Derailleur gears designed and built in the late 19th century. One example is the Protean two-speed derailleur available on the Whippet safety bicycle. The French bicycle tourist, writer and cycling promoter Paul de Vivie (1853–1930), who wrote under the name "Vélocio", invented a two speed rear derailleur in 1905 which he used on forays into the Alps. Some early designs used rods to move the chain onto various gears. 1928 saw the introduction of the "Super Champion Gear" (or "Osgear") from the company founded by champion cyclist Oscar Egg, as well as the Vittoria Margherita; both employed chainstay mounted 'paddles' and single
Derailleur gears lever chain tensioners mounted near or on the downtube. However, these systems, along with the rod-operated Campagnolo Cambio Corsa were eventually superseded by "parallelogram derailleurs". In 1937, the derailleur system was introduced to the Tour de France, allowing riders to change gears without having to remove wheels. Previously, riders would have to dismount in order to change their wheel from downhill to uphill mode. Derailleurs did not become common road racing equipment until 1938 when Simplex introduced a cable-shifted derailleur. In 1949 Campagnolo introduced the Gran Sport, a more refined version of the then already existing, yet less commercially successful,