Originally Posted by
philbob57
Some people report successful index shifting with old Suntour ders and Shimano freewheels and shifters,. Maybe 90% of my shifts on the road were fine, and they all worked on the stand. The failed shifts seemed to be due to some stickiness in the mechanism. I think my V-GT needs to be overhauled, but I don't have the skill. I figured there was a significant probability I could take it apart but not put it back together, in which case I'd need a new der anyway, so I just got the new one.
Before you worry about that V-GT, be sure your cable and housings are great. At my LBS job, I find that drag inside the housings, either from cable or housing corrosion, or both, is a primary cause of misbehavior. That and bent RD hangers. Them are pretty common too. Just correcting a hanger alignment can yield a "miracle cure".