Suntour SL front derailleur
 

Full of questions tonight - is anyone using a Suntour SL front derailleur. Is it just me or do these things pull in reverse to other front derailleurs. For example, the Suntour on my Trek - pushing the downtube shifter forward - toward the downtube - moves the derailleur to the smaller chainring. Pulling back moves it to the large ring. This Suntour SL is doing just the opposite.

Yeah, that's what happens. It was an attempt to bring some logic to bicycle shifting; it works fine, there's nothing wrong with it; it just happens to be completely opposite to industry standards. If it works and you like it, then keep it. If it bugs ya, get a replacement. The front mech is about the most do-without-able of all your components.

Yes, both the SL and the Compe-V front derailleurs work in reverse of most other front derailleurs. The thinking was that the return spring helps push the chain up to the larger ring, which is typically a harder shift than going from large ring to small.

They make fine replacements for bottom pull, delrin Simplex FDs.

The first and only time I have used such a front derailleur was on my Bianchi Volpe...
http://www.mytenspeeds.com/My_TenSpe...ull_Side_2.jpg

And, I loved the way it shifted, from the small ring, to the middle and then the big ring. I wonder why this idea never caught on?

I was thinking: wouldn't it be funny to use one of these along with a rapid-rise rear derailleur?

Yep, now it's like aircraft throttles, push forward to go fast!!! :)