I occasionally come across references to the Shimano Automatic 5 system that is featured here - but I have never been able to work out what it actually is or does. It is obviously both powerful and amazing in a super-hero kind of way (and I do like the idea of a super-hero who wears a ‘bunches-of-bananas’ cycling helmet), but aside from that I am clueless.

The spoke protector disc has the words ‘speed selector’ written on it and has a cutout with numbers from 1 to 5 (presumably indicating gears) and H and L indicating high and low. There may be a pointer showing in this window indicating the gear. But the derailleur appears to be a perfectly normal Shimano Sky Lark operated by a perfectly normal cable - and there seems to be nothing very ‘automatic’ about it.

A mystery.

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• Publisher: New Cycling
• Country: Japan
• Date: January 1969
• Derailleur brands: Shimano
• Derailleurs: Shimano Sky Lark red (1st style)