The Golden Boy 

When the Sun XCD stuff came out a couple of years ago- it was hailed as the second coming of Suntour. I haven't seen much of the XCD parts being used on many bikes- and no factory bikes (which is almost to be expected). I guess it's surprising to me that even Rivendell isn't selling them off their site- which I'd assume those companies are symbiotic. The only place I've seen them is on the Soma store, and then it's not all the stuff.

I like the look and if it's ANYTHING like old Suntour- the stuff is good. I'm in the process of putting together a "dream build" and don't know if I should consider the XCD rear derailleur for a 10s sport/touring/touring build.

fender1

I have been eye balling this crankset:

Sunxcd 50 4BCD Pédalier Double René Herse Style Cyclotouriste Stronglight 49D | eBay

nlerner

I bought a Sun XCD 50.4 bcd crankset when one of the Japanese shops was offering them at very good prices (with favorable exchange rates). Still sitting in a box.

The Golden Boy 

That is pretty!

A Japanese copy of a French crankset sold in England.

mstateglfr 

Ha, didnte read close enough before opening the thread as I thought it was about the original xcd components.
I have those on a recent build and love em in friction, for what it's worth!

The Golden Boy 

Just bumping this again- to see if anyone is using this stuff.

Again- it looks really great- it doesn't seem to be stupidly priced. For me, it just seems to be unavailable when I'm looking for stuff.

KenNC

I am in the middle of one too many projects right now, but am going to keep watching for a chance to try out some of their components. Those hubs are very attractive: Hubs ? SunXCD - Bicycle Components

jimmuller 

I was just looking at the SunXCD website. Their component line looks interesting. I have no project to use anything right now but if I did I might try some unless they are overpriced.

justin10054

Looking through their site, I think it would be fun to build up a bike with these components, but I find it odd that their shifters don't seem to be compatible with their derailleurs. The shifters say 7/8 speed indexed and the rear derailleur is designed to work with 9/10 speed Shimano shifters.

Jeff Wills

Shimano-compatible derailleurs in 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10-speed all use the same cable-pull-to-derailleur-movement ratio. (Except early Dura-Ace and Dyna-Sys.) They are compatible.

If you're looking for them in the U.S., I think most of the SunXCD parts are available on the Soma site: Search

The Golden Boy 

So I just figured out yesterday that the SunXCD rear derailleur is a rebadged Microshift.





BTW- I linked to this banner on the joy-japan website, it's not something I created.

mstateglfr 

Microshift RD R47? Or which model?

gugie 

Norther.com stocks their stuff as well.

bikemig 

The crank looks pretty but at north of $400 from Soma with rings it is expensive.

The Golden Boy 

It looks like R10.

https://jet.com/product/detail/dfe3d...zYvxoCA2bw_wcB

Salamandrine 

The SunXCD cranks are available for less than that. For example on ebay. IMO the 5 arm spider adapter that SOMA 'includes' kind of kills their looks anyway. The Herse and TA style rings are much more attractive, especially if you've got old TA rings in your stash like i do.

Unfortunately, they are only available in 165 and 170, which rules them out for green beans like me.

It seems like SunXCD like Diacompe ENE is mostly aimed at the Japanese domestic market at this point. Much of that stuff is unobtanium in the US AFAIK.

The hubs are nice looking. I wonder if they are the similar to the Velo Orange hubs? Disassembly without tools is a great feature for touring hubs if they have it.

Salamandrine 

The main body casting is different, as is the jockey wheel cage. It's not simply a rebadged R19, but overall they are pretty close.

mstateglfr 

The R10 group is partly comprised of the R47 rear derailleur.
Pretty confusing, and their lack of names and seemingly random numbers attached to a letter for components makes for an incredibly difficult time remembering what is what.

They look similar, but the cutout where the pivot point which moves the cage plate closer to or further from the dropout is shaped differently between the two derailleurs.
...not sure if I described that well. The SunXCD cutout is curved and the Microshift cutout is more right angles.

They do look very similar. Same manufacturer maybe?

Salamandrine 

I think it's pretty obvious both are made by Microshift. But the SunXCD is a different derailleur than the R47, and clearly these were made especially for Suntour/SunXCD/whatever.

Like I said, besides the parallellogram plate difference you mention, the jockey wheel cage is a different design.

cs1

SamSpade1941 

I own one of those cranks that I purchased from that seller .* Its a beautiful crank set that is going on my Soma Stanyan build . Which reminds me I really need to get some of those lovely dia compe cable hangers from VO ..**

*

steelbikeguy

I picked up a set of the SunXCD cranks that are a clone of the TA Cyclotouriste last year... so far, I'm quite happy with it!

I had been thinking about getting a set of the TA cranks in 175mm as a way to configure one of my C&V bikes for hilly terrain. The standard low gear of 42 x 24 just wasn't going to cut it for some of the hilly terrain that I enjoy. There are a variety of sources for the SunXCD crank, and I got mine from Velo Duo Cycles. They operate out of the UK and have a store on ebay that is easy to use. They offered a variety of crank arm lengths and chainring sizes, which appealed to me. Unfortunately, the longest they had was 172.5mm. Close enough?? Well, I thought I'd give it a shot.

The cranks arrived and they were gorgeous! The polished finish reminded me of the Stronglight 93 cranks that I used to own.
The cranks come with TA chainrings too, which I liked. Very high quality and a similarly polished finish.
The hardware that comes with the cranks is stainless and fits great. Much nicer that what came with the TA cranks back in the day. I did use blue loctite on the hardware, just to be safe.





The question of what bottom bracket to use did have me scratching my head a bit. I happened to have a Specialized cup and cone bottom bracket in the parts box, with both a 112mm axle and a 119mm axle. The 112mm axle worked out okay, but the bolts do get rather close to the bottom bracket shell.



The Q factor was about 20mm wider than the Campy Record that had been on the bike. This is due to the way that the crank arms flare out. It does eliminate any chance that the derailleur might hit the right crank, but is quite a bit wider than I need.



Ultimately, a few rides showed that the Q factor wasn't an issue, and I've been happy with it.
The only other issue was the match between the crank's square taper and the Specialized axle. The axle was a bit bigger than the crank's opening. After each ride, I would check the torque on the crank bolts and snug them up as needed. It took a half dozen rides, but the aluminum eventually stopped deforming and reached a stable position.

Here's a shot of the bike in its current configuration....




Steve in Peoria

JaccoW

I'm waiting for the rest of the parts to build up a wheel around one of their hubs:


I'll be receiving the spokes and everything today but the rim itself will probably not arrive until after the weekend.

steelbikeguy

that's a nice looking hub!
I assume the OLD is 130mm?

Steve in Peoria

JaccoW

Yes.

Check out the post in my Batavus thread for more pictures and measurements.