DISRAELI GEARS
I remember first seeing this version of Tiso Venda 601 fitted to a very swanky German mountain bike - and being completely bamboozled by it. I can't remember exactly when this was - but I am guessing around 1997. It was a few years after the fashion for US-made CNC derailleurs had run its course, and the Venda 601 looked almost retro with its CNC-style right-angles and sharp corners. However it conspicuously lacked the shiny machined and anodised finishes that seemed such a core feature of its US forebears. If I remember correctly the example that caught my eye was powder-coated in bright gloss paint (possibly baby blue). Added to all this was the fact that it was Italian - and it was widely accepted at the time that the Italians knew less than nothing about mountain bike components.
I didn't get it then, and I don't get it now! What's with the 1960 style grub-screw cable clamp? Why is the pulley cage all swooping curves and chamfered corners, but the parallelogram all flat planes and sharp right-angles? What other bike component have you ever seen with a rough, grey, bare metal, finish? Why does the branding on the outer parallelogram plate look like the hurried product of a night-school metalwork class? It's all so weird that you have to love it.
And I do.
P.S. This example has Shimano pulley wheels. They appear to be a good fit - but, in modern times, Tiso is primarily known as a manufacturer of after-market pulley wheels - so I doubt that they are original. It's rude to say it, but I don't doubt that they improve the performance of the derailleur!
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