I'm running Cyclone MkII (GT) on my '83 600 w/52*44*28 front and 13/24 rear & barcons. The MkII front is NOT a triple derailleur, but works great with the steps I'm using. If you're going equally spaced rings up front, you'll need a triple front derailleur. HS+G style, the double is better.

Shimano 105, almost any series will do the job, work forever, and shift perfectly. Get both for under $50 on The Big Auction Site.

1055 if you can get the triple FD, but 5500/5600/5700 will work well with the wider chain as well.

Thanks for all the great recommendations. Anyone ever used a really cheap derailleur with good results. I have a mint suntour honor, I know its a 5 speed, but it has enough throw to reach all 7 cogs.

How "cheap" is "cheap?"

I know of Honor, but I don't recall using one since I've been cognizant of bikes. I'm sure some of the Huffys or Sears bikes I rode when I was a kid had Honor on them. But as I've read, the inexpensive stuff on the cheap bikes was the best thing about them- and functioned better than the expensive stuff. If you don't care about the weight penalty- it'll probably function great.

As was mentioned before the Shimano Z-206 FD was on tons of medium/lower medium bikes- and that thing was a champ on doubles and triples. I've seen those on ebay for $10. I have a Suntour AR (that came off a World Sport) that I've used on 6sp- I think from 14 to 30 in the back and a 48-38-28 triple. It "worked" but was happier with an M-735 XT.

As mentioned- the Shimano MT-60 is really sweet- IMO the RD is totally analgous to a 600 long cage. If I ever decide to go SIS instead of Accushift on my Trek 400 Elance- it's going to be a MT-60 front and rear with 6400 shifters and brakes. I saw an MT-60 pair on ebay for $10.

At the expense of what kind of sucker I may be- I think the Mountech is the best FD evAr; I paid $25 for a really nice one. I paid $30 for my beautiful, yet burly 1st Gen Cyclone GT.

Yes the Deore MT-60 works and looks great. It was factory installed on this 1988-ish Trek 400t.

And there it is with the Z206 FD!

You did it the way I approach it as well... "around the same year" For me, there's a period from the late 70s to like 1994 that parts can suitably interchange... for me.

I'm using some post-1990 Suntour XC RDs on a couple of my 1984/85 touring bikes- as well as 1990-ish 6400 parts on my 1986 Trek 400. IMO- it goes with the spirit of the bike. IMO... the more modern-y (M737-785 or 6500-6700) parts have a more... "outstanding" style to them (although I'm toying with the idea of a 6600 Ultegra-ish build on a 1985 touring bike)

I agree! But I think the point was to go with a graceful-looking part rather than a Deore.

That's not a Deore, it's Shimano 600.

TO each their own. Deore MT60, Deore DX and XT 730, 732 and 735 are all beautiful to me. Very graceful and look right at home on a road or touring bike.

Yes, one person at least showed a 600, others showed other mechs, and at least one recommended a Deore. I honestly didn't notice what is on your Serotta. On my Mondonico I use a Campagnolo Athena, my Trek uses a Duopar, and my Terraferma uses a Deore. Great mech, but it does not look svelte in any fashion. I have a couple of 600s around and I like it as a cheap straight mech for my UO-8, but the long-cage one shifts as poorly as my Campy Rallye. On the Trek 610 the 6207-600 was not a good shifter, despite the sprung upper pivot. YMMV. It any case, do not assume I was or am criticizing your bike. Not my intent.

Yes.

I've never ridden a road bike with a triple.

The only reason I'm putting a triple on the bike is because thats all I have. I bought the frameset for $20. The chainstays were dented in, I repaired them, repainted the frame. I tried selling the frameset with no luck. So I'm just building it with parts I have, what I don't have I'm wanting to do it on the cheap. Plan on just using this as a rainy day bike. Really dont need a triple, central Indiana is pancake flat. But I have had this sugino triple laying around for years, might as well use it.

Actually, I put a very inexpensive Shimano Tourney on my folder, and paired with a hyperglide cassette, it works great. It looks enormous next to the 20" wheel, but it's very effective. I think it cost me all of $16 new.

And you've probably noticed, but even Grant is touting the qualities of cheap derailleurs...

Okay, I'll bite, since I acquired one of these attached to a frame I haven't done much with yet - what makes it so whiz-bang awesome?

The outerplate is alloy on some of them, so watch out for rapid cage wear.

I just sold a bike that had a Suntour Honor rear derailluer on it. It was set up for friction shifting on a 6 speed Shimano hyperglide freewheel. I rode that bike 100 miles or more before I sold it and quite frankly it worked just about as well as any other derailleurs i've used (though I wasn't using a triple so I'm not sure about that). I've also used several older Shimano Altus derailleurs on both friction and indexed setup's and they have always worked well. Honestly, I don't think you have to spend big money on a high end derailleur to get good performance.

I'm running MK II with triples on my touring and commuter bikes (for the commuter recently got a NOS fd with endless band on eBay for next to nothing and a cosmetically imperfect rd for a very good price as well). Rarely even need to trim. The MK II is my favorite fd and rd. They're bombproof and, 30 years on, still shift like butter.

Consensus seems to be that with a friction set up that any modern era rear derailleur is going to work pretty well and even the Suntour Honour will perform very reliably albeit with a little more weight and noise than something like it's shinier cousins like the Vx and Cyclone.

It would be the perfect choice for a rain bike.

You cannot go wrong with the classic DX / XT / LX models... have recently built up two bikes with mid nineties XT derailleurs (M739) and they work flawlessly and look great and consider that this comes from a guy who worships at the Suntour altar.

Looks to me like the M739 is selling for as much as it did when it was new so one could buy a new Deore for the same price or less (also a nice derailleur).



The Deore MT60 is also a great derailleur that you can probably get for much less.

I have a great Co-Op not more than a 5 minute ride from me, let me know what you decide on parts wise and Ill look for ya

I appreciate it, I havent made a decision yet, I'm finishing up my 670 now waiting on a stem. Then its on to the 660. Not real picky other than I really like the derailleurs to match. I thought about putting the suntour honor on it, but just cant get myself to do it. The bike just looks to nice to put such an ugly derailleur on it.

I don't know about "whiz-bang," but it's a fantastic derailleur. Really, a derailleur just moves the chain from one sprocket to another. If it does that without errors it's a good device.

So what do I like about it?

It's a nice looking derailleur- this was Suntour's Top Of The Line ATB/Touring derailleur- it was finished nicely. It's easily adjusted, the screws are right on the face and has a nice alloy clamp with the classic Suntour logo. Again, this was Suntour's Top Of The Line ATB derailleur- it was built for a HUGE range. The outer cage is arced to fit at least a 50 and the trail of the cages is low enough to use a 24 in the front. It's also pretty light- between the 1st Gen Cyclone and the 1990-ish XC Pro- the Cyclone is the lightest, the Mountech is just heavier and then the XC Pro is the heaviest- if you've worked with the XC Pro- it's a light derailleur. So it manages to be light, good looking, supremely functional- it manages to look classy and ready for business at the same time.

It's a great derailleur.