Originally Posted by
smd4
I agree the Centeron probably forgives a wide range of mechanical sins, especially for those who may not be meticulous about bike maintenance. I'm not sure it was the sole reason for the massive success of Shimano's foray into index shifting in the mid-1980s.
I'd put it second behind Suntour's patent expiring on their slant parallelogram RD. Or, maybe third behind that and Simplex's blunder to use Delrin on their derailleurs. Their high end stuff(non Delrin) was as good as any out there.