After the Combi 12 and the two Archery’s, the 1967 Archery-W was Shimano’s fourth parallelogram derailleur, and was complementary to the other three. It had an unsprung parallelogram, and used two cables, in the style of the 1966 SunTour Competition Twin.

Shimano marketed this system, which they called ‘W’, as a commuter product with a twist grip shifter. With this focus and its double cable, I see the Archery-W as the first ancestor of the Positron system - and so as the godfather derailleur of Shimano index systems.

This example has the shorter hanger of the standard Archery but the 10 tooth pulley wheels of the ‘Wide’.

• Derailleur brands: Shimano
• Categories: Shimano - early parallelogram models, Shimano - Positron indexing insanity
• Themes: A riot of colour
• Country: Japan
• Date of introduction: 1967
• Date of this example: 1967? (two letter code MS, 333 on the pulleys)
• Model no.: unknown
• Weight: 360g including hanger plate and the extravagant ‘protector’ nut
• Maximum cog: 24 teeth?
• Total capacity: 22 teeth?
• Pulley centre to centre: 46mm
• Index compatibility: friction
• Chain width: 3/32” and 1/8”?
• Logic: operated by two cables with no ‘normal’ position
• B pivot: unsprung
• P pivot: sprung
• Materials: largely steel with bronze(?) parallelogram plates (they are chromed but not magnetic)