Originally Posted by RubberLegs

Was going to take a long ride this morning...then remembered that my Bridgestone's RD, a Suntour 5000 Alpha, was acting up...so....first things first....cleaned, inspected, and found the spring tension on the cage was wonky. It took about 10 seconds to SLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWLLLLLYYYYYYYY pull the chain back tight after flexing it forward. NOT ideal. Grabbed down a bike off a hook that hadn't been ridden in a while, the old 81 Takara, and swiped it's 5000 alpha. Installed it, adjusted it, and did a quick 10 mile check ride. Cool, low 60s, stiff wind out of the North. Got home, pulled apart the old RD, found the pin on one end of the tension spring had bent over, so bent it back...got it working again. It's nice to have spares about.