Re: [CR] WTB Campagnolo Rally derailleur

That reminds me. Anyone have a Rally with trashed or missing pulleys, jockey cage, pivot bolts, limit screws, etc., but a sound body and parallelogram? As I related on the list a few months ago, I had a perfectly good Rally break in half in a bizarre incident in which the chain derailed and jammed between the crank and BB. All the hardware is fine (except one pulley), but the body is in two pieces, so I'm loooking to buy a trashed one to rebuild.

By the way, this incident and a few less costly ones have taught me something about avoiding dropping the chain on touring bikes. When using a triple or even a very wide range double, even a long cage derailleur will have minimal chain tension when the chain is on the small ring and one of the smaller cogs. This low tension can cause the chain to derail fairly easily when shifting to the small ring while the chain is on a small cog. Most of my dropped chains came when shifting to the small ring for a steep hill immediately after a downhill or a fast flat. Assuming you are shifting to the smallest gear, the trick is to shift to the large FW cog first, then to the small chainring. This maintains more tension on the chain during the shift to the small ring, which helps immensely in avoiding dropped chains. I'm sure the old hands at touring bikes knew this trick already, but it may be useful to those who've just recently acquired a bike with a wide gear range. Of course those young guys who hammer up the hills on a 45-19 don't have to worry about it.

Regards,

Jerry Moos
Big Spring, Texas, USA