This 1982 Shimano catalogue should be a wonder, packed as it is with imagination, innovation and information. But somehow it turns out to be a nightmare.

There’s too much of everything, too many pages, too many products, too many concepts and too much information. It can’t decide whether it is supposed to be building the brand, explaining the range or providing service information.

And this over-kill was a symptom of a malaise that was affecting Shimano at the time. The whole company had got ahead of itself and become fixated on redefining the future of the bicycle around aerodynamics and Positron, neither of which interested our customers one jot.

Despite all this, you can’t help but be impressed by the combination of the breadth of ambition and the commitment to quality. Curiosities that you may have forgotten include the Shimano SX BMX derailleur (page 127), the electronic CELC stem (page 73) and the photo of the Vector HPV (on the contents page) - holy cow, those Vectors were beautiful!

• Publisher: Shimano
• Country: Japan
• Date: April 1982
• Derailleur brands: Shimano
• Derailleurs: too numerous to mention - see individual pages