tcs

I'm sorry I don't actually know. It screws into the derailleur hanger (correct threads) but just barely sticks through. It was found in the 'small, miscellaneous & random parts can' in the 'big box of old bike parts' from under the workbench. Yeah, it's just there to protect the threads.

Best guess:

tcs

Several here are anticipating/hoping for aesthetic refinement. Here's what Mr. Heine says:

"The Nivex derailleur isn’t a prototype or a first iteration that will be replaced by a ‘new-and-improved’ model in a year or two: The system has been tested over 10,000s of miles, including Paris-Brest-Paris, the Oregon Outback and Unbound XL (above). This is the final version, it won’t change anytime soon..."

tcs

Rohloff and Enviolo

Desmodromic. That's fun to say. Desmodromic. Desmodromic.

daka

Going back to my earlier post, this is what really pisses me off. Heine now refers to "the Nivex" as though he invented it. What he has done is build a replica using modern "billet style" NC machining where you start with a bigger block of metal and create a lot of chips. No tooling, little craftsmanship, just programming and a big milling machine. Those of you that congratulate him for what he has done might not feel the same if he was plagiarizing your intellectual property.

3alarmer 

The Grandfather of Parallelogram Derailleurs

Lattz

So far I only heard that in the Ducati (and related forerunners) terms, but makes sense. The opening thing closes the counterpart and vice versa.

3alarmer 

...you don't think that the international patent rights would have expired, since 1938 ? It's not like family is still making them somewhere, and one presumes that the guy who bought the remaining stock, Dujardin, ran out of parts long ago.

rccardr 

I like to look at old bikes. They can be interesting. Neat to see how folks back in the day tried to figure out how best to easily and consistently shift from one gear to another.

But this?

Just…no.

3alarmer 

...I don't respond to an advertising pitch that does not end with, "...But wait, there's more !"

daka

Heine has had the opportunity to explain where the design originated. It doesn't appear to me that he has made much of that.

iab

There is no IP. It expired 65 years ago. I suspect you would also be angry if he called it "the Heine" claiming he just ripped off "the Nivex". And you have got to be kidding about your hate of modern manufacturing, right?

iab

Now I'm confused. First you complain he calls it a Nivex, quite literally the origin, and now you are saying he didn't. Which is it?

himespau 

Am I sufferring deja vu? I could have sworn I saw a blog post from him about this in my reader 2-3 months ago at least.

daka

What you say is true. But how hard would it be to say - "This was a great idea, I've replicated it so you can enjoy it today (at a price)"

And I don't have a real hatred for modern manufacturing, Professionally, I was dependent on it for many years. But it does lack soul.

Lattz

We are all in love with plagiarized stuff, since not even the hardcore pre-war bike fans are rocking the original wooden running machine. The creator has the right to say whatever he wants about his product just like every other company does. Both the love and hatred depends on the perspective we want to look from. Would I put it on an orig 40's bike? Most possibly no. Is it nicely done considering its made in 2022? Yes. If I robbed the bank, would I ask Gugie if he's willing to make some surgery on a Schindelhauer Arthur or Ludwig, which are anyway mocking old style just like everything since the running machine? Hell yes!

But with all the respect what would be the proper communication for you for a product, which even if largely inspired/copied on another still needed some modern time finesse and risk taking and aimed at a niche market?

JulesCW 

I think the derailleur this is based on was patented in 1938 or so, French patents last for 20 years, and the company has been out of business for 50+ years. The creator of the original is long dead, the company is defunct, and if it were not the patent expired 60+ years ago... Just wondering if you rail against the injustice of Suntour seeing lots of adaptations of its innovations once their patents expired... The fact the Jan clearly gives credit to the original in many articles makes your claim that he's somehow pretending to have invented it a bit odd -- unless you think Jan thinks he's fooled us into thinking that he's actually a 120+ year-old French man... Hmmmm....

HTupolev

Heine has written extensively about the original Nivex in the past, and yesterday's announcement begins with acknowledging that this is based on that derailleur:
It's unclear to me what your expectations are.

3alarmer 

...I think calling it "The Nivex" kind of blows the whistle on this history.

daka

There are plenty of photos of the original that would acknowlege the origin and, at the same time, show how much more refined his replica is.

daka

I may be wrong, but I think the subset of cyclists that are familiar with the original Nivex is likely pretty small. But your point is well taken.

BertoBerg 

I’m really excited to see a “new” and interesting derailleur come to the market! That being said this is a little too pricy and a little too niche for me. I wish RH the best of luck with this endeavor and hope they can develop more parts.

3alarmer 

.
...if Shimano thought they could make money manufacturing these, my best guess is that they would do so.
I think it would be hard not to be able to turn them out more cheaply in volume, but they are not going to be sold in volume.

Paul Engineering turned out about 1500 of these guys, using similar machining. IIRC, they were also wildly expensive, in comparison to the rest of the marketplace.
Small scale production of something like this is pretty expensive. Lots of labor costs.

tcs

(Un)fun fact: Scuttlebutt was that in the first take she slung that wheel into the path of the oncoming peloton and caused several to go down.

cudak888 

I almost mentioned the Paul RD's here, but figured I'd open up yet another Pandora's box of a tangent.

I'm sure when those were released, some b!tched about them too. Now they're cherished.

-Kurt

polymorphself 

This is more or less just what he did in the post though.