Originally Posted by
well biked
A riding buddy of mine gave me a Cyclone RD just like you describe, cmdr, it has no paint on the plate and it obviously never had any paint. Judging by the many pics of Cyclone RD's I've seen on this forum, this is apparently very unusual. But at least now we know our derailleurs aren't unique.
Btw, according to the component date codes on the vintage trek site, mine was made in 1974. Do you know the year of yours?
That would corroborate my sense that the one's without the black background are the earlier ones. In fact, if yours was made in '74, it actually predates the official time period for Cyclone, which is usually given as 1975. Interesting.