If the Crane was symbolic of Shimano’s determination to mix it with the best, the Titlist was the gear that was actually designed to do the business. The Titlist shared the same parallelogram but had steel cage plates. Mysteriously, this small change meant the price was much, much lower.

The first style of Titlist had a cast outer cable stop, just like the first style of Crane (they both use the same casting).

The Crane was exotic, expensive, and in Britain, at least, a minor seller in a market dominated by Campagnolo. In contrast, the more affordable Titlist was a runaway hit, shifting better than anything from Europe (but not as well as the SunTour V) and selling better than anything from Europe (but not as well as the SunTour V). It was fitted in quantity as original equipment on numbers of mid range bikes.

I consider it to be the ‘first ancestor’ of both Ultegra and Deore XT - which is a pretty significant position to hold in the history of the derailleur.

• Derailleur brands: Shimano
• Categories: Shimano - the Ultegra story, Shimano - the Deore XT story
• Country: Japan
• Date of introduction: 1971
• Date of this example: unknown (no two letter date code, and has ‘3.3.3.’ marking on pulleys)
• Model no.: D601 without hanger plate, D600 with hanger plate (also 52800012 and possibly DB200)
• Weight: 247g
• Maximum cog: 28 teeth (Sutherland’s 4th edition)
• Total capacity: 28 teeth (Sutherland’s 4th edition)
• Pulley centre to centre: 45mm
• Index compatibility: friction
• Chain width: 3/32”
• Logic: top normal
• B pivot: sprung
• P pivot: sprung
• Materials: aluminium parallelogram, steel pulley cage plates