My Suntour Cyclone (1st Gen) Front Derailleur broke... replacement options?
 

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...da53d82044.jpg
While adjusting my front derailleur, I put too much pressure on the mechanism that binds it to the seat tube and caused the metal to snap. I just don't see how this could be fixable. I can replace it of course, but I'm wondering if there might be a better choice out there. This past winter I changed the original 52t-42t crankset to a more forgiving 52t-34t one and ever since I never really felt that the front derailleur shifted as well as it had. Is there an option that would work better with a compact double crank and would feel appropriate on a 1981 Bianchi?

Wow! The lightest FD ever made breaks at 40 years after manufacture. Probably from operator error.

Yes, those are 52-42 FDs, 54-42 works fine. Pure, '70s racing FD. As good as there was. But 52-34 was beyond comprehension when that was made. I used that Mk I on my Mooney set up triple when it was new and it wasn't great.

Ben

I had one break the same way a few years back.

I have a Suntour Cyclone II FDs on two bikes. This one has the band attachment instead of clamp, and looks clean and works very well, double or triple. I like the look too. These were swap meet finds, and the screened logos are pretty much gone. I also replaced a cracked Simplex with a Shimano Exage FD, which is also working great.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...f3dd3729ee.jpg
On my Super Course triple...
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...2ba598b23d.jpg
...and on my Super Course double.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...22314c2c66.jpg
Shimano Exage replacement for broken Simplex FD.

Cyclone Mark II, guess I'll give that a go. Thanks!

I'd try to match it with the shifters and rear mech as best I could.

And match the handle of your tool to the required torque. When tightening derailleur clamp and cable anchor bolts, use only a socket driver (with a handle like a screw driver). Most vintage Suntour and Campy bolts take a 5/16 socket.

That’s good to know, thanks!

just broke a Superbe front derailleur in the exact same place as the OP,

they put the hinge on the wrong side or did not use enuff material, or both,

tried to JB weld the small pieces back,broke again,

tried to drill and tap broken side and added JB welrd on top of that after mounting and it woulld not tighten enuff,

just got a Mountech FD off evilbay for 10 bucks, happy days!

I remember replacing Mountech derailleurs on an 84 Stumpjumper, you know the one, Tomaselli motorcycle levers, Suntour XC 2 shifters, Sugino Triple with chrome droputs, chain hanger and Bullmoose Alloy handlebars, (try finding those, rare because they either broke or were recalled, my favorite bars after additional welding around the junction,

where was i, oh yeah, verdict on changing derailleurs from Mountech to Shimano Deore deer heads front and back,

the rear deer head was a vast improvement ! the Suntour Mountech front derailleur actually worked a bit better than the Deore, but you have too look cool with matching parts even thou nobody notices once they are covered in mud or if doing a night ride.

Suntour ARX FD is a light model and does a great job. Not so sure about the big drop you have but it worked on a triple nicely.

I realize this was last year- but I agree with cjenrick the Mountech FD is one of the best FDs ever made. It's outrageously light, it can handle a huge range, they're usually pretty inexpensive and they're awesome.

Of course, the 1st Gen Cyclone or the MII Cyclone should be good for it as well... I've used all 3 on triple setups from 50 to 28 in the front.

yeah you could do those "power shift grind-o-matic-warp the cage bad and it comes back to normal" type shifts.

you know, when you have max torque on the pedals and there is 300 ft lbs on the chain and you go for the big ring, makes a horrendous racket, like ball bearings in a blender but it gets the job done!

you wanna hear something weird, i bought a set of bio-pace chain rings and put them on wrong,

did you realize that there are 5 ways to mount those things?

i'm like, "these things suck!" so i ripped the low and hi gears off and just used the middle ring for those long 7 mile climbs up Hwy 9 to Skyline and Montebello Rd. the middle bio-pace actually works better if you mount it wrong.

don't mind me, i'm just trying to get my 10 posts so i can upload pics.

Maybe it was mounted wrong to begin with?


Sorry, just re-read what you wrote- Maybe you did mount them right- or you mounted them 180 of right, which is still right...

I'd say the design was sufficient to task, but wasn't very tolerant of being over-torqued.

I'll also say I've seen my share of crimped/dimpled seat tubes from over-torqued fders. I think I'd rather have the fder hinge fail when over-torqued than result in a damaged seat tube.

