To some, this might be another yawn of time span explaining the finding, fixing and attempt to preserve the good old stuff. Yet I'm having a feel good rhythm on rewinding to circa mid 1980's. Feel free to critique as I share, mostly by pictorial from my cheapo phone.

I couldn't tell where half of these tattered and neglected Suntour Superbe parts came from but likely were raced and tossed in favor to replace with more modern STI, ergo's whatever.

I'll leave the frame story for last but actually could be first because its what made me dig around for the Superbe parts.

This project by no means will be a showroom new end result, but rather match the condition and worn word, patina. So far its been fun and to build a super neat pure racer with top tier guts for a pittance.

In its hay day the Suntour Superbe / Pro components arguably were the best of the rest though they sourced much of it from other well known companies. Parts such as brakes, crank, pedals, stem, post, chain...

Acquiring today: One would think the higher end parts fetch largely over the lower grade but oddly seems the contrary. E-bay is funny at times.

I've had some of it stashed, found from bike shops, swap meets and really not much if any dollar value exchange. Most bike shops look at it as garbage to maybe salvage an odd screw from. No, they're not choice condition but after time spent servicing, have good life left in them.

Condition: As such, I salvaged from others similar - swapped out little pieces, sanded out gouge and rashes, etc.. Got all to smoothly function as the Superbe stuff should.

I suppose to start with -
If one cares to know 316 gm. ;"/

53 / 42t 170mm



Shorter of the two spindles for the 68mm shell. Loose ball smoothy grade 25

Headset / loose ball 5/32 grade 25. Finding the upper and lower seals was fun.

Sinfully spent four hours on prep of these pedals. A case where I should have splurged for a choice set.

Top cable feed levers with Soma 733310 hoods that fit with perfection (thank you, Skip!). No before pics but these were rather rough and tried to camouflage without losing the original luster.

Calipers picked from a small lot. Short reach. These are shown with Suntour tire guides but actually don't belong with this set. Decided to leave off for the build. Replacement Kool Stop KS-SBSA pads in the original Superbe holders (thank you again, Skip!).

Now the shift group. Fairly nasty rear short cage that had a mauled area around the main pivot. Saved it from the trash and now smoothly functioning. Ball bearing pulleys. Incorrect lower bolt.

Front is a braze on type mount, again though not the prettiest but nice tolerances and great action.

Shifters are ratchet type. Have since mounted with D-ring non Suntour. Something I thought to have had or spares but with patience will find again.

wait, where's the bike?

Nice job, I love superbe stuff and have a group; I just need to find the right bike!

Seatpost - you've seen one, you've seen all... right? Actually there are some really neat designs such as the Superbe Pro having a convenient spring in the cradle to keep one from fumbling all the do-dat thingy parts together while installing the saddle. This particular ones condition isn't choice but will suffice. 27.2 d, some screening logo intact.

Ah... not revealing just yet. Though its one of the reasons I just had to get a Superbe group together.
(hint: US boutique maker - its always sunny with Suntour ;-)

Saddle up for my steel horse! A preserved San Marco SuperCorsa Profil. The one they considered aero - haha. The edges in the rear were worn thru to the shell. I used an industrial strength weathering caulk and mixed in some white tones of paint, close enough to match.

US boutique maker? Always sunny with Suntour? You must be talking about one of these, right?:

Choice of Suntour freewheels. Which one would you pick? And I don't care where you ride or how much :_\

Winner (alloy) / Pro-Compe / Micro-Lite (alloy 208gm with the widest range of the 3)

Caved into clinchers for the first wheelset. Burb Pro hubba hubs. Rival the Record in spin class.

Rims are F.I.R. EA-50 32 hole.

Brutal fitting these~


Decided on wide ratio and the lightest~

What to do? Frame has Cinelli bb shell but Suntour dropouts and fork ends. Do we select a Cinelli cockpit or stay the course with Suntour?

The Superbe stems are scarce and I suppose were just stamped but made by someone else. Though for now, the choice in a bar is Nitto Olympiade 115 in 40cm. Fizik 2mm wrap. I like this tape.

such a tease

That Superbe kit is SO good it doesn't even need a frame!

This is the Superbe stem and in the length desired but will need some time to work over. Scratch removal, bolts to be replaced, drill stress riser relief holes at the conical wedge slots. Has a nice milled head and horizontal extension.

Fork time. Tange Prestige splined steered, Suntour ends.










The frame and fork has its blems of age in the finish but overall very presentable and original. I think if ever decided to refinish, might go hog wild for really choice condition Superbe Pro. The maker recently told me is considering remaking the same 1984/85 decal scheme for a new current racers. For now, I like how this one is rolling along.

Love it!
I've always loved the SunTour stuff, and especially the Superbe bits. The pedals are some of the nicest of the era! Very handy to be able to swap cages and replace the cartridge bearings. I've got one or two sets in my stash.
I had a set of derailleurs identical to what you've got. The front derailleur is still in use and has seen about 50k miles. Even have a new front derailleur in the box... purchased 30 years ago because I thought I might need a spare. I shouldn't have been worried.

Looking forward to seeing how this story ends up!

Steve in Peoria

Thats it!!! My next build will be all Suntour Superbe.

OP has said millions of words to persuade me.

I know what bike gets this stuff. Very cool. See it in September by going to Centenario Coppi….. www.vivacycling.com

This takes me back in time. I had a Serotta Club Special with many Suprbe parts. It shifted great. I could never understand why Shimano was working on index shifting. With the Suprbe derailleurs it never seemed to be between gears. Yea, those pedals were nice. The brakes were also "Suprbe". As a racer, it didn't matter how they looked, but they did look good.