Alfa redesigned the venerable steel Alfa Gran Sport? in aluminium - and renamed it the Alfa Leopard. The Alfa Leopard is, of couse, the mechanically identical twin brother of the Zeus New Racer of the time.

This derailleur has a certain peasant charm. At a time when SunTour, Shimano and Campagnolo were producing increasingly complex sculptured derailleurs with increasingly sophisticated capabilities it is almost refreshing to see the parallelogram derailleur reduced to its very simplest elements.

I am slightly baffled by the name 'Leopard'. Somehow this leads me to expect other models named, perhaps, 'Cheetah', 'Lion', 'Tiger' and 'Puma'. But I have never found any evidence for any other Alfa big cats.

• Derailleur brands: Alfa
• Categories: Alfa - the bad and the ugly
• Country: Spain
• Date of introduction: 1979?
• Date of this example: unknown
• Model no.: unknown
• Weight: 214g
• Maximum cog: 28 teeth?
• Total capacity: 28 teeth?
• Pulley centre to centre: 46mm
• Index compatibility: friction
• Chain width: 3/32”
• Logic: top normal
• B pivot: unsprung
• P pivot: sprung
• Materials: largely aluminium, with steel knuckles

Ref. 1646