This is a rogue’s gallery of short cage derailleurs weighing less than 190g excluding hanger plate. I chose ‘less than 190g’ as the cut off because the relatively modern, supposedly ‘super lightweight’, Shimano Dura-Ace 25th anniversary (7700 SS) weighs in at 189g.

The selection includes all the usual suspects - Huret’s Jubilee and Success, Campagnolo’s Super Record, a smattering of Zeus, the odd Simplex, some colourful Gallis etc. etc... But there are some interesting entries - you might not have expected to see Gian Robert, Ofmega, Rino, Roto, SunRace, Triplex or a Kharkov. Weirdest of all, no one would have pegged the Czech Walter as being one of the lightest gears of all time.

Of all the derailleurs shown here, the various SunTour Cyclones take the technical biscuit - they were not only light, but were affordable and, most importantly, worked exceptionally well.

It’s noticeable that light weight was a particular obsession during the 1970’s and early 1980’s. In the 1990s, not so much. The relatively meagre presence of Shimano product is also striking.

I have included kid's derailleurs because, believe it or not, time-trial weight-weenines did discuss the likes of the Simplex Cadet as being possibilities if you were only running one chainwheel and a straight-through freewheel. I heard the chatter but, being thankful for small mercies, I never saw it in action.

The derailleurs are shown in order of weight, with the lightest first. I have worked with the weight without a hanger plate. For examples that I weighed with a hanger plate, I have estimated a normal steel hanger plate as weighing 35g and any kind of super light hanger plate as tipping the scales at 25g.