SUNTOUR VX Rear Derailleur?
06-30-13, 11:43 AM
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SUNTOUR VX Rear Derailleur?
Enjoy a Motobecane 1983 Supermirage but after 60,000+ miles, Suntour VX bolt mount, 6 spd RD finally broke. Owners Manual says "Suntour VXGT" but rear derailleur itself shows only "Suntour VX". I believe a 6 speed "Suntour VGT Luxe" might also work. Does anyone know specifics on which works and where I could find a reasonably priced replacement? Bike has downtube friction shifters. Thanks!
06-30-13, 11:51 AM
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A multitude of Suntour RDs should do the trick, big question would be long cage or short cage, dependent on size of your Big gear on the freewheel. Either available in the Parts Trading area (top of the page) or Parts for Sale (top of the page) or a local bike shop that deals in used bits, or.....EBAY.....
Welcome to the forum. PICTURES of said bike are ALWAYS welcome (IF not DEMANDED! ) ;-)
Welcome to the forum. PICTURES of said bike are ALWAYS welcome (IF not DEMANDED! ) ;-)
06-30-13, 11:54 AM
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Only 60,000 miles ?
It must have been defective.
It must have been defective.
06-30-13, 12:28 PM
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I picked up a V-GT Luxe last month, in close to new condition, just to look at, LOL. It's like a modern art sculpture. 
I was surprised how light it is too, it looks heavy, but isn't.
I was surprised how light it is too, it looks heavy, but isn't.
06-30-13, 12:46 PM
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Suntour made a number of very decent to good quality RDs. Long cage is probably your best bet since it works with a number of different freewheels. You don't have to use a suntour RD in any case as long as you are running friction shifters.
06-30-13, 01:35 PM
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Bicycle Repair Man !!!
It took Campagnolo and Shimano quite a few decade to build a derailleur as light as a Cyclone and to do that they needed modern alloys and carbon fibre to beat it by a few grams.
06-30-13, 02:28 PM
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The Vx does not denote the cage length on the derailleur body, but rather on the cage itself, either with a S, GT, or... I believe some other models of SunTour rears did the same.
Used SunTour long cage derailleurs can be found for under $20 on eBay, Craigslist, here on BF, or at your local bike co-op. Most 'retail' bike shops around here do NOT have used parts.
Used SunTour long cage derailleurs can be found for under $20 on eBay, Craigslist, here on BF, or at your local bike co-op. Most 'retail' bike shops around here do NOT have used parts.
06-30-13, 02:39 PM
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I have a small pile of Vx's in various stages of completeness. I bet I can put a complete Vx long cage together for you from them and parts from your broken one. Shoot me an email if you want: jeirvine at gmail.
And yes - we want to see your bike. I have a Motobecane Grand Touring I just built up and am loving the ride.
-J
And yes - we want to see your bike. I have a Motobecane Grand Touring I just built up and am loving the ride.
-J
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06-30-13, 03:40 PM
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From Velobase https://www.velobase.com/ViewComponen...=108&AbsPos=12
As Cougrrcj said, there will be not GT on the derailleur front plate of the Suntour VX, it is stamped on the outside of the lower pulley cover; this is not to be confused with the earlier and much heavier Suntour GT with "Suntour GT" stamped on the front plate, which is actually an all steel Suntour Honor derailleur with a long cage. The Suntour VX rear derailleurs were some of the best derailleurs ever made; being very light for their time and strong and reliable. If you want to stay period correct, this is the derailleur you want. However, when it is all said and done, pretty much any Suntour derailleur will work with a friction shifter and six speeds.
SunTour took the V T-Luxe and replaced the last bits of steel with aluminum pieces, and slimmed down some of the parts to a slimmer and neater package, the result was the Vx.
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The first V was made in about 1970.
Disraeligears shows a Vx first type as 1976 only, in medium 59mm cage length without the quickcage or the pillar to stop the cage rotating too far back.
The Vx second type is shown by Disraeligears in 1977 and by Ron Kitching in 1984 (unchanged?) in three lengths:
RD-2200 Vx (short 47mm no quickcage) 200g 26T cog / 24T wrap
RD-2500 Vx-S (med 59mm quickcage) 213g. Suganoya.net 26T/27T. RonKit'84 26T/28T wrap. Suntour say 30T cog /28T wrap on long 29mm hanger.
RD-2400 Vx-GT (long quickcage) Suganoya.net and RonKit'84 give 34T/34T.
Early Vx derailleurs have a fixed top pivot stop in place of the B-screw; the B-screw had eclipsed the fixed stop by 1980.
----
The first V was made in about 1970.
Disraeligears shows a Vx first type as 1976 only, in medium 59mm cage length without the quickcage or the pillar to stop the cage rotating too far back.
The Vx second type is shown by Disraeligears in 1977 and by Ron Kitching in 1984 (unchanged?) in three lengths:
RD-2200 Vx (short 47mm no quickcage) 200g 26T cog / 24T wrap
RD-2500 Vx-S (med 59mm quickcage) 213g. Suganoya.net 26T/27T. RonKit'84 26T/28T wrap. Suntour say 30T cog /28T wrap on long 29mm hanger.
RD-2400 Vx-GT (long quickcage) Suganoya.net and RonKit'84 give 34T/34T.
Early Vx derailleurs have a fixed top pivot stop in place of the B-screw; the B-screw had eclipsed the fixed stop by 1980.
Last edited by onespeedbiker; 06-30-13 at 03:55 PM.
06-30-13, 09:39 PM
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The GT is not an Honor with a longer cage, While they share many parts, the the lower parallelogram housing is different. The Honor has two vertical vertical pivots for the parallelgram arms, with the cable anchor bolt assembly mounted to an extension off of the lower front pivot. The GT has a third vertical pivot placed in front of the parallelogram, it's sole function being the attchment for the cable anchor bolt assembly. This was covered recently in another thread.
07-01-13, 10:45 AM
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The GT is not an Honor with a longer cage, While they share many parts, the the lower parallelogram housing is different. The Honor has two vertical vertical pivots for the parallelgram arms, with the cable anchor bolt assembly mounted to an extension off of the lower front pivot. The GT has a third vertical pivot placed in front of the parallelogram, it's sole function being the attchment for the cable anchor bolt assembly. This was covered recently in another thread.
