DISRAELI GEARS

Le Bijou

Le Bijou main image

For its time, le Bijou is a nicely made, straightforward and lightweight single pulley derailleur.

The instruction sheet says that if the largest sprocket has more than 22 teeth, you should move the slider rods into the lower pair of holes in the main arm. Many decades later, Huret used a similar idea on their Huret Challenger (2440) and its later variants.

Another small feature that caught my eye is the slight curve in the black plate mounted on the inside end of the slider rods. This curve is a 'spoke protector' and again pre-figures a multitude of later designs that had cuved portions of their inner pulley cage plates - Shimano, in particular, were/are keen on this feature.


  • Derailleur brands: Bijou
  • Themes: Ultra-lightweight - single pulley models
  • Country: France
  • Date of introduction: 1937?
  • Date of this example: unknown
  • Model no.: unknown
  • Weight: 185g
  • Maximum cog: unknown, but greater than 22 teeth
  • Total capacity: unknown
  • Pulley centre to centre: n/a
  • Index compatibility: friction
  • Chain width: 1/8”?
  • Logic: low normal
  • B pivot: sprung
  • P pivot: none
  • Materials: the fork/pulley cage is aluminium, the rest is steel
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