Originally Posted by
howsteepisit
The Prestige was a good cheap rear derailleur. The competition in the early 70's were the Huret Alavit and Shimano eagle, and the biggest pos that ever existed, the Campagnolo valentino. None were any better. In the fronts, the simplex was a nightmare, that push rod got stuck at the first sign of dust. The Suntour slant parallelogram rear was a game changer like few other cycling innovations.
Suntour slant parallelogram Suntour V came out in 1968. Suntour Competition came out even earlier (1965). Suntour V GT came out about 1970. At that point, game over for low cost, durable derailleurs. It would be interesting to know the MSRP of the Simplex Prestige in the early 1970s versus the V GT.
I've had a lot of early 1970s Japanese bikes with the V GT, neglected for 40 years, and with cleanup, ready for the next 40 years of riding.
I agree, the Eagle and Alavit were pretty crappy.
On the Prestige, of the dozens of bikes I have found with Prestige derailleurs, only two FDs were not cracked. Most of the rears were still intact.