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Toasted, right? Suntour XC Three Pulley

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Toasted, right? Suntour XC Three Pulley

Old 09-05-21, 12:39 PM
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thorstein
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Toasted, right? Suntour XC Three Pulley

I really like this derailer, but am pretty sure it is beyond help. Is there any magic to repair the now missing stop? J-B Weld or something else? Is the best case scenario finding a donor to put the cage on?





Any help appreciated. Thanks!
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Old 09-05-21, 01:59 PM
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I suppose if the alternative is throw it away, you might consider trying drilling in some sort of screw or bolt to act as a stop. In general though IME, that’s the kiss of death for a derailleur. I don’t think the JB weld idea will work.
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Old 09-05-21, 02:04 PM
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Perhaps stalk e-Bay for a compatible double pulley derailleur that you could swap your triple pulley cage into
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Old 09-05-21, 02:08 PM
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Aren’t there plenty of derailleurs that don’t even have a b-stop? You could probably manage that position with chain tension. Otherwise, as suggested above, there is no reason you can’t swap the cage to a different derailleur body with a similar connection.

EDIT: Yikes, after reading some of the subsequent replies, I clearly do not know much about the triple pulley Suntours. Just acknowledging that my text above is bunk so others do not have to read so far to find it out themselves. For the record, I've torn apart and rebuilt several standard two-pulley Suntour derailleurs, but that only allowed me to think I was informed.

Last edited by noobinsf; 09-08-21 at 03:51 PM.
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Old 09-05-21, 02:29 PM
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Originally Posted by noobinsf
Aren’t there plenty of derailleurs that don’t even have a b-stop? You could probably manage that position with chain tension. Otherwise, as suggested above, there is no reason you can’t swap the cage to a different derailleur body with a similar connection.
There was a thread on this earlier. There are very few derailleur bodies that will take the triple cage because of the depth of the main spring. One of them is the Sprint RD-7000, the non-indexed 6 speed derailleur.

I tried about 5 bodies until I found out that it mates with the Sprint. Here it is, not pretty but it works.


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Old 09-05-21, 03:13 PM
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Originally Posted by thorstein
I really like this derailer, but am pretty sure it is beyond help. Is there any magic to repair the now missing stop?
Drill, tap, insert socket-head capscrew - use a thread-locker..
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Old 09-05-21, 04:45 PM
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Originally Posted by oneclick
Drill, tap, insert socket-head capscrew - use a thread-locker..
This.

Top
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Old 09-05-21, 08:50 PM
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Originally Posted by Spaghetti Legs
I suppose if the alternative is throw it away, you might consider trying drilling in some sort of screw or bolt to act as a stop. In general though IME, that’s the kiss of death for a derailleur. I don’t think the JB weld idea will work.
Kind of what I had been thinking, but I think I'll give it a go & look for a replacement body.

Originally Posted by Vintage_Cyclist
Perhaps stalk e-Bay for a compatible double pulley derailleur that you could swap your triple pulley cage into
It seems like XC double pulleys are available, so I'll try this for when the bolt inevitably fails. This, I think, would also be a good replacement RD if the body doesn't work with the three pulley system.

Originally Posted by clubman
There was a thread on this earlier. There are very few derailleur bodies that will take the triple cage because of the depth of the main spring. One of them is the Sprint RD-7000, the non-indexed 6 speed derailleur.
Did you try an XC double pulley? I'll keep an eye out for one of these too. Thanks for the link for clarification!
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Old 09-05-21, 09:15 PM
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i'll vouch for the XC double pulley. i just got a ross mt hood mtb recently and that's what it came with. well, it's an XC Sport. anyway, the lower pulley is extra large for more chainwrap and i would swear it has enough capacity for a 36t cog. i don't have a cassette to test that with, but by the eyeball it clears a 34t with room to spare. the hanger length on any given frame would make a difference, too

otoh, if you'd really like to fix the one you have, i would try carving up a tiny little L bracket, smooth the broken area on the derailleur, drill in the center of it, and fasten the L bracket with a metal screw. then drill and install a small screw and nut for the b-stop. not as simple as buying another derailleur, i suppose
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Old 09-05-21, 11:36 PM
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Paging @Andy_K, who has moved a three pulley to a different body.
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Old 09-05-21, 11:53 PM
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Originally Posted by oneclick
Drill, tap, insert socket-head capscrew - use a thread-locker..
This.

3 minute job.
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Old 09-06-21, 01:39 AM
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Originally Posted by Dfrost
Paging @Andy_K, who has moved a three pulley to a different body.
Yeah, I’ve had success with this. I moved the 3-pulley cage from a LePree RD to a Superbe Pro of the same generation (because a spring broke in the LePree). The Superbe had a two-pulley short cage and the stop that limits the cage wrap was in a different place on the Superbe, but I just remove the stop (which threads in).

I’ve got the LePree body still, which could fix this for you, but I think one of the limit screws may be stripped.

FWIW...

