DISRAELI GEARS
The Sanko S series dominated the small, but influential, derailleur market in Japan in the 1950s. These were very conventional low-normal, pull-chain, derailleurs that were extremely derivative of contemporary French designs. However, as with all Sanko products, they were very well made and excellently finished - possibly surpassing the Gallic originals.
The S series was made up of 9 models that were christened following a simple set of naming conventions:
So, for example, an 'SR3' would be a short cage derailleur, with a short main arm, a sprung b-pivot and a mounting under the chainstay. You can see a full listing in Sanko's April 1964 advert in New Cycling.
All S series derailleurs shared the same sliding rod mechanism, although different rod lengths were used for 3, 4 and 5 speed variants. I believe that all S series models could also handle both 1/8" and 3/32" chain.
I believe that this is an early and well-used example of a Sanko S3. It has the following features:
The cable stop on this derailleur does not look to be original (at least to me).
Browse associated documents.
New Cycling 01/1963 - Sanko ad
New Cycling 01/1963 - Sanko ad
New Cycling 04/1963 - Sanko product range
New Cycling 04/1963 - Sanko product range
New Cycling 04/1964 - Sanko ad
New Cycling 04/1964 - Sanko ad
New Cycling 05/1981 - '81 Derailleur Collection page 146 - scan 115 of 134
New Cycling 05/1981 - '81 Derailleur Collection page 146 - scan 115 of 134