In the early 1970s Lambert tried to design their own derailleur and had a notable lack of success. So Lambert took an obvious step - and bought-in a Taiwanese copy of the best selling, lowish-end, derailleur of the time, the Shimano Eagle SS.

I believe that this Lambert model was manufactured by SunRace. It is a moderately decent quality object, just slightly less accurately made, just slightly heavier and with just slightly flakier chrome than the Shimano.

Lambert had a reputation for pushing the envelope of affordable bicycle design. On the one hand, this derailleur is the antithesis of that reputation - you could not get more mundane or mainstream that a Shimano Eagle SS. On the other hand this is among the very first Taiwanese components that I can remember seeing on a UK branded bicycle. Today, of course, many British branded bicycles are not only manufactured in Taiwan, they are also liberally festooned with Taiwanese components.

• Derailleur brands: Lambert, manufactured by SunRace?
• Country: UK, manufactured in Taiwan
• Date of introduction: 1974?
• Date of this example: unknown
• Model no.: unknown
• Weight: 386g
• Maximum cog: 28 teeth
• Total capacity: 28 teeth
• Pulley centre to centre: 54mm
• Index compatibility: friction
• Chain width: 3/32”
• Logic: top normal
• B pivot: sprung
• P pivot: sprung
• Materials: steel, steel, steel and steel

Ref. 872