The Super-Rapid Route series of derailleurs are pretty competent devices for the mid-1930s. They are direct pull, sliding rod, mechanisms. There are two basic types:
- One type, which I have guessed is the early version, has a hollow rod. The nipple of the cable sits inside the rod, then the cable emerges out of the centre of the cylinder holding the rod,and runs over a small roller at the end of the cylinder.
- In the second, possibly later, type, the nipple of the cable sits in a holder that is free to rotate about the sliding rod, and then runs over a big, smoothly rotating roller on the side of the main arm.
Both are simple, clean and seem effective. The pulley cage is also a simple, flat, 69mm long bar. There is not a single Baroque flourish anywhere. They look as if they comes from the mid-1950s.
The build quality is good without being luxurious. They looks like derailleurs that, without being cheap and nasty, are designed to be manufactured at volume - and, maybe, supplied to bike manufacturers as original equipment. Again that seems like an approach that is more from the mid-1950s than from the mid-1930s.
I have seen three informative pieces of printed material relating to this style of Super-Rapid's derailleur. Each of these printed items featured the same image - a rather fine engraving. It is an image of the second style described above - with the roller at the side of the main arm. In each case the product name was perplexing:
- One was a box labelled 'Super-Rapid Route Sport 1936'. There was no hyphen between 'Route' and 'Sport'.
- The next was a set of instructions headlined 'Super-Rapid Route 1938'.
- The final one was an advert from 1939. This featured the 'new' Super-Rapid Route-Sport. Now there is a hyphen between 'Route' and 'Sport'!
I have also seen a hatful of slightly different versions of the physical derailleur:
- The main arm can be made of bronze or aluminium.
- The cylinder that holds the sliding rod can be made of bronze or aluminium and it can be 40mm or 43mm.
- The cable roller can be on the right hand side of the main arm, on the left hand side of the main arm or on the end of the cylinder.
- The outer cable stop can be one of those delightful 1930s spheres or it can be a conventional ferrule.
- The pulleys can have different diameters...
You could go mad thinking about all this nonsense.
Based on very, very, little I have, spuriously, made five decisions about these derailleurs:
- I have decided that I shall call the versions with bronze main arms 'Super-Rapid Route'.
- I have decided that I shall call the versions with aluminium main arms 'Super-Rapid Route-Sport'.
- I have decided that the versions with the roller at the end of the cylinder are the earliest models, and I have given them a date of 1935.
- I have decided that the versions with the roller at the side of the main arm and with the spherical cable stop are early-ish models, and I have given them a date of 1936.
- I have decided that the versions with the roller at the side of the main arm and with the ferrule cable stop are late models, and I have given them a date of 1939.
Note that I am not particularly confident about any of this.
If you have any real knowledge about Super-Rapid please tell me!
This is an unused example of a Super-Rapid Route-Sport. It has the following features:
- The main arm is aluminium.
- The cylinder that holds the sliding rod is aluminium and 43mm long.
- The cable roller is mounted on the back of the main arm.
- The outer cable stop uses a conventional ferrule.
- The pulley diameter is 34mm.
The extensive use of aluminium makes this the lightest my Super-Rapid Route series - at 204g.
- Derailleur brands: Super-Rapid
- Country: France
- Date of introduction: 1939?
- Date of this example: unknown
- Model no.: unknown
- Weight: 204g excluding chain tension spring
- Maximum cog: unknown
- Total capacity: unknown
- Pulley centre to centre: 69mm
- Index compatibility: friction
- Chain width: 1/8" or 3/32”?
- Logic: low normal
- B pivot: none
- P pivot: sprung
- Materials: aluminium main arm and cylinder, steel sliding rod, pulleycage and pulleys
Ref. 831