Originally Posted by old and new

Suntours function better, they were used to replace european ones in the '70s,Shimano weren't even close 'till just before the '80s. Campy is pricey,this may piss folkes-off but much of the early Campy just didn't work as smoothly,it lasted and it worked OK for a long time,Suntour worked better than OK for a shorter time,perhaps less dureable,even that's yet to be proven.The Campy is great of course,over-all BUT if you wish to keep a bike "true to it's roots",does Campy even apply? If that's NOT a concern or relavent,many Suntours ought to be considered. VX is very,very good,still available,at least the"type" is.VX was spec.d on 79 thru 82ish bikes.Not that it's a stand-out,more because it's amoung the most reliable for the price and there's not as much written about it as there is the Spirit,Blaze, Superbe and others.Superbe has a dedicated following of it's own.I get the sense that it's out of your scope,it's not such a tourish group anyway.