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Old 09-06-21, 05:32 AM
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Originally Posted by noobinsf
Aren’t there plenty of derailleurs that don’t even have a b-stop? You could probably manage that position with chain tension.
SunTour derailleurs don't have an upper pivot spring, and rely on that stop to hold the parallelogram in place. Lacking the stop, chain tension will pull the parallelogram too far forward.
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Old 09-06-21, 10:00 AM
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Originally Posted by thorstein




Did you try an XC double pulley? I'll keep an eye out for one of these too. Thanks for the link for clarification!
I don't think I tried an XC double, just because I didn't have one. The Cyclone MII's don't work, nor do the VX and BlueLines.
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Old 09-06-21, 11:16 AM
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Originally Posted by Andy_K
Yeah, I’ve had success with this. I moved the 3-pulley cage from a LePree RD to a Superbe Pro of the same generation (because a spring broke in the LePree). The Superbe had a two-pulley short cage and the stop that limits the cage wrap was in a different place on the Superbe, but I just remove the stop (which threads in).

I’ve got the LePree body still, which could fix this for you, but I think one of the limit screws may be stripped.
Thanks for the offer. From what I read, The Golden Boy identified 2 kinds of 3 Pulley cages: one with "3 Pulley System" & one without. It seemed the LePree worked with the unmarked cage, but mine is marked, so I don't know if it will work. Itight be a race between which I can get my hands on first: the XC double or Superbe Pro for if/when the screw fails.

Originally Posted by clubman
I don't think I tried an XC double, just because I didn't have one. The Cyclone MII's don't work, nor do the VX and BlueLines.
Thanks for listing which bodies didn't work. Seems like the XC double could work & the Superbe Pro definitely will.
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Old 09-06-21, 01:59 PM
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screwed

I drilled & tapped the body for a 4mm bolt. It went pretty smoothly even if the bolt didn't end up completely square. I'm thinking I'll build up behind the bolt head with J B Weld - can't hurt & might give a little more strength. Any other ideas before I mix up the J B?




Looks to hit the hanger pretty squarely.
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Old 09-06-21, 02:31 PM
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Originally Posted by thorstein
Thanks for the offer. From what I read, The Golden Boy identified 2 kinds of 3 Pulley cages: one with "3 Pulley System" & one without. It seemed the LePree worked with the unmarked cage, but mine is marked, so I don't know if it will work. Itight be a race between which I can get my hands on first: the XC double or Superbe Pro for if/when the screw fails.
I remember reading The Golden Boy's post. I don't remember the details of the different cages. I had an XC rear derailleur that I wanted to use as a donor for the LePree, but I ended up just cleaning up the XC because at the time I had trouble getting the broken spring out of the LePree (I've since done that). Looking at what I've got, I think the cages on the LePree and XC both had the same markings. Were there multiple generations of LePree?

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Old 09-08-21, 08:56 PM
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How long is it good for?

I just finished adding JB Weld to hopefully support the bolt. I'll hopefully remember to post updates on how the repair holds up.


Bolt with JB Weld hopefully adding support.
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Old 09-08-21, 09:03 PM
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for sure the bolt won't interfere with hanger clearance, right?
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Old 09-09-21, 05:28 AM
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Originally Posted by thook
for sure the bolt won't interfere with hanger clearance, right?
The bolt clears the hanger, but it does look awfully close. I measured beforehand, & in the last picture of my previous post, the derailer is mounted. It was shifting cleanly through all the gears, but I was nervous the bolt wouldn't be strong enough by itself, so I added the JB Weld.

I'll have to give it a test ride today.
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Old 09-09-21, 06:17 AM
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Originally Posted by thorstein
I drilled & tapped the body for a 4mm bolt. It went pretty smoothly even if the bolt didn't end up completely square. I'm thinking I'll build up behind the bolt head with J B Weld - can't hurt & might give a little more strength. Any other ideas before I mix up the J B?

Looks to hit the hanger pretty squarely.
I know this is late, but that bolt should go all the way in and sit flush against the body. As it is you have bending stress at the thread root(s), and I think over time the stress will win.

I know this means you'd only have about half the head bearing against the hanger stop but I'd still pick that against the exposed shank. Best would be a bolt with a taller head, not likely easily found; a small collar the same diameter as the head between it and the derailleur body would do nearly as well. I'd make you one if you pm me with bolt details and your postal address.

And of course that all is not much good unless you dress the surface flat.
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Old 09-09-21, 04:49 PM
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Originally Posted by oneclick
I know this is late, but that bolt should go all the way in and sit flush against the body. As it is you have bending stress at the thread root(s), and I think over time the stress will win.

I'd make you one if you pm me with bolt details and your postal address.

And of course that all is not much good unless you dress the surface flat.
I'll bet you're right about starting with a flat surface & tightening the bolt flush. I guess that wasy hope with adding the JB Weld - more surface area to spread out the perpendicular force on the bolt while filling in the gap between the head & surface.

I'm looking at this as allowing time for me to get a body or two & do a cage swap rather than a permanent solution. Time will tell as I think trying to remove the bolt now will only cause more damage.
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