Just thought I'd share in case anyone down the road is thinking about this particular rear derailleur. I saw it mentioned in an old video on Seth's Bike Hacks and figured I'd give it a shot.

I have an old Diamondback Outlook that I saved from the dumpster awhile ago. After 2000+ miles the drivetrain was ready for a rebuild. Chain was failing the gauge test and the 7 speed cassette had seen better days. Picked up the Mezzo RD, KMC X8.93 chain and a Shimano CS-HG31 11-34 8 speed cassette. (Converted it from 3x7 to 3x8, had friction shifters.)

Installation was super easy, granted, friction shifters. But it did just work after a few seconds of limit adjusting. Shifting feels super smooth on the first test ride and so far I'm very happy with the new setup. If anything annoying crops up I'll update the thread...

Definitely not as cool and shiny as the vintage Deore XT groupset on my other 26er, but if anyone is looking for a 7-9 RD for a commuter or budget build: