jhota

took my mountain bike out day after Thanksgiving, and found the pawls in the freewheel were M.I.A. - it freewheeled in both directions! a few whacks with a sandal freed them up enough to sort of work, but i've decided to get off my butt and replace my freewheel, as it's 15 years old and has been repaired before.

i've got a new 9-speed rear wheel that i've had for quite a while, so i want to get a 7-speed Shimano cassette and pop it on there. i know i need a 4.5 mm spacer to go behind the cogs, but what bugs me a little is the spacing from gear-to-gear. i know from Sheldon Brown's crib sheet that the SunTour freewheel does not have constant spacing like the Shimano, but wonder what effect the two tenths of a millimeter difference will have.

i'm using all SunTour X-1 parts: both the rear derailer and X-press Accushift Plus pushbutton shifters. i searched for Shimano/SunTour compatibility topics, but they all seemed to say "don't use SunTour shifters with Shimano derailers" and vice-versa. i just want to use a Shimano cassette. help!

genericbikedude

if I recall correctly, sheldon got it to work on one of his bikes--check there. it'll probably work, but probably not very well. xpress was never the best anyway. perhaps consider swapping out the shifters?

HillRider

Do what you want and if it doesn't work very well, you'll know why.

jhota

i'd hate to ditch the shifters, as they've been trouble-free for fifteen years of rather rough service. especially as i'd have to swap the rear derailer, too. i tried searching Sheldon's site for Shimano cassette with SunTour derailer info, but couldn't find anything. i'll just have to try again, i guess.


well, that's just insanely freaking helpful, man.

Grand Bois

I tried mixing Suntour X-1 components with a Shimano cassette and I wasn't happy with the results. It seemed okay on the workstand, but it shifted badly while riding the bike. You can get Suntour cassettes from The Yellow Jersey. but the price is high. https://www.yellowjersey.org/accu.html I ended up converting my drivetrain to all Shimano. I can get parts for the Shimano stuff and replace the cassette for about $20. In my experience, the Shimano system works better than the Suntour stuff ever did.

Gonzo Bob

I've gotten Shimano 6- and 7-speed drivetrains to work with Suntour freewheels. So I don't see why the reverse wouldn't work. There's usually enough "slop" in the indexing to handle being a few tenths of a millimeter off. If you're really adventurous, you could always grind down the three spacers between the biggest cogs by 0.2mm and then the cassette spacing will match a Suntour freewheel.

jhota

i've been considering that since i posted this topic. but then i'd need another .6 mm shim behind the cluster, right?

Gonzo Bob

Probably not. The lock-ring will probably still lock it all down. But if it doesn't, then yes, you'd need an additional spacer behind the cassette. I think the smallest made is 1mm.

jhota

i realize nobody cares, but i thought i'd update this.

i ended up buying a SRAM PG-730 cassette at my LBS (hooray for ride partners who give gift cards for Christmas). paired with an el cheapo KMC chain, it's now installed and shifting fine (with X-press index shifters) on my otherwise 15-year-old drivetrain.

guess the modern cassette design trumps the two tenths of a millimeter difference in cog spacing.

Jeez

Sorry to drag this thread up after so long but it seems relevant to my problem which I have also posted here -

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...9#post10690989

In short I have a beautiful old bike that has a 7-speed suntour cassette with a 4 pin remover (as well as suntour chain, chain-rings, derailleurs, shifters). I want to change from tubs to clinchers, but I do not want to destroy the wheel to get the old hub off... I think I may just try a modern shimano 7-speed cassette and hope...

davidad

i have a tourer that I use Suntour 6-7 speed downtube shifters on. The rear der. and cassette are shimano. The shifting is just OK with a little extra lever movement in one of the cogs. I like the looks of the Superbe shifters.