Classic & Vintage - Suntour Cyclone for rebuild - look any good?

Hi All

I have been looking for a while for a bike with Suntour Cyclone group which i can strip down, clean up and use on my mid-80s British steel touring frame. Do you think this looks too rough to use for a decent rebuild? I think the cranks look pretty beat but what about other stuff? Any help please greatly appreciated as i need to decide pretty quickly. Bike is $100 so not a huge amount but i dont want to spend a fortune then refurbing these parts.

Bike is an old Fuji League.


Thanks

Andy

I think that that stuff would clean up just fine if you're up to putting a little rubbing and probably some compound rubbing into them. Most of it looks like surface blemishes to me, not pitting or gouging.

Look up khatfuls thread on polishing.

The parts will clean up ok, but there's more rust than I'd want to deal with. Have you searched the "ISO & for trade" thread or the C&V sale subforum?

Hi

I have posted ISO ads a couple of times but no replies. I have been looking on ebay and all the decent looking stuff quickly gets bid up to ridiculous levels. So i resorted to a wanted ad on craigslist and it threw up this. Agree it looks not well cared for which does worry me a bit. Its dead cheap but i am worried i will have to replace parts to get it working well / looking great.

I also have not stripped down a RD before for a deep clean so am worried it will be a bugger to put back together.

Thoughts??

Andy

Those Fuji League were quad butted va-lite tubed bikes. Pretty nice actually.

It's not easy to get a complete group with an ISO. You have to be patient and pick up bits as they come.

I think that bike may give you most if not all of what you need to get on the road and the frame can be flipped for a few bux in no time. Use a little OA on the steel bits only and clean the rest.

But the photos hurt my neck!

As a heads up, the logos will rub right off. I now have a "generic" suntour cyclone FD.

Apols for the cricked neck!!!

Thanks for your thoughts. BTW what is OA?

Andy

Earlier Suntour derailleurs are very easy to disassemble/reassemble, but I don't recall if that's true of the Cyclone series. If the seller can confirm that it shifts through the gears and nothing looks bent, I'd be pretty confident that you won't need to invest in any new parts. You should be able to recoup most of your cost by reselling the frame/fork and wheels on craigslist.

OA = oxalic acid, it's popular for removing rust from chromed steel, but don't use it on aluminum. There are several threads devoted to the subject.

Hi Chris

Thanks for reply. I actually may well keep the wheels as i imagine they will be on Suntour hubs which i hope are also cyclone or similar level. I was told that the rear wheel spokes were a little rusted and it seems like the bike was kept in a damp basement. I have no idea if they can be cleaned or they are too far gone. I think they will be UKAI wheels according to the Fuji spec for the year.

Best

Andy

That stuff looks like it would clean up reasonably well............looks more like grime than rust. And as someone above stated......you could clean that frame up and get a pretty healthy return on your investment.

I have a couple Suntour Cyclone RD's a Sprint/Cyclone FD, brake calipers and some shifters. Some goober spray painted in, but it comes right off with acetone. I've tried.

that bike would clean up well..

that bike would clean up well..

I agree. If it were mine, I'd strip as much chrome/steel off the Suntour parts and soak them in my Oxalic Acid solution. Then clean them up well with dish soap and water. Reassemble, clena the bike and ride that bad boy.

For reference, this is how I found the suntour cyclone RD, and how well it cleaned up.

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Plan is to strip bike down clean / refurb and transfer the parts onto my Mercian touring frame of same era. That's why I wanted cyclone parts. I just want to make sure this will work - which it sounds like it will. I am unsure on all the parts but it seems pretty good. I am surprised a low to mid end bike came with Cyclone

Plan is I will sell frame and fork on.

So weekend of cleaning I think.

Andy

For all we think well of Cyclone now, it was always a very reasonably priced gruppo (As far as SunTour could be said to *have* "gruppos."). Berto claims that this fair-pricing strategy actually may have worked against ST in the long run, that there was a lack of perception of exclusivity or fineness. Kind of sad, really.

For reference, this is how I found the suntour cyclone RD, and how well it cleaned up.

207491207492207493207490

Really nice job. Did you strip it down and soak it in something and then polish (wire wool etc) or just light detergent and scrubbing??

I would be happy with that outcome.

Andy

I recently bought a bike solely for the Cyclone Generation 1 components. Much cheaper than trying to buy a piece at a time on fleabay.

Really nice job. Did you strip it down and soak it in something and then polish (wire wool etc) or just light detergent and scrubbing??

I would be happy with that outcome.

Andy

i bet an old greasy rag would take off a lot of the grime.. after that spritz something like wd40 or silicon spray and wipe with a clean(er) rag and i bet it would already look a lot better.

I recently bought a bike solely for the Cyclone Generation 1 components. Much cheaper than trying to buy a piece at a time on fleabay.
Anybody know what bikes came stock with Cyclone? I'm looking to do the same thing as the OP.

Anybody know what bikes came stock with Cyclone? I'm looking to do the same thing as the OP.

Specs changed year to year. So even if a model came with them one year, another year it can and often will have totally different components. Then you have the added factor that many people change components on bikes over the years, so even if you were provided an exact listing of models and years that had Cyclone components, that does not mean the bike will have them. The final problem is that sellers rarely/never get the age of their bike right anyway.

So the best bet is to look at pics, and train your eyes to spot them.

Thanks

Trek sold a lot of Cyclone-equipped bikes in the 80's. The 510 in 1984, for example. It was a very popular group.

Helpful link, http://www.vintage-trek.com/TrekBrochures.htm

Depends what generation you are looking for. By 1984, manufacturers were using the second generation Cyclone, nothing wrong with it, but not as nearly aesthetically pleasing as gen 1 IMHO.

Earlier years for Treks tended to use the Suntour Vx derailleurs.