With their 2008 Arsis deraileur microSHIFT had sought to establish themselves as technical players. The look was carbon, polished alloy and a rounded p-knuckle - all extremely reminiscent of the Campagnolo Record of the day. The message was... come and buy our 'highly-engineered toys-for-boys'.
And then microSHIFT caught two bugs at once:
- Firstly East Asia was a fast developing fashion centre, with Taiwanese designers showing at Paris Fashion Week and the Korean Wave sweeping the world.
- Secondly, there was renewed interest in the market for women's road bikes. Road biking did not need to be a brutal, macho, powerfest - it could be a low-impact, sleek, spare and stylish way to burn calories and build fitness. And all the while you could be looking just-so in carefully tailored lycra.
And so microSHIFT became the latest brand to dream that fashion could be brought to cycle components. Which, slightly bizarrely, resulted in the microSHIFT White series... Its history goes something like this:
- In 2009 microSHIFT launched a version of the Arsis (R66S) without the 'carbon wrapping' on the outer parallelogram plate and in a glossy white finish - called the microSHIFT White. Ironically it was one gram lighter than the Arsis.
- In 2010? they added versions with coloured knuckles (red, blue, yellow or green). Despite the colours, these were also prominently branded 'microSHIFT White'.
- For 2011 they modernised the range to be based on the Arsis (R67SC). Initially, white and red version were offered, both branded 'microSHIFT White'.
- Over the next few years other colours may also have been offered in this modernised model. The 2015 catalogue shows a green option.
- By 2016 the 'microSHIFT White' model had disappeared and only a ghost of the dream lived on, with white as a colour option on the mid-range Centos model. The wild flight was over and we had come crashing back down to earth.
This is an unused example of the first generation, strikingly red microShift White (R66R?). Some of its features are:
- The pulley cage is 50mm long.
- The adjustment screws are titanium with Phillips heads.
- The machined aluminium pulley wheels have sealed bearings.
- The cable clamp washer has one tab.
- Derailleur brands: microSHIFT
- Themes: A riot of colour
- Country: Taiwan
- Date of introduction: 2010?
- Date of this example: unknown
- Model no.: R66R?
- Weight: 195g
- Maximum cog: 27 teeth (source: microSHIFT)
- Total capacity: 29 teeth (source: microSHIFT)
- Pulley centre to centre: 50mm
- Index compatibility: 10 speed Shimano
- Chain width: 3/32”
- Logic: top normal
- B pivot: sprung
- P pivot: sprung
- Materials: Aluminium (including the hanger bolt) with titanium cable clamp and adjustment screws.
Ref. 1492
