DISRAELI GEARS
The definitive US made CNC-bike-porn derailleur of the mid 1990’s, the legend is that the Paul Powerglide even got its own centrefold in one of the teeny-bopper mountain bike magazines of the time. Next stop - the Playboy Mansion.
The Powerglide has a single sprung pivot, but is not quite a SunTour V GT in exotic drag, because the guide pulley is offset from the pivot. It worked well enough, but not spectacularly, and, with its aluminium hanger bolt, it was pleasantly light, but not astonishingly so. Nothing functional could possibly justify its extraordinary price.
However the Paul Powerglide looked amazing, the colours, the CNC geometric shapes, the detailing around the adjustable cable outer stop and the adjustment screws - all of this was like water in the desert for mountain bike aficionado’s drowning in a sea of Shimano (a fine mixture of metaphors).
This example is an early version, from 1995, with the branding engraved onto the outer parallelogram plate. From about 1996 the branding was a decal including the Stars and Stripes. This beauty has the long pulley cage, the longest of the three possible lengths. It is presented in the iconic ‘Rasta’ colours - red, gold and green - to match your obligatory elephantine woolly hat, ‘legalize it’ T-shirt and Fabulous-Furry-Freak-Brothers VW van.