Some on the forum were born after the demise of the black simplex gears. Worth knowing the history. The Criterium model mentioned long ago also had a superior jockey wheel cage. It worked well, but the plastic body parts... The top of the line levers were not. As a mechanic way back I disliked the front changer most, the return spring was I felt marginal, the plastic body tender, often bikes would arrive for service with that portion fractured, they got Suntour replacements.

I agree that the UO8 was a decent riding frame, it suffered in the market as time went on due to the derailleurs and shifters, they did migrate to stem shifters but the Japanese units were superior, by the time they abandoned the coffered crank it was way too late. The steel chainrings were too easy to get knocked out of alignment, Raleigh suffered the same till 1979. The revamped Grand Prix sold really well during the second gasoline crisis.