smontanaro 

Since nobody has yet mentioned it, I will. Disraeli Gears. Talk about a rabbit hole...

I think the Sanko Procyon is right up there with the best. Here's a PV-1.



If you're into the CNC era, Paul derailleurs are hard to beat. How about the Powerglide 'Rasta'?

Ago15

....

smd4

25th Anniversary Dura Ace with Omni Racer pulleys.

Ago15

....

52telecaster

After the suntour Vx series I quite worrying about weight. They are close enough and work really well for my needs. Cleaning this one to get it ready for a new life on a new bike!

gugie 

Huh, Disraeli Gears shows it at 195 grams vs 175 for Cyclone first gen. Do you have a link that shows otherwise?

"This is a beefed up Cyclone, with wider parallelogram plates, stronger castings for the knuckles and stainless steel pivot pins."

Aardwolf

From Velobase

Cyclone GT (RD-1800) 195g https://velobase.com/ViewComponent.a...4-66c9b1d79350
Cyclone M-II GT (RD-3500) 172g https://velobase.com/ViewComponent.a...ef1cb&Enum=108

smontanaro 

Yeah, I think the consensus is that the Cyclone was lighter than the Superbe, perhaps a bit more fragile as a result.

52telecaster

https://www.disraeligears.co.uk/site...2nd_style.html

That has to be the ultimate touring derailleur for my money. My grand record came with one and it shifts like butter. 195 grams is just fine by me.

Highmass

But I didn´t say Superbe, I said Superbe Pro. This link says 169,5g, and it explains the difference between Superbe and Superbe Pro. https://velobase.com/ViewComponent.a...108&AbsPos=692

Kabuki12

I had the short cage version on my Diamond Formula Kabuki back in the late seventies. My wife and I lived on a sail boat in Channel Islands harbor , so very harsh environment . We did not have a car for about 2-3 years so I put about 30 miles a day , sometimes more, on that bike , even in the rain. It never missed a shift! To me the beauty on this derailleur is function! I still have the bike but put a NR on it just because I ended up wanting Campy stuff. The derailleur is still in a box with all the other nice SunTour stuff that came on that bike.

gugie 

Well, looks like we're both wrong. From your link:

"This is the second lightest rear derailleur ever built by Suntour, as the Cyclone Mark II (RD-3500 Short Cage) beat it by 9 grams! "

The Golden Boy 

Derailleurs are fascinating to me. I would read about derailleurs, look at pix of people's stuff on the internets and then get one to try out. Most of all the reputations for a lot of these things are totally borne out in my rigorous, completely scientific tests.

The best shifting derailleur for me has been the heaviest- the Suntour XC triple pulley.

Suntour XC by Dave The Golden Boy, on Flickr


My next favorite would be the Suntour XC Pro and XC Comp- they both feel super class-

Suntour XC Pro Medium and Long Cage by Dave The Golden Boy, on Flickr


And speaking of that kind of class- the 1993/4-ish M735 XT and M900 XTR are two of the coolest MTB/ATB derailleurs ever.

XTR.XT by Dave The Golden Boy, on Flickr

1990 Miyata 1000LT- Rear Derailleur by Dave The Golden Boy, on Flickr


One of my first adventures into derailleurs was a terrible shifting Sachs/Huret Duopar Eco- it was awful- the cage had gotten bent allowing the chain to go between the pulley and the cage wall. One of the very smoothest was a Sachs/Huret Duopar Titanium. On a square toothed Maillard Helicomatic freewheel/cassette thing of all things.

Sachs/Huret Duopar by Dave The Golden Boy, on Flickr


Speaking of bent cages- everyone knows about the Mountech and that captive pulley that's a colossal pain the butt to work on with it's propensity to blow up... There was a Mountech version after that came with a ridiculously long cage and a ridiculously huge (like 15T) guide pulley. This one did not shift very well- I wanted to use it just for the novelty of it:

2nd Generation Mountech by Dave The Golden Boy, on Flickr


Most everything about the Arabesque 600 group did not do well for me. People love it- I HATED the shifters and the front shifting and the back was not good. I've since heard that the spring on the "long cage" unit is weak and gets weaker over time. On the other hand, the Crane is a really nice shifting unit-

600 Arabesque Long Cage by Dave The Golden Boy, on Flickr

Shimano Crane GS Rear Derailleur by Dave The Golden Boy, on Flickr


I've run a lot of long and medium cage derailleurs on my touring bikes- specifically my Trek 720. It's totally a judgement call as to why something feels like it works. I've run an old Cyclone and a Cyclone MII on both my 720 and Voyageur SP; they worked fantastic and looked great- I'm 99% sure they'll be fine for anything I can throw at them... but they feel so slight... here's this bike that walks the line between badass and graceful, but the Cyclone just feels to petite to me. On the other hand, the V-GT Luxe feels overbuilt, on top of that- it also feels anachronistic to have an old styled derailleur on a 1985 bike. But I had no qualms about putting 1989/1994/2000 era derailleurs on that bike without feeling goofy about it.

I think the days of classy looking derailleurs is pretty much gone- the Microshift derailleurs look nice, but everyone's moved on to swoopy, bulbous, black, carbon fiber stuff. I'm running a couple of 7803 Dura Ace derailleurs- thoroughly modern function- but classic looking.

620 Build Derailleurs by Dave The Golden Boy, on Flickr

smd4

I agree, I, too, am fascinated by these little mechanical contraptions. I look at modern rear derailleurs, with their multitude of angular facets and oddly-placed pivot points, and my mind can't grasp the function I think I should be seeing in the form.

When the 7800 rear derailleur came out, that was when I realized that for me, the 7700 was the pinnacle of elegant design. The lower pulley cage on the 7800 looks like a bottle opener; the forward "ears" of the side plate flare out grotesquely and un-aerodynamically to encompass the forward pivots. The 7700, on the other hand, tapers in form gently from narrow in the front, gradually wider at the rear. It's almost sensuously sculpted and polished. The quintessence of elegance.

Thanks for posting these pics, Golden Boy. You have an excellent collection of RDs.

Germany_chris

This is the only rear derailleur I really like to look at

Chombi1 

All these years they had been around,, the Sachs Duopar RDs always looked weird to me as it looked like it was a mess of stamped sheet metal parts ( I understand some in Ti), riveted together.
Looking at a picture of them now, I still cannot figure out the action of the cage in relationship with the main body with so many things going on with it visually....

Korina

I'm weird; I like the looks of the SunTour XC, and would love to try one. It makes so much sense for an ATB, with its short cage maximizing ground clearance and minimizing chain slap. If they'd made one low normal, I'd have one on my bike right now.

smd4

I kinda like that one too.

trucklet

Currently have a V GT Luxe on my Voyageur II, but the stock Crane GS is gorgeous. It looks so retro-futuristic, I'll probably swap it back on soon and see how it shifts now that I'm familiar with the V.

Korina

Unfortunately they're running $180(!) on eBay.

smd4

Damn. I only spent $150 a couple months ago on the Dura Ace derailleur in the photo I posted above. Be patient, one for a good price will pop up when you least expect it!

The Golden Boy 

There was also a long cage model that's pretty swank- and probably weighs a half-pound less...

Korina

Nice; simple and clean, the way I like it. I would have thought a long cage kind of defeats the purpose.

w-lewis

Such a great spot

non-fixie 

Derailleurs are pretty much my reason for being. And one I really like is the venerable Huret Allvit. Underrated, because they are associated with the low end bikes they appeared on later in life, they were the thing to have on your expensive hand-made touring machine in the early sixties.