Originally Posted by USAZorro
Fortunately, I never had to use one while growing up. My experience comes from one that I completely overhauled about 30 months ago. Yes, it shifted, and would eventually get in the desired gear, but even after a reasonable period of getting used to it, I'd still have to look back to make sure what gear I was in. It did work, but I didn't see the point of subjecting myself to it when something much better was readily available.
(Caution, Rant ahead) I was not so fortunate. My first road bike was a 1970's Raleigh with the Huret Allvit derailer. At first it was only an inconvenience to shift gears. As time went on, it became something I avoided at all cost. Then, disgusted and not realizing better equipment was available, I dropped cycling in favor of running, swimming and other sports. I tried again several times, years later, to take up cycling, each time having the Raleigh tuned up and each time the Huret derailer did it's thing, requiring overshifting to change gears, jumping gears and so on. Yes, it worked, eventually it found a gear but which one was part of the excitment I did not enjoy. Foolishly and much to my regret, I did not purchase a new bike or replace the Allvit. That is a loss I have to live with. Later, my son tried to ride the Raleigh. He rode it once, but became just as disgusted with the derailer.
Flash forward. In the last three years, I've purchased, (flipped some, still own some) over 30 friction shifting road bikes with Shimano or Suntour derailers. Granted, some derailers work better than others, but always at the bottom of the performance list is the Huret Allvit. There is precious little that I passionately dislike when it comes to cycling. The Huret Allvit is at the top of my list of dislikes, followed by a distant second, cheap department store bikes. (I tried to keep this on point as much as possible).