In a message dated 10/15/02 5:00:15 PM Pacific Daylight Time, GPVB1@cs.com writes:
<< I think Stevan may have been thinking specifically of early Dura-Ace when
he
commented earlier about durability / decay in shifting performance over
time.... >>
I was definitely not thinking of 1st edition Cyclone. The ones I remember
replacing on customer bikes almost en masse were: Suntour VGTs, Cyclone long
cage, Shimano long cage, the stuff that came on entry and mid level bikes,
particularly MTBs. The shop I was in was in Marin County, MTB mecca and a lot
of cyclists were hard on their equipment. The ones that worked didn't need
replacement, so the ones I remember were the ones that we replaced. I was
recently helping to put together a really old Flying Scot road bike, and a
customer supplied (well used) VGT wasn't shifting well. I applied my usual
test (grasp the ends of the long cage and gently twist to check rigidity) and
found the derailleur to be typical of the ones I used to routinely replace,
maxi slop. To be fair, I have no idea how many miles were on it and it was
probably removed from a bike because it didn't work well and got tossed into
a parts box instead of being thrown away. However it was typical of dozens
that I replaced and selling replacement derailleurs was good for the shop.
I'd be curious to hear about the movement in millimeters (using the above
test) on these older Japanese derailleurs with all the miles on them. My well
used Campagnolos have about 2 to 3mm movement. 2 at the upper end, 3 at the
lower.
Stevan Thomas
Alameda, CA