Touring - drivetrain question

Newbie wants to get into touring and am looking at a tour bike on craigslist --

It's a 6-7 year old T400 Cannondale and ad says -

"Suntour XC Master 21sp drivetrain with on the bar shifting. One of the greatest shifting mechanisms ever. Allows the user to keep their hands on the hoods to shift and break at all times."

I haven't heard of suntour drivetrain. Is this an older mountain bike specific drivetrain? Is it reliable?

Does on the bar shifting just mean it's the same as STI integrated brake/levers? thx in advance

suntour was very good reliable stuff. it sounds from the ad that its got top mounts, the xc master was a derailer not a shifter if I recall. I could definitely be wrong there. its probably either top mounts (thumbies) or bar end shifters. either are more reliable than sti's. its probably older than 6 or 7 years if its original componentry, but Id still go look at it.

He sent me a pic of the shifters. They seem to be on the side of hoods. Is that what you mean by thumbies? Brake with fingers and shift w/ thumbs? Are these considered a solid shifter setup?

Does anyone else have any thoughts on the suntour drivetrain? Are these solid but out of date? Will I have problems with parts if they breakdown ? He's askin about $350 for the setup and it's got racks and lights with decent pedals, etc.

He sent me a pic of the shifters. They seem to be on the side of hoods. Is that what you mean by thumbies? Brake with fingers and shift w/ thumbs? Are these considered a solid shifter setup?

Does anyone else have any thoughts on the suntour drivetrain? Are these solid but out of date? Will I have problems with parts if they breakdown ? He's askin about $350 for the setup and it's got racks and lights with decent pedals, etc.

Thumbies, or thumb shifters were top mounted single lever shifters from the 80's until well into the 90's on mountain bikes. Push the lever (rear) forward to downshift, pull back to upshift. Pretty simple actually. I like them better than Rapidfire currently available on nearly everything.

These shifters are a road variant of that type of shifter. They are pretty rare and I've never had any experience with them but Suntour wasn't a bad company so they should work. If they die, either get barend shifters or get some STI to replace them since Suntour is long dead. I don't personally have a problem with STI for touring. Some people do.

Overall the bike looks good, if a bit long in the tooth.

thanks much for the feedback. What do you mean "long in the tooth?"

These shifters are a road variant of that type of shifter. They are pretty rare and I've never had any experience with them but Suntour wasn't a bad company so they should work. If they die, either get barend shifters or get some STI to replace them since Suntour is long dead. I don't personally have a problem with STI for touring. Some people do.

These were known as Command Shifters (used on tourers in the early 90's) and are very sought after currently so IMO that gives testimony of their quality.

Isn't this a lot like the modolo shifters?

thanks much for the feedback. What do you mean "long in the tooth?"

Long in the tooth means aged. As in an old bike or horse or beaver. Why people say that an old person is "long in the tooth" is beyond me considering that humans of old age are short in the tooth. Just prattling. You do that when you get long in the tooth ;)

are command shifters set up for friction or index shifting?

are command shifters set up for friction or index shifting?
Yes. They have a friction option.

I haven't heard of suntour drivetrain. Is this an older mountain bike specific drivetrain? Is it reliable?
If I am remembering correctly, Suntour invented the rear parallelogram-style derailleur in the 60s. Gotta be good kharma there...

I know riders who still use Suntour command shifters. They are reliable and well made and rated as a fine bit of kit.