This aluminium Kharkov derailleur is derivative of a Gian Robert Competition, with the same neat adjustment screws and cable clamp arrangement. It is, however, considerably uglier, but devastatingly lightweight and not necessarily ineffective.

The pulley wheels are branded KVZ (written in cyrillic as ‘XB3’) and the outer parallelogram plate is branded with a symbol that I do not know how to read. This ‘unreadable’ symbol can be seen (the other way up) as a headbadge on a track bike on bikecult.com that has Kharkov cranks.

Discussing this derailleur a contributor to Bikelist comments:

• ‘I used a Russian derailleur for a while. Shifting was very secretive and I never knew what gear I was Putin it in’.

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• Derailleur brands: Kharkov
• Country: Ukraine - USSR at the time
• Date of introduction: 1979?
• Date of this example: unknown
• Model no.: unknown
• Weight: 159g excluding hanger bolt
• Maximum cog: 28 teeth?
• Total capacity: 28 teeth?
• Pulley centre to centre: 46mm
• Index compatibility: friction
• Chain width: 3/32”
• Logic: top normal
• B pivot: unsprung
• P pivot: sprung
• Materials: aluminium