World's cheapest derailleur?

[Cycleops]

I'm doing up an old full sus mountain bike that a local kid brought to me for him and his brothers to ride. I went to my local bike shop to find a suitable rear much. They were out of 'home used' ones so I asked if they had a new item. The girl said yes and produced one , no packaging., no branding. How much I asked, 'eight five please' she said. I considered this and started to count out eighty five Ghana cedis (£15). No she said eight point five, 8 1/2 cedis. Are you sure I said. That is £1.50.

How on earth do the Chinese manufacture this, ship it half way across the world and sell it for this paltry amount?

Appears quite well made but haven't had a chance to test it yet.

 

[Hugh Manatee]

Does the chain take the correct route between the jockey wheels?

 

[User6179]

Does the chain take the correct route between the jockey wheels?

I would of kept quiet

 

[fossyant]

I would of kept quiet

Whoops.

 

[Cycleops]

Does the chain take the correct route between the jockey wheels?

No, I just stuck it on to hold it in tension, to show

 

[Bollo]

Is it Di2?

 

[raleighnut]

No, I just stuck it on to hold it in tension, to show

Best excuse this year on CC.

 

[tyred]

It will work perfectly well (when the chain is put on properly). There is no great rocket science attached to derailleurs. They just shove the chain from one sprocket to next.

 

[Yellow Saddle]

I'm doing up an old full sus mountain bike that a local kid brought to me for him and his brothers to ride. I went to my local bike shop to find a suitable rear much. They were out of 'home used' ones so I asked if they had a new item. The girl said yes and produced one , no packaging., no branding. How much I asked, 'eight five please' she said. I considered this and started to count out eighty five Ghana cedis (£15). No she said eight point five, 8 1/2 cedis. Are you sure I said. That is £1.50.

How on earth do the Chinese manufacture this, ship it half way across the world and sell it for this paltry amount?
View attachment 360837
Appears quite well made but haven't had a chance to test it yet.

It's a valid question. It looks like a reasonable quality product and assuming there's some profit for the wholesaler, the shipper and the retailer, that derailer was made for pennies. Very impressive. Now go and buy some nice cheap cable housing too.

 

[Threevok]

No, I just stuck it on to hold it in tension, to show

Funnily enough, I had the same idea some years ago

plus I attached the connector pin just to be sure

 

[Sheffield_Tiger]

Looks like a copy of a Sachs Huret.

Basically a TY15 just lower quality metals / finish
It pokes a chain onto a cog and looks like it's made for 2:1 shifting ratio so as long as its not expected to work with SRAM (other than their cheapest) then it'll do as good a job as any other

 

[Sharky]

Still more expensive than the groupset on my fixie.

 

[Cycleops]

Still more expensive than the groupset on my fixie.

New?

 

[Sharky]

New?

No rear mech at all.

 

[KnackeredBike]

The Chinese are amazing at manufacturing, far more than we give them credit for, I used to be involved in sourcing electricals.

If you ever need to source anything from there for all the important aspects of the design they will give you the choice of three components, a top-end, mid-range and cheap one, and also the estimated lifespan of each.

Now of course Argos go there and get the cheapest one as long as it will outlast the guarantee period, because they will just flog you another Argos brand after eighteen months. So the Chinese get the reputation for cheap crap, when in reality Argos have specifically asked them to make cheap crap.

But honestly, if a bike manufacturer went out there and asked them to produce a high end bike, they would create something really good for very little money. Albeit mainly by reverse engineering the design of a top end bike here. But they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.