The Cyclo Benelux Mark 7 was the seminal mid-price, mass-market, derailleur in Britain in the late 1950s and early 1960s. In many ways it is one of history's best designed and best constructed pull-chain derailleurs. The machined parts had tight tolerances, the chrome was good, the design was, arguably, superior to a Simplex or Huret offering at a similar price point and spare parts were readily available - all good.

Despite this I came to dislike it in a resigned kind of way - just looking at one brings on a deep sigh. As a young bicycle mechanic in the late 1970s I still came across bikes fitted with Benelux Mark 7s. The 20 year-old derailleurs were were, invariably, rusted solid, the chainwheel and freewheel had teeth that were worn to needle points that wouldn't embarrass a vampire, the frame had the, inevitable, tell-tale, kinks in the top and down tubes from a head-on collision, the perished tyres looked like the Creature from the Black Lagoon, the seatpost had, helpfully, permanently welded itself into the seat tube, etc. etc. - and the customer wanted the whole thing 'made roadworthy' for less than the a groat and three farthings. By this time anyone who cared about their bike had long moved on to a more modern transmission - leaving the Benelux Mark 7 as a mark of the meanest of hard-core skinflints. Time for another sigh.

I now find that this history is reflected in the examples of the Cyclo Benelux Mark 7 that I have in my collection. Most are rather nastily battered and rusted. You can tell that I did not spend a lot of energy looking for resplendant examples in gleaming New-Old-Stock condition. In some ways I apologise for this - but in another way it captures a tiny sliver of reality.

I am aware of at least five versions of the Cyclo Benelux Mark 7, with minor cosmetic differences, as follows:

• The first version (1957?) has an exotic, flamboyant, 3D, rivetted-on, winged logo on the main arm.
• The second version (also 1957?) has a rivetted-on, flat, enamelled logo with a red centre oval and blue 'wings'.
• The third version (1960?) also has a rivetted-on, flat, enamelled logo, also with a red centre oval, but with no wings, and a thin blue line around the red oval. This version also has a redesigned inner pulley cage plate.
• The fourth version (1964?) uses the same logo as the third version - but this time it takes the form of a rather nasty plastic sticker. This version may also have 9 toothed plastic pulley wheels, rather similar to those on a Lambert derailleur.
• The fifth version (1966?) is rather similar to the fourth version but the outer pulley cage plate resembles that on a Cyclo Benelux Super 60 or a Lambert.

As you will see from the dates that I have guessed, I vaguely think that this is the chronological order in which these versions appear - but I am not completely sure. I also think that the images that Cyclo used in its catalogues are not necessarily a reliable guide to dates. I think that old images were frequently reused.

This is a, suitably battered, example of the first version listed above. It is a 4-speed 3/32" or 3-speed 1/8" version.

• Derailleur brands: Cyclo Gear Company
• Country: UK
• Date of introduction: 1957?
• Date of this example: unknown
• Model no.: Mark 7
• Weight: 292g including hanger plate
• Maximum cog: 24 teeth
• Total capacity: 15 teeth
• Pulley centre to centre: 55mm
• Index compatibility: friction
• Chain width: 3/32” and 1/8”
• Logic: low normal
• B pivot: unsprung
• P pivot: sprung
• Materials: steel

Ref. 527