After the distinctive grey finish and trend-bucking, facetted, edgy, styling of the New Success ARIS (47.2D) first Sachs-Huret (and then Sachs) produced a sequence of New Success models that are hard to tell apart. They all shared a number of features:
- They were all 8-speed, a year or two after Shimano Dura-Ace, but at roughly the same time as Campagnolo.
- They all finally adopted a concealed p-pivot bolt, a year or two after Shimano Dura-Ace, but at roughly the same time as Campagnolo.
- They all used smooth curvaceous forms, rather similar to Campagnolo's offering at the time.
- They were all finished in a polished, anodised, silver, rather similar to Campagnolo's offering at the time.
- They were all strongly made and nicely finished, possibly rather similar to Campagnolo's offering at the time.
- They were all a little on the heavy side, a trait they shared with Campagnolo's offering at the time.
- ...
Perhaps you can spot the trend here. However, in defence of these New Success derailleurs, I have to say that, although they were less prestigious, they felt better engineered than the competing Campagnolo models.
The dates are all a little unclear, but I think the sequence of short pulley cage, racing, New Success models went something like this:
- 1989? saw the Sachs-Huret New Success Sport (54.01D). The mechanicals of this were very similar to the angular New Success ARIS (47.2D), with the same cable saver, cable adjuster etc. But the logo incorporated a groovy blue 'flash' and it had an 'aero' pulley cage.
- For 1991? the cable adjuster was upgraded to be easier to grasp (and to look groovier).
- Later in 1991 the branding was changed from Sachs-Huret (with a blue flash) to plain Sachs, wirtten in blue lettering. We were also blessed with a centeron-style guide pulley with rubber seals and a tension pulley running on a cartridge bearing. These derailleurs still used the Sachs-Huret four digit date codes, listing the week number and year.
- Possibly around 1992? the date coding was changed to the Sachs format of a single letter and number.
- 1993? saw the arrival of the Sachs New Success Sport (RNS 00). This had new lettering, a new b-knuckle, without the cable saver mechanism, an aluminium inner parallelogram plate and a new, speedier looking, cable adjuster.
- And finally, for 1995? the Sachs New Success (RNSS0) got rid of the outdated aero pulley cage and acquired a lighter cage with cutouts and titanium pulley bolts.
This is a tidy example of the first of the models listed above - the Sachs-Huret New Success Sport (54.01D). Some of its key features are:
- It is branded Sachs-Huret.
- It has a sprung cable saver built into the cable stop. This is steel and also requires a steel inner paralelogram plate.
- The cable adjuster is a conventional knurled item.
- It has an 'aero' outer pulley cage plate without any cutouts.
- The inner pulley cage plate does not have a kink at the tension pulley.
- It has steel pulley bolts.
- It has conventional pulleys running on bushes.
- Derailleur brands: Sachs-Huret
- Categories: Sachs-Huret - the stubbornly unsuccessful, Success
- Country: Germany, manufactured in France
- Date of introduction: 1989?
- Date of this example: 1991 - the inner parallelogram plate is stamped ‘0591’ - week 5 1991
- Model no.: 54.01D, article no. 54 1100 402 201
- Weight: 236g
- Maximum cog: 28 teeth?
- Total capacity: 28 teeth?
- Pulley centre to centre: 50mm
- Index compatibility: 8 speed
- Chain width: 3/32”
- Logic: top normal
- B pivot: sprung
- P pivot: sprung
- Materials: aluminium, with a steel inner parallelogram plate
