This instruction book features another of Kharkov’s fantastic cover designs. The cyclist is speeding out of Dzerzhinsky Square in the city of Kharkiv, named after Felix Dzerzhinsky, the founder of the Cheka (that later became the KGB) and surely one of the most perfect villians of modern history. He is sprinting past the Stalinist Kharkov Hotel with the Constructivist Derzhprom (Palace of Industry) Building in the background. Finally you can’t ignore the goggles worn fashionably on the top of the head, the tensed, hunched posture and the generously proportioned dynamo headlamp - so vital on a racing machine.

And what of Kharkov derailleurs?

• The picture on page 9 is clearly of a Kharkov copy of a Campagnolo Gran Sport - a derailleur that is similar to the model I have called the Kharkov (1st style), but without the ‘Kharkov’ branding. The relevant text runs from page 7 to page 9.
• The rear cover shows the pull-chain derailleur that is also featured in in instructions for the B33 dating from 1959.

• Publisher: Kharkov
• Country: Ukraine
• Date: 1968
• Derailleur brands: Kharkov
• Derailleurs: Kharkov parallelogram, Kharkov pull-chain