DISRAELI GEARS

Galli Criterium (7th style)

Galli Criterium derailleur (3rd style) main image

My memory of this derailleur (although I have a similar memory about Zeus!) goes something like this:

  • Galli were stung into action when Campagnolo released the restyled Super Record in 1980. This suddenly made their existing offering look ‘rough’ and out of date.
  • Their response was this, very polished, design. I regret their move away from straight lines and logical adjustment screws, and see this ‘new’ design as a step backwards in everything put finish and logo. I do like the fact that you can take it apart, although, as is often the case, you have to love circlips.
  • This design did not appear until about 1984(?), just in time for Campagnolo to launch their radically redesigned C-Record groupset (and derailleur).
  • This probably helped Galli (and Zeus) because road cyclists were very conservative and many were appalled by the look, weight and complexity of C-Record. These cyclists warmed to Galli’s new, very retro design, with its traditional Campagnolo style adjustment screws.
  • Of course it couldn’t last - and it didn’t.

This, later, silver version weighs 208g, 24g more than earlier models. In terms of the variables that seem to define these later 'curvaceous' Galli models, this example has:

  • the text on the outer parallelogram plate written vertically,
  • a steel P pivot bolt - hence some of the extra weight,
  • an inner pulley cage plate that incorporates a spoke deflector, further increasing the weight,
  • a conventional stop controlling the rotation of the pulley cage.


  • Derailleur brands: Galli
  • Country: Italy
  • Date of introduction: 1986?
  • Date of this example: unknown
  • Model no.: unknown
  • Weight: 208g
  • Maximum cog: 26 teeth? (Sutherland’s 4th edition)?
  • Total capacity: 22 teeth? (Sutherland’s 4th edition)?
  • Pulley centre to centre: 46mm
  • Index compatibility: friction
  • Chain width: 3/32”
  • Logic: top normal
  • B pivot: unsprung
  • P pivot: sprung
  • Materials: aluminium (including the pulley pivot bolts)
Galli Criterium/KL second cage derailleur additional image 01
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