DISRAELI GEARS
After Ofmega's distinguished history producing distinctive, and distinctively odd, derailleurs, this is a sorry-assed item - a Simplex off-the peg design, simply rebranded.
Sure it’s a slant parallelogram design, sure it’s all metal, sure it’s perfectly serviceable, but all the style and pride that Ofmega expressed in their earlier designs is long gone. The castings are slightly imprecise and have a light case of acne. On the steel pulley cage plates the styling is a touch crude, the edges are a bit rough, the chrome is inconsistent, sometimes silky and smooth, sometimes thin, rough and wrinkly. And, at times, the branding looks like badly applied Letraset.
In its Simplex guise this derailleur was called the ‘Forêt’. Ofmega called it the ‘Alpine LP’. I was told that this design was supposed to compete, head-to-head with Shimano's Deore XT. Dream on. ‘Forêt’? ‘Alpine LP’? I call it ‘commercial suicide by laziness’.
I think that this is an mid-ish version of an Ofmega Alpine LP. I think the Alpine LP was launched with a choice of one of two finishes - an 'all polished' look or this painted two-tone grey finish. Its main features are:
Ref. 1727
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La Bicicletta 1989 Apr - Ofmega ad
La Bicicletta 1989 Apr - Ofmega ad