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@veLLo
Hi all
Looking a bit more in the mess of my shed I found a derailleur from the same era, only an Altus LT, but it looked almost identical to the 600.
Comparing the two, it seemed that the Altus had more "punch" in its springs that the 600, but once fitted, no luck, still the chain would not grip on the block...
So I sat down yesterday evening to try to understand what the hell was wrong.
I think the problem is a mix of problem... I originally had to put a new chain as the old one was really elongated and had some washers broken between the plate links altough structuraly it was still OK. The old chain was cracking a lot on the free wheel but had a good grip on it, even with the shimano 600 derailleur. The new chain, with the same lenght and same derailleur was not holding on the teeth and was jumping when applying pressure on pedals... So I tried to shorten the chain but this did not work either as the chain was still not wrapping enough arround the block (which strangly was not a problem with the old chain...)
I finally became really impatient with the whole thing and tried with the brand new shimano derailleur that is fitted on my other bike to check if the problem was really coming from the derailleur and not the fact the chain is too new for the block (visually it does not look too bad)... Anyway it worked perfectly, good grip, all smooth... I am relieved.
The main difference I noticed between the old and the new modern derailleur is that the old ones seem not to have a main spring that give resistance to BOTH movements towards the back AND the front. I will try to find another new derailleur to put back on my other bike, and that will be the end of my troubles...
)
(something more or less like that
I know it might be too modern for the bike, but as I said, I just want to ride it for the moment, I can't be asked looking at it anymore, (and I don't feel it looks so bad...)
Phew! that was a fastidious post!
Thanks guys to all your offers and to people who took time to take pictures!
Szia
Loic