Purevl

I have no experience with Suntour derailers, but I don't get the impression that they are under-appreciated from what I've read on this Forum. I've never read that they performed better than the Duopar, but I'll take your word for it. I just prefer to use European components on my mid-seventies French road bikes. Japanese parts seem out of place to me.

The best shifting, most reliable touring derailer I've ever owned is the Ultegra GS on my Bridgestone.

Duopar virgin here and I've got a question. My Eco's pulleys are trashed and in need of a fresh set. Were can I find compatible one's and how do i change the top pulley?

I bought a set yesterday for $11.99 + $7 shipping from Belgium.

https://stores.ebay.com/bartsvintagecycleparts

You can have my old ones if you want them. They're worn, but not trashed.

Wow, I appreciate the offer and will keep it in mind if i cant find something new.
Still, how do I get the top pulley off? 23skidoo, I notice that you've changed out your pulleys as some point. Can you give me some advice?

I gave you a link to new ones.

Use a screwdriver to remove the top pulley.

Hmm, I may have a problem then.

The post that holds the top pulley in wont budge. It looks like it should slide right out, but it's stuck in there real good. I noticed there are a few slots on the face of the pulley retainer, do i need to unscrew that? If so, I need a real big screwdriver.

Look between the pulley and the cage and you will see narrow 13mm flats. These are on the cone for the adjustable ball bearing pulley. Most cone wrenches are too thick so you have to thin them on a bench grinder.



That's a 16mm shown, used for Sturmey Archer cones, but you get the idea.

BTW they only shift really well if the primary parallelogram is 45 degrees from horizontal.

The most sought after keyed washers had an adjusting screw to fine tune this angle.

The only reliability problem was that the inner cage plate was too low, so the chain could get jammed up when backing up or backpedalling when the cage wasn't lined up with the cog.

I used to sell modified inner plates to cure this problem. I sold a few to Lon Haldeman for his tandems.

See far right in this pic;

^^ Wow. The Duopar Guru has arrived. Thanks for the crucial info!

What's up with the off set cable guide and clamp?

Jan

^ Great info!
I was just about to get the hammer out for that thing.

I got online at 4:00 a.m. hoping that an answer to Jan's question had been posted.

My 13mm cone wrench fits without modification, but my Duopar has the toothless pulleys.

DuoPars had a very strong return spring. So if you used one with SunTour BarCons you had to tighten the shifter so much that it moved very stiffly. This, combined with the tight spacing of SunTour Ultra 6 and 7 freewheels made for poor shifting. Offsetting the cable anchorages reduced cable tension so you could adjust the shifters to be buttery smooth. And also increased lever travel between gears which worked well with narrow spaced cogs.

BTW I also sold several inner plates with the 2nd idler wheel attached, well before the introduction of the SunTour LePree. Great for wrapping up chain for ultra wide ratio setups.

I may have to make that modification to mine, since I'll be using Barcons.

M.... Guy,

Can you comment on how my DuoPar is set up on my Super Sport? Mine shifts very well, but I wouldn't call this 45 degrees from horizontal. Your suggestions are appreciated.

I just noticed that there is something wrong. The flat nut that is over the black arm should be under it. The nut would have fallen off if you had left it loose enough to allow the arm to move. The arm doesn't need anything to hold it on. You'll see what I mean. See post #22.

Whoa! Think I've got a bit of a problem here.\

Was putting my first Huret build back together when I ran into this. Cant believe I didnt notice it when I was rebuilding it. Anyone have any suggestions?

So, anyone know were I can get parts for this thing?

I have successfully bent such Duopars back into proper alignment. It's worth a try.

Good to know. Do you know the specs of were it's suppose to be, or should I just eyeball it?

You want it to be straight regards the centerline of the bicycle frame. I'd take it off the bike and, by hand, grasp it around the center of the wheels-cage over the main spring and gently bend/pull it straight. Put on bike. Repeat if needed. Just do this from the center of the cage. It's the spring area you'll be trying to pull down and aligned. If you do this from the ends of the cage, you might just add another bend.

Thanks for the info. I guess all I can do is give it the old college try and see what happens. Just hope the cage steel is springy enough to handle the correction without cracking.
Guess this explains why the dork dish and top pulley are all chewed up.

Wouldn't the tabbed washers off many low end front wheels work as a replacment?

All I can say is that I have one working really well on my 2x7 Trek, but I haven't tried it with a triple. I plan to, for my summer tour bike. As a double FD, I think it's fantastic, and light as a feather.

If anyone is interested I have the DT rachet shifters that came with my Duopar. I am not using them. If somebody wants to trade or purchase for a small fee +shipping I would be happy to get rid of them.

Sorry to be replying 11 months late.
In that orientation it is not functioning properly. The secondary parallelogram should be above the pivot with the jockey wheel very close to the cogs. The secondary parallelogram is not spring loaded like it is on the Suntour and Shimano copies. When oriented properly, chain tension supplies the force that lifts the jockey wheel to ride just under the selected cog.