Submitted by
Michael Glasgow
a Cross Country Rider
from Bloomington
Date Reviewed: May 24, 2008
Strengths: Rare and Beautiful. Cost 3 times as much as an XTR and works 1/2 as good. Every sport needs its elite parts that take alot of tinkering, look at the car world.
Bottom Line:
Hey, I still want one of these, front or rear, broken or not. I need some parts so let me know what you have. Call me at 1-812-606-5249 or email me smglasbiker@hotmail.com. Thanks!
Submitted by
Snowbird
a Racer
from Colorado Springs, CO
Date Reviewed: January 12, 2007
Strengths: I can say I'm the only one riding them in my neighborhood
Weaknesses: I can also say I'm an idiot for paying for this piece of $hit.
Bottom Line:
Utter waste of money. My LX works better than this piece of junk and I can buy 8 of them for that price. Check out the reviews here. See a pattern? Too bad I can only give 1 chilli. Even that's too generous. Paul, you need to find another line of work.
Submitted by
Anthony Paz
a Cross Country Rider
from Ramona CA
Date Reviewed: November 6, 2006
Strengths: Awesome engineering, completely disassemble, looks Bad Ass, made in USA, works well when dialed in
Weaknesses: Super finiky, adjustments can take some time on the rear, front has always worked perfect, rear needs a stiffer spring or you can push a little extra on your thumb shifter.
Bottom Line:
I have owned and used these Frnt and Rr Derailleurs for over 12 years now. I wouldn't sell them for a $1000. Everywhere I go people drool with awe because they are rare and beautiful peices of art. Yes the rear, for me, can be finiky when dialing in but when its set, its good. The front has been perfect since day 1. I will sacrifice and push the thumb shifter a little extra when shifting to keep this set running. I love them. Everyone has shimano or scram. Be different. Be true to what you enjoy. I like performance but astetics and functionality are important to me as well. Its too bad Paul couldn't continue building these.
Bike Setup: Zaskar LE, Crossmax, Red anodized Paul Frnt and Rr Derailleurs, SID worldcup, syncros everywhere, light XCountry Rig, climbs and Hauls Ass
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Mike
a Cross Country Rider
from Alaska
Date Reviewed: March 5, 2001
Strengths: Nice to have top or bottom pull. Simple, elegant design- good engineering.
Weaknesses: Cranky set-up, gotta have those big rings with RAMPS`
Bottom Line:
Rode this thing almost all the way across Australia. Had to tweak it a bit: I was using drop bars and STI (those'r roadie shifters, mud puppies). I had to file a little groove in the pull arm on the close side of the pivot to get them to work, but it was pretty easy. I like the little bugger. Now that I'm home, back to the mud farm, it works just fine with the XT rabidfire stuff. The cage isn't quite the right shape for the big ring I'm running, but it works fine. The world isn't perfect, and I don't race anyway. Although I understand that a small, independent business can't compete with a megacorp who has their stuff built at slave labor prices, the price is kind of daunting - even though I bought it used on E-bay (for about the price of a used XTR). Comes with parts to fit lots of seat tube sizes, top or bottom pull. (I didn't have the instructions - but it was a fun little puzzle - no worries). Sigh. Buy it if you just gotta be different. Do you drive a Lada? Citroen? Saab? Vauxhill? This may be your derailleur. It'll work. Probably for a long time.
Submitted by
WILL
a Cross-Country Rider
from LAKE TAHOE, NEVADA
Date Reviewed: July 18, 1999
Strengths: DECENT SHIFTING, ON PAR WITH XTR. GREAT MACHINING THROUGHOUT, HIGHLY ADJUSTABLE.
Weaknesses: HIGHLY ADJUSTABLE- WHAT A PAIN IN THE ASS TO DIAL IT IN. SPRING TENSION IS A LITTLE BIT TOO LOW. STOCK SPRING SHOULD BE REPLACED
Bottom Line:
WORKS WONDERFULLY- ONCE IT IS DIALED IN. THIS TOOK ME SO MANY FRUSTRATING HOURS TO DO, I ALMOST SCRAPPED IT. ONCE TUNED I LOVED IT. I HAVE HAD IT FOR QUITE SOME TIME, AND HAVE HAD NO SHOPWORK TO DO ON IT, SAVE FOR CABLE CHANGES. NOW I LOVE IT. I WILL NEVER GO BACK TO SHIMANO. PS. IT WIRKS PHENOMANALLY WITH GRIPSHIFT.
Similar Products Used: WHITE INDUSTRIES FRONT DERAILLEUR, XTR,XT, ETC.
Bike Setup: MERLIN, SID, ESP9.0 SETUP
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
ricky martin
a Weekend Warrior
from latin america
Date Reviewed: June 14, 1999
Strengths: it has everything a derailleur needs and more. it shifts perfectly and is the greatest thing ever made. 200% better than XTR, or any other shimano junk made.
Weaknesses: your joking right? there are no weaknesses!!!! its the best thing made.
Bottom Line:
Buy this jem NOW. it is worth the $105 dollars i paid for it. be smart like me and never buy junky shimano components again.
Similar Products Used: shimano XTR, XT, stx, acera
Bike Setup: trek 8000 Rock shox
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
cosmic ray
a Cross-Country Rider
from flagstaff, az
Date Reviewed: June 10, 1999
Strengths: shifts good, looks cool
Weaknesses: way spendy,no parts available
Bottom Line:
Shifts ok if set up right. Too expensive, but bought it on Pauls promise that it would be rebuild-able with parts forever. I broke the cage, called Paul for a replacement and was told tough luck, no more parts. Paul sucks. XT rules.
