scottsmdg

Hey All-

I am new to these shifters -

I have removed and disassembled a pair of Suntour Bar-Cons that were on my '73 Nishiki Competition
for cleanup/restoration - it is a 5speed freewheel setup with Suntour Compe V front and Suntour GT rear

I have noticed that on both of them the ratcheting action goes easily in one direction(down) but does not return without some un-naturally heavy force being applied - this can't be correct operation can it?

There is only some light surface oxidation(rust) that I will clean up but this lever action is troublesome

any advice on how to correct this - or - clarity on the correct function - or - what I am missing here?

thanks

genericbikedude

Nope, all is as it should be. Ratcheting is supposed to help pull against the spring of the derailler, while the friction resists the spring of the derailler. The screws that hold the pods to the lever control the level of this friction. Great shifters. If you don't want them, send them my way.

spunkyruss

Genricbikedude is correct -your barcons are working properly, and they are great shifters.

I recently performed similar maintenance on a set of barcons, and they didn't feel "right" until I put them back on the bike and connected the cables.

I beg to differ with genericbikerdude on one point -You should send them my way if you don't want them

schang

Well, if it's really hard in the non-ratchet direction, then you've probably got the big screws on the sides too tight (as genericbikedude says). The whole purpose of the ratchet is to make it so that you can have light action in both directions... it will be a bit harder in the non-ratcheting direction, but you should loosen up the big screws on the sides so that the non-clicky action feels nice. Once you've got em mounted and cabled them up to the derailleurs, tighten those big screws if you get auto-shifting (i.e, derailleur moves without you moving the lever) -- especially watch for this during hard pedaling.