As a feat of engineering, it certainly stands up! Outstanding!

On my Trek460 I am using a franken bike setup as well.

Suntour Alpha 3040 RD
Suntour Friction Barcon
Shimano Hyperglide FW

and

Shimano Friction Barcon
Shimano Z-Series FD

I do get a rubbing noise with that derailleur when the chain oil dries up even a little bit. Maybe I should try a 9sp narrow chain instead the 8sp Shimano one to see if it helps...

Thanks for the insights, it's good to know modern chains can help redeem the old gal. I'm thinking of using indexed Spb Pro on an '80s Stowe I bought from the Colonel here, I'll be sure to use a modern 9spd chain.

All your tweaking was certainly worth it to you, I reckon, since you got race-able performance on the cheap and you didn't regret the time spent doing the modding. I threw in the towel back in 1990 and never looked back, found it easier, faster and cheaper to use Shimano when I wanted dependable indexing. As always, our mileage usually does vary...

I bought a set of Sachs New Success shifters - obviously made by Campagnolo. I tried to make them work with Shimano derailleurs - no go. Not enough derailleur travel. The cog spacing between Shimano 8-speed or Campagnolo 8-speed is so close that this is not the issue.

Then I installed a Campagnolo (pre-2001) rear derailleur. Worked perfectly on either 7 or 8-speed wheelsets.

Then I installed a Sachs New Success RD. Also worked perfectly. I then took the Sachs derailleur and tried it with some 8-speed Ergopower shifters with a Campy 8-speed cassette. Worked great. Finally I took a Sachs 5000 rear derailleur from the early 90's and dropped it into the Campy setup. Worked great too.

My conclusion is that the Sachs stuff from the early 90's was indeed Campagnolo indexing compatible. Perhaps later on they moved to Shimano compatability.

Thanks for posting your first-hand experience. I wish I knew what year that my derailer was, my best guess would be around 1993.

I also have two new-in-the-bag Sachs road derailers that are badged Edco and Regina, respectively.
So now I'm really hoping that one or both are compatible with 8s Ergo.

I'm using Suntour Command shifters with a Deore DX rear derailleur and Shimano 7sp inexed freewheel...the shifting is marginally acceptable.

I think you have two incompatibilities actually going on.

The Command shifter wants a derailer that moves a little further, and the Shimano freewheel is more evenly-spaced than the intended Suntour 7sp freewheel.
So switching to either a Suntour freewheel or derailer each should off some improvement, and a nine-speed chain might make the setup more forgiving to operate despite the bad mix.

I was actually just talking about this with another member earlier today.

I'm still a little bit confused on which freewheel/cassette best matches...Suntour is a bit of a mystery to me and they seem to have indexed freewheels and cassettes of varying types. I also need a derailleur that can cover a decent range and a triple in front. My Shimano cassette was spaced for Suntour for what that's worth.

Good. You'll want to use and treasure these. This is not just a matter of holding on to some obscure old crap; these derailleurs have real current value.

Why? Because these derailleurs match pre-2001 Campagnolo derailleur geometry. So they can be used with recent Ergopower shifters in order to shift Shimano cogsets. For example, using 10-speed Ergopower shifters with one of these derailleurs allows you to use a stock 10-speed Shimano or SRAM cassette. Same trick as with (post-2000) Campy 9-speed shifters with a 9-speed Shimano or SRAM cogset. No hassles with cogset spacing or cable-pull devices.

And as we all know, Ergopower levers are by far the superior shifting solution, whereas Shimano cassette hubs have the superior design, and cassette availability/cost.

Plus you'll be the only kid on the block that is using 10-speed Ergopower levers with a Shimano rear wheel and a Edco rear derailleur. I like to horrify my local race-oriented shop with my (perfectly indexing) franken-drivetrains.

Wow, thanks for that info.

I'll more likely pair these with 8s Ergo's, unless I come across a pair of of those post-2000 Ergo-9's. Are those common to find?

I've been reluctant to do a 10sp build, even though I've got the parts. The shifting adjustment is so finicky. I just might try a 10s setup with an 11s chain in the hope that the shifting might be more forgiving of adjustment and shifting technique. I have one of these 10s MTB cassettes that I could use with a 9sp mtb derailer, so might just be best to use a 10s chain that I already have.

I'm already running 10s Ergo's with a 9s D-A derailer and C9 chain on a SRAM 8s cogset, which does work really well.

9-speed Ergopower levers are getting harder to find, either on Ebay or through official channels. Perhaps you should just jump to the 10-speed levers. Now that the MTB world has (foolishly for no apparent reason) moved to 10-speed, chains and cassettes are getting cheaper and more available. I have found Campy 10-speed levers to be no more sensitive or difficult to set up than the 9's, which wasn't a problem.

I recently set up a bike with 10-speed Ergopower levers, a Shimano 10-speed cassette/hub (no mods), a Shimano10-speed chain and a late-90's Campy rear derailleur. Works perfectly. I don't know how an 11-speed chain would improve anything. Campy 11-speed cog spacing and Shimano/SRAM 10-speed spacing is so close, I would think that the chains would be cross-compatible. Plus a Campy 11-speed chain would cost double that of a Shimano 10-speed chain, and require an absurd $300 tool to install. In fact this is the main reason why I haven't considered going to Campy 11-speed. I'm going to spend $100 on a cassette or $50 on a chain? As if....

Campy 10-speed levers with a Shimano rear derailleur over a Shimano/SRAM 8-speed cogset? Have not tried this myself, but it works fine by all accounts.

What crankset/bb are you using? I'm doing a rebuild and have some 6700/5700 takeoff parts, cassette, and takeoff Mavics with Shimano hubs. I am not sure I can get 10 speed ergos to work well, even with a shiftmate but I'd be willing to try Campy derailleurs. I also got the impression that current drivetrains won't work well without newer Hollowtech crank and compatible BB, or is this just Shimano spiel?

If it's a double crankset, it doesn't so much have to be Shimano.

But any compact crank is potentially more troublesome in my experience.

BTW, as far as my recommending using 11sp chain, KMC and Yaban should both have tool-free chains in this width for not so much money. The narrower chain usually seems to make mis-matched components work together for a less finicky shifting feel.
Shimano should also have 11s chain available shortly.

I am using some Campy Centaur carbon cranksets with matching square taper BBs. They work great. It took some real digging to unearth these 2006 vintage cranks, but it was worth it.

I had tried some of the more current cranksets with the external cups, but I was very dissapointed in the wide Q-factor. It felt like I was riding a horse - very biomechanically inefficient. The external BB fad will shortly be gone and done with, as BB bearings get placed back into the frame shell - where they belong.

Another problem with the external BB fad is that there doesn't seem to be a way to prevent the BB spindle from moving from side to side between the bearings. This is where the incessent rocking/knocking sound came from on these installs.

Square taper was a fine standard. Apparently not 'stiff' enough for your recreational rider - despite being good enough for generations of top-end pros who could crank out 1,500 watts in a sprint.

Thank God for NOS items on Ebay. If it wasn't for Ebay we'd have to listen to crap that bike shop salesman learn rote from the sales reps who learn rote from despirate marketers trying to invent the 'next big thing'.