I wish I'd remember the passage that Chas. Colerich quotes, and thank you, sir. But, wrt his last point, if 3-speed derailleurs of the Campy sport type were really marketed against the 3-speed hub gears, there are some marketing triumphs to be considered. In particular, for "town" use, I'd find the gear hub preferable. The S/A AW has 4:3, 1:1, and 3:4 ratios, or 33% up and 25% down relative to the middle gear. The Campy was limited to "16 a 22 denti," a total range of 1.37:1. Much closer ratios than the hub gear offered.
So, I think that urban myths entered the equation, but so did national traditions. Hub gears were German or British, eh?
harvey sachs mcLean va ++++++++++++++++++++++ Chas. Colerich wrote: There's a very simple answer to the question about single pulley rear derailleurs. According to Frank Berto in his book "The Dancing Chain": "...there was a market prejudice against double pulleys, so Campagnolo, Simplex and Huret made products to meet the market demand." page 163.
According to Frank Berto there was a long running dispute about dual pulleys (and pulleys in general by the hub gear crowd) causing increased friction and reducing efficiency.
I imagine that 3 speed derailleur bikes were built in direct competition with 3 speed hub gear bikes???
Superstition and urban mythes!