I have broken a Superbe front but never a Campy!

I recently found NOS first generation Suntour Superbe derailleurs, both front and rear. However, I seem to have a bit of trouble with the rear derailleur´s shifting. I´ve got a Suntour 6-speed freewheel (13-23) with a no-name six-speed chain, and upshifting is pretty slow and clunky. It works slightly better when the chain is well-oiled, though. It also seems to work OK with Accushift index shifters, however I´m using Shimano barcons friction mode.

Is it possible that the RD requires a certain angle to be installed to the bike´s dropout? This is kind of hard to explain, but in some pictures I´ve seen the RD angled much more front than what I have - mine´s faced about 30 degrees down. The solution would be to file the dropout a bit, but I would do this only when really sure that it works. My second options would be switching the chain or the freewheel, but I assume the freewheel was designed to be used with Suntour derailleurs.

Also, I´m a bit disappointed about the FD. The cage is so narrow that after shifting on the RD it constantly needs trimming.

I believe the chain would be my first suspect. Is this freewheel an "Ultra" (narrow) 6 speed? Frank Berto gives the even the oem "ultra" chains a bad rap.

"SunTour's narrow-spaced Ultra sprockets and chains sold well, but they did not shift as well as the conventional wide spacing. SunTour bought chains from HKK, their JEX partner. HKK did not make a good shifting narrow chain. The Sedisport was best chain for Ultra sprockets." (Frank Berto, "Sunset for SunTour")

Well, if the Superbe stuff isn't working out for you, feel free to ship it over to me. :D

I would suspect the chain as well. I've used Superbe with 6-speed FW and I have never had an issue. Superbe is wonderful.

I got a set of 1st gen Superbe as well, put it on a really nice bike and was underwhelmed. I have the exact same gripe as you do about the FD too....too narrow; constantly needs trimming.

What bike is this on, Is it an integrated derailleur hanger or are you using a claw? can we get a picture of the hanger/claw? There are some different shapes and its possible you have one that just is not gonna play nice with the RD.

the freewheel was designed to work with Suntour Accushift shifters. The derailleur will work with any brand freewheel with friction shifters. I had my superbe RD working OK on a 7 speed freewheel, but I ended up swapping out the superbe for a cyclone GT.

does your freewheel use a 4 prong tool? the 4 prongers are for index, most of the 2prongs predate index. if the box says winner pro or alpha that is another clue.

Hi BBM, what a cincidence! I just logged on the Forum and read this post after fiddling with my latest build, a 1993 Giant Allegre to which I fitted an old Suntour Superbe rear mech, a new 14-28 Shimano screw on freewheel, a new Yaba 5/6/7 speed chain, SR Apex used 38/50 chainset, modern Suntour triple (MTB?) front mech and friction down tube levers. The frame has vertical drop outs. First ride I couldn't get the two largest rear sprockets. Having then read that the biggest the Superbe will take is 24T, I was looking for a smaller cluster. Just thought I'd try it once more and adjusted the limit screws pretty much all the way out - I've got nearly 1/2" of thread protruding on the low gear limit screw now - and it works perfectly! I'm now going to look for a shorter screw with the same thread - looks similar to a drop-out adjuster screw size and pitch, so might try one of those with the little knurled button to allow easy tool-free adjustment if it fits!

The angle of the dangle has something to do with it. Try adjusting it so the body of the RD is parallel to the chainstay as your starting point. 30deg. is pointing down too much. Then go through shifting through the cogs and adjust the angle screw by quarter or half turns. The upper pulley (with the chain running on it) should be very close to the cog. Also lube all the points that move on the RD.

Superbe and Superbe Pros were good, but if you ask me, the Cyclone MkII gives better bang for the buck! I had both Superbe Pro and Cyclone MkII DRs on my bike at one time or another in the 80's and frankly, I think the Cyclone MkII actually shifted slightly better than the Superbe, although both were better performing, non- indexed DRs compared to anything else I tried back then (Simplex, Campy, Ofmega and Shimano. Shimanos were good but still, slightly less precise feeling than the Suntours).

Chombi

The original Superbe (and Cyclone) were racing gruppos (with the exception of the long-cage Cyclone rear derailleur). They are designed to shift a pretty narrow range, though quite well. The later versions of both were less persnickety and more general-purpose, AFAIK.

Huh..... I couldn't get the tallest gear to clear the top pulley when I tried it (a long time ago!). I ended up with a nice Suntour 30t freewheel in the rear, and swapped out the Superbe RD with a Shimano Light Action. Looks good and shifts just fine, so I stopped fiddling with it. :)

Superbe Pro RD-5200
 

Restoring a schwinn 1986 Peloton and wondering when mounting the derailleur should it have some rotation around the mounting bolt? When i tighten it ,seems to be fixed,

Typically, yes, if only to facilitate wheel removal. What specific derailleur are you using?

Suntour Superbe Pro RD-5200

Yes, that should pivot on the mounting bolt. I don't have a Superbe Pro to check, but typically SunTour derailleurs have a slotted locking on the mounting bolt that allows you to set sufficient play for the derailleur to pivot (part #4 in this schematic):
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...8e391d99fd.jpg
Here's what it looks like on the mounting bolt. Use a pin spanner on the notches to adjust. You want it loose enough to allow the derailleur to pivot on the bolt, but not so loose that it causes slop that would degrade shifting performance.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...a6ebbd1277.jpg