So I am building a 1973 Nishiki Road Compe into my vintage rain/commuting bike. I got the frame a long time ago and had converted it into a fixed gear (I've come to my senses since). Anyways, I still have some decisions to make for this build.

Shifters: Downtube vs Bar end?

- Suntour symmetric clamp on DT shifters
- Suntour power ratcheting clamp on DT shifters
- Suntour accushift bar end shifters (I need to find the left one, there's my plug, speak up CVers!)
- Suntour power ratcheting bar ends - these are the only ones I would need to buy, I'd like to resort to the accushift ones first because it bugs me that I only have one. However, I do like the idea of the ratcheting...

Rear Derailleur:

- Suntour Accushift Alpha 5000 - possibility of running these in indexed if I use the accushift bar-ends.
- Suntour Cyclone
- Suntour ARX
- Shimano 600 Ultegra - how good are these in friction mode? Can they compete with the friction that Suntour is famous for?

Front Derailleur:

- Suntour ARX
- Shimano 600 Ultegra
- Shimano RX100

HELP ME OUT!! I'll post pictures once I find my camera.

eh eh anyone? would be much appreciated. I'd like to know your input on vintage functionality!

Myself, I prefer a matching set if I have it in the parts bin.

For a 1970s bike, nothing wrong with using Suntour Vx either. The Vx would probably be period correct, not sure it is model correct. My three 1973/1974 Nishiki Internationals all came with Vx. And the 1979 Trek 714 I just picked up originally came with Vx as well. It currently is all Franken'd up, pretty much a mess (modern Deore MTB crankset for example). I will be putting a Vx group on it. You can often find the vintage Suntour stuff pretty cheap on ebay.

Swapping components later is not a big deal, so I would use whatever you have on hand, preferably a matching group (for the derailleurs). Then if you find something special, swap then.

I am starting to like barcons better than DT shifters, but again, it depends what you have in hand.

Good point, I think a nonmatching derailleur set on my vintage project would annoy me. I found a cyclone front derailleur today, so maybe I'll go with a cyclone derailleur set with suntour ratcheting shifters, which I think a friend has.

Thanks for the input.

The Cyclones are always a good choice - (Though I'm not a stickler for matching front and rear DRs') ...
As an alternative, I'm with Thrifty Bill on the Vx - those Suntour V's provide excellent shifting performance.

The Suntour DT Power ratcheting shifters really are wonderful shifters. (I personally prefer DT shifters to barcons because of the cleaner cable routing.)

+1 on matching, other than that, build it they way you like

What kind of gearing are you running? If you're running a triple crankset, as much as I love Suntour Cyclone (and I do very much), I'd go with the Ultegra Front Derailleur. IME a Suntour Cyclone FD will work on a Triple, but it will require very careful setup.

If this is to be a commuter/rain bike have you considered an Internal Geared Hub? You get to keep that clean Fixie Chainline an you can get em with Drum or Coaster Brakes too...stops great in the rain. They even make bar end shifters for em.

52/40 sugino mighty tours on a 12-27 cassette I think. I can do a triple because it's 110 bcd, but I don't know if my bottom bracket has enough clearance for that. I can go with another spindle, but it's a dura ace 7400 cupset

Did Suntour make any of their derailleurs specifically for triples? Or are triple-specific front derailleurs a relatively new thing?

As for internally geared hubs... maybe for a later date.

Thanks for all your guys' input