Ofmega Alpine LP (3rd style) derailleur

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’.

This is a slightly mysteriously version of an Ofmega Alpine LP. It has a dark grey outer parallelogram plate and an Allen key cable clamp bolt. Its main features are:

The word 'Ofmega' on the outer parallelogram plate, and nothing else.
A painted two-tone grey finish, but with a darker grey outer parallelogram plate, with chromed steel parts.
An Allen cable clamp bolt.
Torx pulley bolts.
The tab that engages with the gear hanger is at 11 o'clock on the b-pivot.
The pulley cage stop allows the cage to rotate around behind the parallelogram.
The cable is routed around a simple round pillar in typical Simplex 6-speed style.
One of the parallelogram pivot pins is removable and has a Posidriv head.