I've been searching and can't find the cage lenght of the SunTour Superbe rear derailleur. Does anyone know? Thanks

What do you mean by cage length, the distance between the axles of the jockey wheels? I have a mid-production Superbe RD (the one with the full skirt on outside of upper jockey wheel), and I could measure for you.

Actually, I got cage length and capacity mixed up. I need to know how much slack it can take up. I've heard 26 teeth, but I'm not sure about that because it was for the Superbe Pro and just one site.

the oldest style was 26 teeth. I dunno about the newer versions, though. What vintage are you referring to?

According to Sutherland's:


The tooth counts are max. difference between chainrings/mas. difference ft + rr/max. sprocket teeth

Not really sure on the year.

Thanks Charles for the info.
I currently have a 52/39 or 52/40, don't remember right now, and a 13-22 freewheel. Do you guys think I can still use this derailleur until I get a 52/42 crank and not swap freewheels, or will it just not work right?

An engineer has to ask this question???

Let's see, 52T - 39T = 13T difference and 22T - 13T = 9T difference. Then we get 13T + 9T = 22T total difference. 22T < 26T, so it should work.

Actually, Mike, the last number is the actual number of teeth on the largest cog. That depends on the deralier mount offset from the axle centerline, too. It's the middle number that's combined difference between largest and smallest, front and rear.

If math was all I had to do, I won't have posted again. This is why:
I know that I'm getting the plain Superbe. I just don't know which one. Until I get a new chainring neither will technically work because of chainring difference and/or max total difference. I ask whether it can work for now because I've heard of people being able to adjust wheel position in the drop outs, derailleur orientation, etc. to get derailleurs to work out of their specs.

sure. I have a nuovo record that runs a 28t largest rear cog, and so do a lot of people here. Ratings are conservative, first off, and the first actual problem that usually occurs is that the top derailleur pulley rattles against the largest rear cog. That clearance can be adjusted by repositioning the rear wheel, and in the case of the superbe rear, varying the b screw adjustment.

just gotta try it. um, bench testing, I believe. I am not sure that 26t will work with your setup, but I am certain that 32t will not.

In that vein, I have a Superbe that is running on a 26T cog with no problems. The cluster itself is a 13-26 ultra 7. This is on a bike with Campag vertical dropouts.

LOL! Classic blunder. It serves me right.



He stated he plans to use a 22T rear which is less than the max capacity of all those listed.

He plans to use a 23T minimum which is greater than the minimum for those listed.

He plans to have 22T difference which is less than or "close enough" to the capacities listed.

I believe it will likely work, as riding in the small-small (f-r) combination is rare. Most riding will be done in the middle and upper cogs. What's really important is the ability to get up onto that largest cog, which they will all do.

Thanks everyone. Now I just have to wait for the parts.

I did the same thing with the cage length vs. capacity at the top.