But that's just me.

i do not think you can mount a biopace ring 180 out, this because of the five bolt pattern, if you rotate it, it will either be 72 degrees advanced, or 72 behind,

Cyclone band clamp can break as well.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...52bdc68d93.jpg

The snarky thing to do would be to replace it with a Delrin Simplex.

what kind of crankset is that on Gugie's SR Alpine Sport?

wait, three bolts, i've seen those on evilbay, dang, mind went numb, drawing a blank,

that front derailleur won't pop unless you are riding the bike, correct?

so what is the failure mode, your on the gas doing 30 up grapevine hill passing a semi and next thing you know you have some shrapnel tangled up in your chain rings, or wrapped around the freewheel, all the time taking a chunk of paint off the down tube, none of this sounds good.

Hmm, I'm Gugie, but that ain't no SR Alpine Sport...

In case you meant my pic, that's a 650b conversion of a early 70's Raleigh Competition with a Rene Herse triple.

A few years ago, I was in a FD search for a sort of retro-mod sort of thing- I tried using a modern-y triple derailleur and it wasn't working with an old crank set. These were the choices I had on hand:


https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...4cebe1e4_o.jpgFront Derailleurs by Dave The Golden Boy, on Flickr



At the time I chose the Cyclone- just because it looked a touch more modern than the Mountech.

My favorite vintage-ish go-to for tricky shifting problems on vintage cranks has long been the Suntour Sprint fder. Nice flat cage plates, longish cage but not too wide.

Like a lot of both vintage and modern fders, it doesn't have a great cage profile for smaller outer rings, but I find it still works well, even on vintage flat, ie no pins/profiles, chainrings.

Don't have any great photos handy, but here's a Sprint fder on an Echelon/Cherubim Odyssey:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...54244bae_b.jpg

Yeah, a couple of issues with that endless band design. Well, maybe 3 at least...

It did a very nice job of equalizing pressure around the seat tube, minimizing the chances of damaging the tube. It also had 2 probably unintended overtorque-avoidance features:

1. The little grub screw-ish post that both keeps the band closed, and allows the body to mount, has a shallow Phillips-head "slot," and the metal seems relatively soft. None of the many Phillips-head screwdrivers I had ever fit it well, and between that and the soft metal, it was easy to strip. Or, hard to overtorque? You really don't need much torque at all to keep the band closed, but it's pretty easy to go just a little too far.

2. The alloy attachment nut/bushing, that's kinda embedded in the der body, has a shallow socket for the allen key, and seems to want to strip out with just a little too much torque. I've seen a bunch of those both on built bikes and used fders.

The third issue is the band itself is really thin, and there's not much meat to resist twisting forces. I don't really understand the failure mode on these, and don't have one handy to eyeball at the moment, but I've seen enough snapped bands that seem to have had some twist on them before snapping to think some possible force vectors on the derailleur mount/body weren't thoroughly considered. A fair amount with JRA origins and no evidence of collision damage. So something ain't right there.
I think it's a clever, elegant, and lightweight design that caused more issues than it fixed.

It seemed to work better on downtube/downtube-aero shifters, which are under less force/stress, and have less potential for shocks/jolts coming from different angles. I didn't _never_ see issues with the endless clamp on standard side-mount downtube shifters (1st-gen Cyclone/Superbe), or the top-of-downtube aero lever mounts (Microlite, and others). Mostly with the aero-mount levers, but they're pretty susceptible to damage from tip-overs, collisions and pile-ups.

It's not for nothing that later Suntour fders went to standard, meatier clamp designs.

650 what? is that one of those mountain bikes with the drop bars for doing endos at the slightest bump in the road?

only guy i knew who could ride one of those without a 3rd degree LCR separation was Roger de Vlaeminck.

what about those front derailleurs with no cable but just a lever?

or what about wearing gloves and just reaching down with you hands to change sprockets? lightest derailleur ever me thinks,

actually those 650B bikes are good for certain things, like clearing narrow obstacles, one time this guy on a 650B led me on a chase along the sidewalk, he went in between a street light post and a garbage can with just enuff room, when i tried to follow i was brought down immediately after clipping the lamp post with a pair of bull moose bares, ok 10 posts, i can post pics now?