Experimenting with drivetrain
 

The suntour Vx-GT will do amazing stuff if 7 speeds is enough. I have odd tastes in cassettes and am experimenting for a future bike build. Current idea is
13-14-16-18-21-28-36. I was wondering what derailleur I would need. Since I have several Vx-GTs I thought I'd give it a shot. Man it just worked perfectly!
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...67e31ac86a.jpg
7 speeds and the truth right here.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...240640e0a7.jpg
No issue at all climbing this on a 1971 Raleigh professional.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...4f280a797c.jpg

That is the "AIG" of bailout gears!

So its like Shimano Megarange, just beats that? Cool experiment :thumb:

There is no better cheap derailleur ever made to rival the shiny cheapness of the VXs.

Amazing little guys.

Is this a1X or 2X ?

It'll be a 2x where I have 26-44 in front. The 44 will be in position to use all 7 gears the 26 will be restricted to the 28 and 36.

What chain ring(s) do you have up front?

See above.

So is your chainline inboard a little bit compared to what is considered normal? Curious for the details since your gearing experiments are consistently interesting and mirror what I need in the hills where I live. Thanks!

I love this setup. Suntour VX-GT is the best. I would love to read more about how you built this freewheel.

Please show us your Crankset, Chainrings and FD also.

Yeah the granny will be as close to the frame as possible.

Just in the experimental stage but the cassette is cobbled together from a 7 speed cassette and spacers with cogs from other cassettes. Since it's friction shifting there is wide latitude for using different cogs.

The amazing thing is that my SunTour (and very Japanese; I presume JIS) Supberbe shifters work well with no modifications on a later, 9-speed Campagnolo (I resume ISO) drivetrain. I don't know how that happened but I'll take it.

Kismet!

The Suntour Vx-GT RD works really well with the Racheting Power Shifters. I put those together on one of my wife's bikes and she really likes the combo.

Suntour barcons are my go to. Same thing really.

Huret Duopar with its unique 2 stage pulley cage could handle a spread like this I believe. I got rid of my eco-duopar since that upper pulley squealed for lack of lube and I could find no way to service it.

Good to know, Thanks!
Tim

I have an eco but it's a bit rarer so I'd rather not use it. Great derailleur though.

It's amazing how "right" Suntour got it 50 years ago.

We don't see a lot of the "show your favorite derailleur for touring" or whatever threads these days- but the V-GT Luxe was THE dominant RD for 15 or so years- up until the M730 XT units- and might even have more range than those SGS units.

I am not surprised that this works well, since 14-34 was a very common Nishiki 5-speed freewheel during the 1970s, and the SunTour VGTs of the day handled it with aplomb.

What really surprised one of my coworkers was that the old VGT I gave him worked well on his daughter's indexed Shimano 7-speed setup, better than the original Shimano she had destroyed in a crash.

It indexed?

Before indexing- why would Suntour have put a barrel adjuster on a RD? Never made sense to me- but just knowing that it has actually worked for people is astonishing to me.

Get rid of effect of cable stretch?

Warm up both, maybe in the sun or with a hair dryer, Duopar and lube of choice, maybe even Phil grease drizzled in and left to soak usually does the trick in these sort of cases.

;)