Classic & Vintage - To mount a Suntour v gt luxe rear derailleur

My dropout requires a claw for mounting a derailleur. Rear spacing is 126mm and I'm using a six cog freewheel. My problem is that the Suntour V GT Luxe will not shift over to the 34t cog. Is there a solution to this problem?

Thanks in advance.

The low limit screw may need to be adjusted for more travel, also check that the cable tension is correct and that the cable has not slipped.

Chain tension, B screw and dropout alignment also come to mind.

I assume you have the low limit screw turned out as far as possible and all the excess slack removed from the cable when it's in the small cog? If so, provided you have the necessary clearance between the small cog and chainstay/dopout, you can place some spacers behind the freewheel to move it outward. The other, more involved solution, provided you have the clearance, is to reduce the clearance by removing or substitutung narrower drive side axle spacers and adding an equivalent amount ot the none drive side. Of course this will shift the whole wheel and you will have to recenter your brake or possibly redish the rear wheel.

The low limit screw may need to be adjusted for more travel, also check that the cable tension is correct and that the cable has not slipped.

Thanks Sixty Five for your timely reply. I guess that the first question that I should have asked is 'should this work'. I checked cable tension and the low limit screw is all the way out.

I assume you have the low limit screw turned out as far as possible and all the excess slack removed from the cable when it's in the small cog? If so, provided you have the necessary clearance between the small cog and chainstay/dopout, you can place some spacers behind the freewheel to move it outward. The other, more involved solution, provided you have the clearance, is to reduce the clearance by removing or substitutung narrower drive side axle spacers and adding an equivalent amount ot the none drive side. Of course this will shift the whole wheel and you will have to recenter your brake or possibly redish the rear wheel.

Hmmm. Why didn't I thin of that. I have spacers and I think enough room so I'll try that. Thanks T-M.

I assume you have the low limit screw turned out as far as possible and all the excess slack removed from the cable when it's in the small cog? If so, provided you have the necessary clearance between the small cog and chainstay/dopout, you can place some spacers behind the freewheel to move it outward. The other, more involved solution, provided you have the clearance, is to reduce the clearance by removing or substitutung narrower drive side axle spacers and adding an equivalent amount ot the none drive side. Of course this will shift the whole wheel and you will have to recenter your brake or possibly redish the rear wheel.

It worked! Just a couple of thin spacers to move the cog out, just enough for the deraillure to catch the 34t cog. Thanks T-Mar.

I am glad the spacers worked for you. My only reservation is that you have reduced the number of aluminum threads available to engage the freewheel, potentially leading to failure. Having said that, I have never personally witnessed a problem from using a few spacers, particularly if there is no pie plate.

I am glad the spacers worked for you. My only reservation is that you have reduced the number of aluminum threads available to engage the freewheel, potentially leading to failure. Having said that, I have never personally witnessed a problem from using a few spacers, particularly if there is no pie plate.

+1 I have rocked one and sometimes two spacers no problem to gwt a right chain on a screw type freewheel and also done 2 or 3 on a cassette. If the chain line is OK and everything is smooth you can be 4/5mm out and it should play alright.

There is one subject which, curiously, has never been discussed in BF during the time I've been participating. It may have a bearing on the OP's problem. That is, the effect on axle position of DO thickness and the presence or absence of a claw. Axle length would seem to be the same because DOs without an integrated hanger are thicker. But when the DOs are thin and the RD is mounted with a claw, the axle needs to be offset to the right because the extra thickness from the claw is on the right only. Wheels with bearing cones positioned for one setup are not easily swappable to the other without some tweaking. Otherwise the axle may be too long for the QR nut on one side or the other.

So the possibility exists that someone (in the dim past, not necessarily the OP) screwed around with added spacers and perhaps re-dished the wheel to shift "fix" this problem.

The Suntour V GT should work fine on a claw type hangar with a 6 speed unless something was done to change the axle spacing on the hub, many of them were equipped this way when integrated hangars were less common.

The V series derailleurs do not have the same lateral travel as later models, on an integrated hangar have found they have just enough travel for 7 speeds but require a little modification to run 8 while a Cyclone has enough travel for an 8 speed.

Allow me to explain the end result of my original question. The rear end spacing was 120mm when I acquired the frame. I spaced it to 126mm. It had no hanger at that time but appears to have had one at an earlier time. Now the V GT Luxe; the mounting bolt washers were incorrectly placed the first time I attempted to mount the derailleur, i.e. the thicker washer placed between the derailleur and the drop out. That placed the derailleur out just enough to prevent the chain mounting the 34t cog. I reversed that washer, i.e. placed it between the mounting bolt and the derailleur itself. The chain now mounts the 34t cog. I also added two thin spacers to the hub just behind the last cog but now I'm thinking that wasn't necessary. Tomorrow I'll remove those two thin spacers behind the 34t. I'll bet it still shifts fine.

Many thanks to all who offered their advise and help.