Originally Posted by
Carbonfiberboy
True, but if your shifters are adjusted properly, it doesn't matter. A little more bother with friction shifters, but again, no biggie. I like everything as frictionless as possible, just personal preference.
For index shifting the floating upper pulley allows fast reliable shifts even if the cable adjustment or cassette cog spacing isn't perfect.
Also, Shimano isn't the only one with floating pulleys. Campy uses them too. I assume SRAM does also but I've never used their rear derailleurs so I'm not sure.
For friction shifting, the float is a non-issue but why do you think non-floating pulleys are more "frictionless" than the floating type?