When, in the mid 1970’s Shimano redesigned its entire middle range of derailleurs, including the Shimano 500, Schwinn had the opportunity to move the Schwinn GT400 Le Tour on a generation to this - the Schwinn GT420 Le Tour. In doing so slightly more steel crept into the design - in the front knuckle.

I think that this was the last model that Shimano produced that was branded as Schwinn - from here on in, Shimano was a brand that was desirable in its own right. Today, of course, Shimano rules the world and Schwinn is viewed as a quaint piece of what Americans call history.

A tidy, competent derailleur.

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1. •Brand: Schwinn, manufactured by Shimano
   

2. •Country: USA, manufactured in Japan
   

3. •Date of introduction: 1976?
   

4. •Date of this example: 1978 (two letter date code is ‘CC’)
   

5. •Model no: GT420
   

6. •Weight: 274g
   

7. •Maximum cog: 28 teeth (Sutherland’s 4th edition)
   

8. •Total capacity: 28 teeth (Sutherland’s 4th edition)
   

9. •Pulley centre to centre: 46mm
   

10. •Index compatibility: friction
    

11. •Chain width: 3/32”
    

12. •Logic: top normal
    

13. •Pivots: two sprung pivots
    

14. •Material: aluminium rear knuckles, steel front knuckle, parallelogram plates and pulley cage plates
    

0295/J