A bicycle rear derailleur comprising: a base member; a movable member that supports a chain guide including a first pulley that rotates around a first pulley axis, wherein the first pulley is a guide pulley, and wherein the first pulley has a pulley plane wherein the pulley plane bisects the guide pulley and is perpendicular to the first pulley axis; a first linking member pivotally coupled to the base member at a link coupling portion by a first pivot shaft and to the movable member by a second pivot shaft so that the chain guide moves laterally relative to the base member between a first lateral position and a second lateral position; and a cable guide structured to guide a shift control cable, wherein the pulley plane intersects the first linking member when the chain guide is located at a first position between the first lateral position and the second lateral position, characterized in that the cable guide is structured to rotate relative to the base member; the first linking member is a lower link with a first end that is straddled by said link coupling portion of the base member and the first linking member is forked beginning in close proximity to the first pivot shaft to form legs (179; 180) that extend towards the movable member, said legs (179, 180) straddle a lower mounting boss of the movable member and are pivotably connected to the movable member by the second pivot shaft, so that a distance between the outermost edges of the first end of the first linking member at the base member is less than a distance between the outermost edges of a second end of the first linking member at the movable member. a base member; a movable member that supports a chain guide including a first pulley that rotates around a first pulley axis, wherein the first pulley is a guide pulley, and wherein the first pulley has a pulley plane wherein the pulley plane bisects the guide pulley and is perpendicular to the first pulley axis; a first linking member pivotally coupled to the base member at a link coupling portion by a first pivot shaft and to the movable member by a second pivot shaft so that the chain guide moves laterally relative to the base member between a first lateral position and a second lateral position; and a cable guide structured to guide a shift control cable, wherein the pulley plane intersects the first linking member when the chain guide is located at a first position between the first lateral position and the second lateral position, characterized in that the cable guide is structured to rotate relative to the base member; the first linking member is a lower link with a first end that is straddled by said link coupling portion of the base member and the first linking member is forked beginning in close proximity to the first pivot shaft to form legs (179; 180) that extend towards the movable member, said legs (179, 180) straddle a lower mounting boss of the movable member and are pivotably connected to the movable member by the second pivot shaft, so that a distance between the outermost edges of the first end of the first linking member at the base member is less than a distance between the outermost edges of a second end of the first linking member at the movable member.