Deerhead Super Plate Rear Derailleur: how & why?
09-02-21, 09:14 PM
#1
Banned.
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Snohomish, WA.
Posts: 2,866
Mentioned: 33 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 469 Post(s)
Liked 2,442 Times
in
646 Posts
Deerhead Super Plate Rear Derailleur: how & why?
Since Cino is complete for another year, I am getting ready to put the tandem to bed for the season. I came across this derailleur in the garage today. It is a Shimano Deerhead super plate. It was on the bike when I bought it a bunch of years ago.
I never could get it to function properly. I have cleaned it, but haven't taken apart the super plate pivot. It seems to pivot freely and the pull spins fine. However, under load it won't take up slack quick enough(at least that's what it feels like).
It's a nice looking piece, but it's been shelf art for too long..
I never could get it to function properly. I have cleaned it, but haven't taken apart the super plate pivot. It seems to pivot freely and the pull spins fine. However, under load it won't take up slack quick enough(at least that's what it feels like).
It's a nice looking piece, but it's been shelf art for too long..
09-03-21, 07:02 AM
#2
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 23,223
Mentioned: 654 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4722 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 3,036 Times
in
1,874 Posts
The Superplate mechanism is not very hard to take apart, inspect and clean. I've attched an exploded diagram and photos of one in https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...uperplate.html
09-03-21, 09:37 AM
#3
Old fart
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Appleton WI
Posts: 24,778
Bikes: Several, mostly not name brands.
Mentioned: 153 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3583 Post(s)
Liked 3,395 Times
in
1,929 Posts
Super Plate was Shimano's response to the Huret Duopar derailleur, which set the standard for smooth, wide range shifting. SunTour's response was the Mountech derailleur. Both Super Plate and Mountech were marketed toward the mountain bike crowd, but neither one performed well in dirty, gritty off-road conditions.
09-03-21, 10:48 AM
#4
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Upper Left, USA
Posts: 1,915
Mentioned: 50 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 634 Post(s)
Liked 444 Times
in
298 Posts
I have a broken superplate Deerhead in my parts bin. The part that broke on me was that weird internal cable that you can see in Tmar's post. The cable end snapped off one end of that little cable and the derailleur no longer could take up chain slack. Now that I am thinking about it, I am wondering if I could solder that cable back together.
09-03-21, 01:46 PM
#5
(rhymes with spook)
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Winslow, AR
Posts: 2,788
Bikes: '83 univega gran turismo x2, '85 schwinn super le tour,'89 miyata triple cross, '91 GT tequesta, '90 yokota grizzly peak, '94 GT backwoods, '95'ish scott tampico, '98 bonty privateer, '93 mongoose crossway 625, '98 parkpre ariel, 2k'ish giant fcr3
Mentioned: 26 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 919 Post(s)
Liked 745 Times
in
546 Posts
I have a broken superplate Deerhead in my parts bin. The part that broke on me was that weird internal cable that you can see in Tmar's post. The cable end snapped off one end of that little cable and the derailleur no longer could take up chain slack. Now that I am thinking about it, I am wondering if I could solder that cable back together.
09-03-21, 02:18 PM
#6
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Upper Left, USA
Posts: 1,915
Mentioned: 50 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 634 Post(s)
Liked 444 Times
in
298 Posts
This cable looks a lot like a straddle cable but it's very short. It's only a couple inches long. And the cable ends are a lot smaller than what you would see on a straddle cable. They might be the same size as a gear shift cable end, if not smaller.
09-03-21, 04:04 PM
#7
(rhymes with spook)
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Winslow, AR
Posts: 2,788
Bikes: '83 univega gran turismo x2, '85 schwinn super le tour,'89 miyata triple cross, '91 GT tequesta, '90 yokota grizzly peak, '94 GT backwoods, '95'ish scott tampico, '98 bonty privateer, '93 mongoose crossway 625, '98 parkpre ariel, 2k'ish giant fcr3
Mentioned: 26 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 919 Post(s)
Liked 745 Times
in
546 Posts
Likes For thook:
09-03-21, 04:39 PM
#8
Newbie
You can easily solder cables with cheap plumbing equipment and they'll be as good as new. In fact I bet you could do them with a little butane soldering iron meant for electrical work and some lead solder.
09-08-21, 03:26 PM
#9
Junior Member
I had perhaps a related problem. My deerhead superplate skipped under load when it was on the smallest cog. Link to other post (everything on the bike was stock)
I replaced it with a Shimano Acera and it works fine, but it's on the ugly side. But I would like to get it working.
I replaced it with a Shimano Acera and it works fine, but it's on the ugly side. But I would like to get it working.
