On Saturday, February 24, 2018 at 5:51:24 PM UTC-5, jbeattie wrote:

I'd rather upgrade software than have to toss out a POS friction-shifting derailleur like an old Campy Rally or a lot of the Simplex. Many derailleurs were suboptimal out of the box back in the supposed golden era of cycling.

I agree. For me, the big change came when I installed my first SunTour derailleur.
And their ratcheting "Power" shifters, I think they were called.

I remember being on one of the few suffer-fest training rides I ever did. I was
on my only bike - my touring/commuting/day-ride bike. (I did take the fenders
and handlebar bag off.) Almost everyone else was riding sew-ups and Campy.the

And I watched the guys in front of me fishing for gears, trying to downshift.
The SunTour just shifted as I wanted.

BTW, last year I resurrected an old touring Trek for a friend of mine. It had
a Campy Rally derailleur. It needed complete disassembly and lubricating. But
I was aware that even clean and lubed, it was going to shift pretty badly.

- Frank Krygowski