rustystrings61 

I'm mulling over a Frankenstein approach to something. Has anyone ever grafted a V-GT Luxe cage onto a SunTour Cyclone to create a Cyclone GT? I have most of the part available to do this, and can purchase the rest of this project much cheaper than buying a whole Cyclone GT. Is this even possible, or have I been sniffing the Tubasti again?

JohnDThompson 

I haven't tried it, but it might be possible. The cage mounting nuts are different:



And you'll probably need the special two-prong SunTour cage tool to loosen the nut on the Cyclone cage.




The bolts look to be the same diameter on both, so there's a good chance they're the same thread.

rustystrings61 

Thank you! Lots to ponder here, and your information helps!

gugie 

I haven't tried the transplant, but I did make a tool to remove the nut with a length of bar stock, a grinder, and a file.

The Golden Boy 

Cyclone GTs aren't THAT expensive.

I had a wild hair to try to transplant a couple of cages... a triple pulley or triple pivot MII Cyclone... In the end, there was too many differences in the way the cages mounted, and the different springs involved... Some people have done some of this stuff- but to me- it's just not worth the energy.

Here's my thread about it:

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...y-project.html


Someone else did something like it- and figured out there's 2 different 3 pulley cages.

If you want to do it- I wish you luck. But I'd just look for a Cyclone GT.

cdmurphy

I don't think you will have any luck with the vx-luxe to cyclone gt change over. The Cyclone gt cage is shared with the vx gt, as well as the suntour BL gt. Where you get into trouble is the main axle it attaches to is specific to the GT - it acts as the shaft for the upper pulley too. The regular cyclone s or cyclone vt have shorter axles that just attach to the cage. You can swap cage+axle between any of the first gen cyclones, but just having the cage off a Vx gt or BL gt won't help, unless you have a donor axle from a Cyclone GT.

rustystrings61 

Thank you all for persuading me not to attempt this. There are so many other questionable ideas I can pursue instead! Thanks again!

Mr. 66

Tubasi, oh yeah that's the good stuff...

jeirvine 

Funny- I just last week swapped in a Vx-S cage onto a 1st gen Cyclone short cage, to make a medium cage Cyclone. It took some finessing, but works fine. I wanted a little more chain capacity without going full-bore touring/GT.

rustystrings61 

What's your cog capacity with that arrangement? I'm thinking what I really want is to be able to run up to a 28T with the usual 42/52T up front ...

clubman 

The Vx-S will likely do a 30 or even 32 cog with that crank. Heck, I got a short cage Sprint to index a 30.

jeirvine 

It's running a 13-28 and 41/53 at the moment. There appears to be clearance for at least a 30 in the rear, and there's capacity for a smaller small ring up front.

seypat

I'm going to try it with a Superbe and an XC from the same time frame. It appears to be the same cage as the Superbe GT.

SurferRosa

Time to pop that hanger bolt in naval jelly for 10 min.

The Golden Boy 

I couldn't get a Sprint to work on a 28...

clubman 

I'll take a video for you

It'll do the 13-30 AP on the 40 small chainring. I need another link or two to do try it with the 52 big ring.

The Golden Boy 

I believe you.

I made a Superbe Pro explode across the garage shortly after this pic was taken:

SuperbePro400 by Dave The Golden Boy, on Flickr

cdmurphy

Maybe, but a lot depends on the dropout geometry and freewheel width / spacing. I've gotten the regular "S" Cyclones to work with a 28t freewheel, but just barely. Another bike maxed out at 26t. If your hanger is deeper, or the large freewheel cog is further inboard that will help. Most of the max cog improvement in the GT takes place due to the upper pulley being moved to the cage pivot (~ 1/2" lower than the V or S versions) Of course this comes at the cost of shifting precision and small cog handling .

jeirvine 

Be aware that there are two versions of the 1st gen Cyclone. One with a shorter drop in the mounting arm than the other.

Short drop:


Long drop:



I have seen examples of short-cage and GT in both versions. Not sure how the cog or chain capacity are affected. I assume it's similar to the Campy Nuovo vs Super record cage, where the pulleys are the same distance apart, but the SR guide pulley sits lower.

clubman 

Learn something good everyday