Submitted by
M. Lounsbury
a Cross-Country Rider
from Norwich,CT
Date Reviewed: May 27, 1999
Strengths: Made in USA. Top notch machining.Works great w/ Grip Shift (I hope).
Weaknesses: Alot of trash talk on this site. ??? Bought it for $50.00 (could be a clue considering the $100.oo plus retail.) Haven't used it yet on my M.Cycle CSX(waiting for my RF Next Crank Set ?????). Oh boy.????
Bottom Line:
The bottom line......... Good question. When I get the RF Next Crank Set I'll let you know......... But then again there's a sale at a certain retail shop , selling Precision Billet front for fifty US. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you say credit cod? RATING: ?????????????
Similar Products Used: Japanese XT, relatively cheap, does granney to middle and visa versa very well but won't do big Race Face ring.
Bike Setup: The CSX is waiting for da RF Next Crank (those Canadians, oye).Set up with a shwing for 1 1/8 bottom pull cabled w/ flak jackets to GS plasmas. ????? The XT has been kickin it on the middle and inner of a 1996 Raleigh M800 (don't laugh, da frame is da bomb, raced to a 7th place in 1997 and still no cracks in the welds).
i want one, preferably black. Mike @ 1-765-743-3506, 10am-7pm mon-fri. i want it for my commuter bike. i am a mechanic and will modify it to work if necessary. don't laugh i've been running suntour since 95 on the commuter.
Submitted by
Ben
a cross-country rider
from ghetto (south side)
Date Reviewed: November 5, 1998
Bottom Line:
I got a brand-new rasta paul rear powerglide at the Trexlertown Velodrome flea market three weeks ago. I replaced my XT with it on my Jamis (mainly because it's the coolest-looking rear mech ever and, of course, looks is all that matters, right?). It took some adjustment and shifted okay (i guess), but I think the XT probably shifted better. Really slow shifts and sometimes required a little pressure on the shifter lever to get it into the next cog. Mind you, I had the mech set on the middle spring tension--it might have done better on the highest setting. I also used it with XT rapidfire (rapidfailure) and I've heard it really only works well with Gripshift. Now, you've probably noticed I've been talking about it in the past tense. Welp, that's because during a nite ride last w/e I bailed and the break-away bolt on the mech busted. Upon inspection of the busted Al bolt, I noticed it's like any other break-away bolt only it's drilled out in the middle to allow for an allen wrench... that's f__king smart. There was practically no metal holding the goddam derailluer on, and what little metal there was on the bolt was aluminum... I wouldn't mind half as much if the bolt hole was compatible with shimano or other bolts, but now if I want to replace it, I'm probably gonna have to spend $9,000,000 and wait thirty years for a replacement from paul... I give the derailleur two flaming turds and that's assuming the price is $30 (what I paid), not the $225 list or whatever the f__k he expects you to shell out...
Submitted by
B.A.
a cross-country rider
from Crown Point
Date Reviewed: July 31, 1998
Bottom Line:
I traded an XTR derailleur that didn't fit my new frameset for this derailleur so I guess I couldn't go wrong. When I first installed it I quickly agreed with every bad thing said about these things. The shifting from middle to large ring was impossible untill I installed a Real large ring to go along with my Real middle ring. With a combination of excellently ramped chainrings and a lot of setup patience I finally got it shifting right. On the plus side, making a derailleur that will work in top or botton pull and any size mounting is great. Of course I'm saying all this without having to pay the $150+ they're asking for this thing. If Paul would put the same work into the cage design as the rest of it this derailleur could be excellent. 5 chillis for mounting and top/botom pull feature, 1 chilli for performance, and -1 chilli for price.
Submitted by
john
a cross-country rider
from waterloo,ne
Date Reviewed: June 8, 1998
Bottom Line:
Had both front and rear. Where to begin. Ah,the front piece of *#&%, never could get the damn thing to work right. Found it to be very tempermental with resect to upshift or down shift. Deepnding on how dialed my adjustment it would only do one or the other from the middle ring. The rear was very stiff and difficult to upshift. I think it was just as big a pain in the ass as the front. Lots of money to spend on crap when I would have had more ride time and less repair/tweak time buying ALTUS.
Submitted by
scammed
a cross-country rider
from wa
Date Reviewed: June 3, 1998
Bottom Line:
This thing should be placed right next to the edsel. Better yet, they should have the Edsel run this damn thing over. Maybe it will shift better then. I have been a mechanic for over ten year and this is the worse der around. Ever. PLEASE DON'T BUY THIS PIECE OF SHIT!!!!!!!!!!! Since I can't give this thing a negative chili I give this der one smoking piece of shit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Submitted by
jesus
a weekend warrior
from widbey is wa
Date Reviewed: April 26, 1998
Bottom Line:
crap for big money wanna bee dirt phallus give me north shore proof shim ode to mud ,roots,rocks and barleywinos. best f der yet shim dx havn't broke or wore one yet . thank shimano my moantian bikin feind. would like to se a front der that is us version ov shim or sutour copy copy copy if they can we can too
I have both front and rear Paul derailleurs, The rear works well, the front does not shift from the middle to the small very well, especially going uphill. This product came with my bike and I would not reccommend buying it. I rode 14 races with the product and reccommend Shimano or Grip Shift.
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