8 speeds with a suntour Vx gt and Cycles tuissaint wheels.
07-31-23, 07:44 PM
#1
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8 speeds with a suntour Vx gt and Cycles tuissaint wheels.
I was trying to build a cassette that a Vx gt could manage while getting the gears I think I need. Also I'm using a set of cycles tuissaint wheels. The front one I relaced with a dynamo hub...
Cassette made from a 9 speed 14-25 jr racer and a 12-36 9 speed. I combined 8 of the cogs hoping that losing 11% of the cassette width would make it traversable by the ancient suntour derailleur. It did! The chosen cogs are 14-15-16-18-21-24-28-36. Or tight up top and wide at the bottom.
The Vx-gt. My favorite almost free rear mech.
Now as to the wheels, the rims are solid if not beautiful looking. No eyelets and somewhat rounded isn't my favorite. They are fairly light with 32 15 gauge spokes. I havnt broke a spoke yet and I bet with the 650b size and 38mm tires, broken spokes will be rare. So far so good.
Cassette made from a 9 speed 14-25 jr racer and a 12-36 9 speed. I combined 8 of the cogs hoping that losing 11% of the cassette width would make it traversable by the ancient suntour derailleur. It did! The chosen cogs are 14-15-16-18-21-24-28-36. Or tight up top and wide at the bottom.
The Vx-gt. My favorite almost free rear mech.
Now as to the wheels, the rims are solid if not beautiful looking. No eyelets and somewhat rounded isn't my favorite. They are fairly light with 32 15 gauge spokes. I havnt broke a spoke yet and I bet with the 650b size and 38mm tires, broken spokes will be rare. So far so good.
07-31-23, 08:53 PM
#2
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I love the old suntour but my issue is that I like running 48 front 11 back, revenge the long cage Vx finds that a bit much to chew on.
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07-31-23, 09:26 PM
#3
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I'm running 49-26 in front and 14-36 out back. The gt cage handles a lot of it. I have enough chain for big-big and only use 3-4 cogs on the granny. It would be too slack at 26-14 but I will never be there and should I accidentally nothing too awful will happen.
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07-31-23, 10:40 PM
#4
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What's ideal and what can be made to work are two different things. My combo has more tooth and would work even worse :-\
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07-31-23, 10:49 PM
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08-01-23, 10:25 AM
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Vx series RDs were perhaps the best cheap friction guys ever made IMHO. ARX a close second if you were trying to go cheap.
Vx stuff had the added bonus of being very light for their price point!
Vx stuff had the added bonus of being very light for their price point!
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08-01-23, 10:57 AM
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The lengthy chain gap imposed by today's smaller cogs at the far end of the cassette won't play nice using modern flexible bushingless chain (especially since even completely removing the B-screw from a Suntour friction derailer may not allow the derailer to move forward/upward quite far enough). With a 36t large cog, the B-screw will be increasing the chain gap even further.
To get best shifting with modern chain and one of these older Suntour RD's, I limit the freewheel to 13-28t and grind away some metal from the B-screw stop lug to close down the chain gap. Then I use a compact or more correctly a semi-compact 52-36t chainset, and add plastic noodle to the metal chain guide atop the bb shell.
Thus configured, the shifting performance is crisp and robust even with the long cabling of Bar-Con levers (but using modern cable housing of course).
To get best shifting with modern chain and one of these older Suntour RD's, I limit the freewheel to 13-28t and grind away some metal from the B-screw stop lug to close down the chain gap. Then I use a compact or more correctly a semi-compact 52-36t chainset, and add plastic noodle to the metal chain guide atop the bb shell.
Thus configured, the shifting performance is crisp and robust even with the long cabling of Bar-Con levers (but using modern cable housing of course).
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08-01-23, 12:14 PM
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I do have a 12T cog on the mountain bike (46/12 = 100 gear-inches with 26" wheels, about the same as the traditional 52/14 on 27" wheels), but this is with SunTour XD, which combines traditional SunTour slant-plano with Simplex- or Shimano-style whole-body pivoting.
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"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." --Theodore Roosevelt
Capo: 1959 Modell Campagnolo, S/N 40324; 1960 Sieger (2), S/N 42624, 42597
Carlton: 1962 Franco Suisse, S/N K7911
Peugeot: 1970 UO-8, S/N 0010468
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08-01-23, 01:53 PM
#9
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I put a new chain on it today and it shifts beautifully although on the granny ring i only use the 28 and 36. As for the wheels, the free hub on the cycles tuissaint wheel is really quite loud. Rolls and works fine but the clicks are loud.
08-02-23, 12:59 AM
#10
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The thing is, at the time it came out it was arguably one of the best derailleur money could buy for both touring and the early days of mountain biking. Suntour's own Mountech and the early Shimano Deore were a tad too complicated for their own good, the simplicity of the VX GT made it a trouble free rock cruncher.
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08-02-23, 05:15 AM
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It is to me, one of the most aesthetically pleasing derailleurs too. It is the perfect combination of form and function.
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