So I got carried away and had an '81/'82 Voyageur SP painted and now before I put her back together, I'm contemplating my next move. My rear derailleur says Suntour XC Sport and the front derailleur says it's a Shimano Deore (with a small "SP" sticker on that). Can anyone tell about the quality of these? There's some minor pitting on the derailleurs and I'm wondering if I should install upgraded parts considering this has potential to be a work of art and a joy to ride. Is a front derailleur is different for a triple crank vs a double crank ? What would be the way to go...shimano 600, dura ace, other, or just clean these originals up and use em? Appreciate any input.

The derailleur you use will depend on the combination. It won't hurt to try the one you have with whatever triple crank you find. I have been successful using a Suntour front double d.r. with a triple crank. Have a SunTour double d.r. working a Stronglight triple crank on my Motobecane Grand Tour with no problems. If you are running friction it may be fine. Unless you plan on campagnolo, I recommend the early Shimano 600 with the ornate embossing, pretty nice for the price. Put up some pics when its completed. Don

Thanks, ollo
I did some searching on Suntour and found many accolades on how smoothly these things shift but so far nothing on the XC sport...mostly on cyclone and superbe. I'll probably stick with the xc sport at first to compare to old shimano 600 on my Super LeTour. I'm mostly ignorant about components but am learning a lot here. I'm on dial up however and searches bring up many, many threads, not always specific to my inquiry, and I don't always have time to browse, so please be patient with a newbie. I will be doing a lot of commuting and some partially loaded tours on this bike. Sooo, (almost reluctant to ask) what kind of tires would you guys put on this? I have Wienman rims, concave design. Also I have side pull brake calipers and I would like to install fenders. Any help on that one? Another biggy is, I'm desperately looking for 21.1 mm stems with longer extensions than the stock stems for both my LeTour and this "new'' Voyaguer. I'm thinking I need 110mm min. or 120mm. Thanks from the newbie.

I have a really old Schwinn mountain bike with XC Sport front and rear. They shift great, even when nearly worn out like mine are. I'm happy with them, and if they are at all decent you shouldn't have a problem.