike type (bearing in mind each tooth affects vertical movement by 2mm). You should also be able to check the mech's exploded diagram and instructions before you buy for spec if it is Shimano.