Another fine annual catalogue from Shimano - although this one does contain a couple of anomalies. The first anomaly is that the ‘brand free’ versions of the Lark, the Eagle and the Eagle GS are called ‘SPO’ , ‘SPO’ and ‘GPO’ respectively. Elsewhere they are called ‘STO’, ‘STO’ and ‘GTO’. The second anomaly is the page of Eagle models (page 8) - which I suspect shows derailleurs that were never produced in this exact form. The branded models have the derailleur guard as part of the b-knuckle - but have the word Shimano on the outer plate. The ‘brand free’ models also have the derailleur guard as part of the b-knuckle and have oval holes rather than the round ones we love and know. I have never seen any of these models in the flesh.

It must have been a feature of the times to include a strange stream-of-consciousness/poem in your component catalogue. SunTour do it in their 1975 catalogue, but Shimano got there first with the artily freeform stream-of-meaninglessness on page 1.

• Publisher: Shimano
• Country: Japan
• Date: June 1974
• Derailleur brands: Shimano
• Derailleurs: too numerous to mention - see individual pages