A pleasant (if slightly roughly finished) melange of the SunTour Vx, SunTour Superbe and the SunTour Cyclone. The cable clamp arrangement is pure Vx, but Rino have managed to incorporate some of the curved muscular look of the Superbe by rounding off the Vx’s sharp corners and using the Superbe’s outer cable stop.  The black paint harks back to the SunTour Cyclone. It’s a family affair!

In common with other Rino gears the parallelogram pivots have screw threads and slotted heads - so it is possible that the derailleur is fully demountable - but I have not tried it.

Rino have worked some magic on the weight, using aluminium for some of the larger bolts. 183g is seriously light - and this was probably the best-changing derailleur that was manufactured anywhere in Europe at the time.

I think this black example is a later model - but I have no evidence for this beyond my (faulty) memory. I can still, just about, recall Noggin the Nog, his evil uncle Nogbad the Bad and the Captain of the Royal Guard, the fearless Thor Nogson. But if I have already forgotten the names of the bizarre green bird, of Noggin’s lazy mother and of the beautiful queen, what chance has a Rino Crono?

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1. •Brand: Rino
   

2. •Country: Italy
   

3. •Date of introduction: 1982?
   

4. •Date of this example: unknown
   

5. •Model no: unknown
   

6. •Weight: 183g
   

7. •Maximum cog: 24 teeth?
   

8. •Total capacity: 24 teeth?
   

9. •Pulley centre to centre: 48mm
   

10. •Index compatibility: friction
    

11. •Chain width: 3/32”
    

12. •Logic: top normal
    

13. •Pivots: two pivots, front sprung and rear unsprung
    

14. •Material: aluminium (including the hanger bolt and the allen key cap over the main pivot spring)
    

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