Originally Posted by
Duane Behrens
The front derailleur APPEARED to be bent and locked onto the large cog, so I figured I'd have to replace it. Others smarter than me here say you can't mix and match Shimano and Sun Tour parts, so I also figured i'd have to replace the RD.
If you want index shifting, that is correct. For friction shifters, you can mix-and-match pretty much at will. As noted adding brifters will get into real money real fast. Consider Tektro aero brake levers at less than $25/pair and use bar end friction shifters.