In 1945 the celebrated 'Iron Curtain' descended on Europe dividing the merry, derailleur producing, 'west' from a secretive, sullen, 'eastern bloc'. Even Gary Powers in his U-2 could not discern exactly how the, supposedly, grey and down-trodden cyclists of the Soviet Empire were changing gear.

But since the fall of the Berlin Wall a thin, but steady, stream of battered derailleurs has made the long journey west, and a rich history of derailleur production has emerged. People in Eastern Europe, of course, knew all about this all along.

Here is a collection of relevant derailleurs that I have managed to assemble. I am sure that there are many others. I have included derailleurs from as late as 1990, because I regard them as still being the spiritual children of the Cold War era.