DISRAELI GEARS

Sanko PF (2nd style)

Sanko PF main image

During the 1950s there were two big beasts in the Japanese derailleur market. Sanko dominated the market for short cage derailleurs for racing and utility bikes and SunTour were the kings of the long-cage derailleur for dedicated touring bikes.

But then, in 1963, SunTour started to import the highly affordable Huret Svelto into Japan in quantity. At around the same time SunTour launched its own, flat-plate, low-priced derailleur - the SunTour Skitter. Both were modern, parallelogram-based, short-cage models aimed squarely at utility bikes and junior racers. It was a threat that Sanko could not ignore.

And so we have the 1965 Sanko PF. It was highly derivative of the Huret Svelto, but with a number of intelligent tweaks. Most notably it had sensibly placed adjustment screws and inexpensive, but effective, pulley wheels with plain bearings. It also had clean branding and was finished to a high standard. It's a derailleur that is hard not to like.

However, I would, quietly, suspect that Sanko was not really set up to produce large volumes of cheap products (and may have lacked the ruthless corporate culture required to do so). Unfortunately the Sanko PF faded away when Sanko went out of business in the late 1960s.


I believe that this example is a later Sanko PF from 1966, largely because it has a toothed guide pulley. It is surprisingly different from the 1965 version:

  • The guide pulley is a toothed plastic item with conventional dustcaps.
  • The tension pulley is extremely similar to the guide pulley.
  • The hanger plate has a lightly rounded outline. The dropout bolt has a hex head.
  • The inner parallelogram plate rivets have their shop heads on the upper side.
  • The cable clamp nut is an 9mm item. The cable clamp washer has a tab on the outside.
  • The adjustment screws have knurled heads.


  • Derailleur brands: Sanko
  • Country: Japan
  • Date of introduction: 1966
  • Date of this example: unknown
  • Model no.: PF
  • Weight: 255g including hanger plate
  • Maximum cog: unknown
  • Total capacity: unknown
  • Pulley centre to centre: 44mm
  • Index compatibility: friction
  • Chain width: 3/32"
  • Logic: top normal
  • B pivot: unsprung
  • P pivot: sprung
  • Materials: largely steel

Ref. 1432

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