Pulley cages - why so complicated?

WAY back in the 70's, rear derailleur cages were essentially flat
plates. Now, there tend to be these little tabs, one for each pulley,
which make it a pain for my aging fingers to thread a chain through.

Not that I'm going to take a cutter to them or anything, but are these
annoying little tabs really necessary?

I imagine they are there to keep the chain on the pulleys when things
don't go right while shifting.

Just the same, it would be interesting to know if they ever actually
come into play. If you do cut them off, please post the results here.

Thanks!

richard wrote:
WAY back in the 70's, rear derailleur cages were essentially flat
plates. Now, there tend to be these little tabs, one for each pulley,
which make it a pain for my aging fingers to thread a chain through.

Not that I'm going to take a cutter to them or anything, but are these
annoying little tabs really necessary?

for the more extreme chain deviations we see today, yes. it stops the
potential for the chain bumping off and skipping a pulley.

richard wrote in news:B5PQe.292099$_o.19603
@attbi_s71:

WAY back in the 70's, rear derailleur cages were essentially flat
plates. Now, there tend to be these little tabs, one for each pulley,
which make it a pain for my aging fingers to thread a chain through.

Not that I'm going to take a cutter to them or anything, but are these
annoying little tabs really necessary?


If you've had a Huret Duopar throw a chain catastrophically when you
backpedal and the rear derailleur is just the tiniest bit out of alignment
with the cog, then you know the answer.

Unfortunately, harder for chain to come off also means harder to go on.
It's a trade-off I'm happy to live with. Your mileage may vary.

-HW

richard wrote:
WAY back in the 70's, rear derailleur cages were essentially flat
plates. Now, there tend to be these little tabs, one for each pulley,
which make it a pain for my aging fingers to thread a chain through.

Not that I'm going to take a cutter to them or anything, but are these
annoying little tabs really necessary?

Yeah, they're a pain. Especially if you realize after the fact that
you've put the chain on the outside of one. I wonder if they couldn't at
least make them a little bit shorter so you could squeeze the chain past.

Derek Hodges

and the new ones are reversyble
but less malleable. good steel is now mil spec.