Suntour Derailleur and Grip Shift
03-10-15 | 08:42 PM
#1
Thread Starter
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From: Gilbert, AZ
Bikes: Univega Activa Country
Suntour Derailleur and Grip Shift
I am in the process of converting a Free Spirit 10-speed road bike into a 5-speed commuter bike. I took off the large chain ring and front derailleur, and replaced the rear derailleur with a vintage Suntour VGT Luxe. I wanted to use a 5-speed SRAM grip shifter, but had read that it probably would not work with said Suntour. Alas, it worked just fine, hitting all 5 gears perfectly! To quote the famous Honda car commercial, "Isn't it great when things just... work?"
03-11-15 | 06:38 AM
#2
Extraordinary Magnitude
Joined: Aug 2009
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From: Waukesha WI
Bikes: 1978 Trek TX700; 1978/79 Trek 736; 1984 Specialized Stumpjumper Sport; 1984 Schwinn Voyageur SP; 1985 Trek 620; 1985 Trek 720; 1986 Trek 400 Elance; 1987 Schwinn High Sierra; 1990 Miyata 1000LT
What separates the V-GT Luxe from a lot of derailleurs of that period is the barrel adjuster.
You got lucky.
Sort of like when I used 6 speed Dura Ace shifters on Suntour XC Comp derailleurs on a Suntour Perfect 5 speed freewheel.
You got lucky.
Sort of like when I used 6 speed Dura Ace shifters on Suntour XC Comp derailleurs on a Suntour Perfect 5 speed freewheel.
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Commence to jigglin’ huh?!?!
"But hey, always love to hear from opinionated amateurs." -says some guy to Mr. Marshall.
Commence to jigglin’ huh?!?!
"But hey, always love to hear from opinionated amateurs." -says some guy to Mr. Marshall.
03-11-15 | 06:46 AM
#4
The space coyote lied.
Joined: Sep 2008
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I used to run 6sp 105 shifters, XC Pro derailleur, various freewheels from sedis and shimano. Worked great.
The thing to avoid is SRAM MTB derailleurs, they need specific sram shifters, which dont come in 5sp anyway.
The thing to avoid is SRAM MTB derailleurs, they need specific sram shifters, which dont come in 5sp anyway.
03-11-15 | 02:36 PM
#5
Bikes are okay, I guess.
Joined: Jan 2015
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From: Richmond, Virginia
Bikes: Waterford Paramount Touring, Raleigh Sports 3-speeds in M23 & L23, Schwinn Cimarron oddball build, Marin Palisades Trail dropbar conversion, Nishiki Cresta GT, Jeunet mixte
What he said. Nice that it worked but you could never predict that, or necessarily expect it to repeat. The V-GT derailleur predates indexing so anything could have happened. When the Grip Shift stuff first came out you could get those that were Shimano-specific and those that were SunTour-specific but compatibility with that derailleur would have been a crapshoot even with those.
03-11-15 | 03:50 PM
#6
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From: Port Angeles, WA
Bikes: A green one, "Ragleigh," or something.
You never know until you try 
I didn't even know SRAM Grip Shifts came in a 5-speed model.I thought they were all 7- and up.
I didn't even know SRAM Grip Shifts came in a 5-speed model.I thought they were all 7- and up.
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● 1971 Grandis SL ● 1972 Lambert Grand Prix frankenbike ● 1972 Raleigh Super Course fixie ● 1973 Nishiki Semi-Pro ● 1979 Motobecane Grand Jubile ●1980 Apollo "Legnano" ● 1984 Peugeot Vagabond ● 1985 Shogun Prairie Breaker ● 1986 Merckx Super Corsa ● 1987 Schwinn Tempo ● 1988 Schwinn Voyageur ● 1989 Bottechia Team ADR replica ● 1990 Cannondale ST600 ● 1993 Technium RT600 ● 1996 Kona Lava Dome ●
● 1971 Grandis SL ● 1972 Lambert Grand Prix frankenbike ● 1972 Raleigh Super Course fixie ● 1973 Nishiki Semi-Pro ● 1979 Motobecane Grand Jubile ●1980 Apollo "Legnano" ● 1984 Peugeot Vagabond ● 1985 Shogun Prairie Breaker ● 1986 Merckx Super Corsa ● 1987 Schwinn Tempo ● 1988 Schwinn Voyageur ● 1989 Bottechia Team ADR replica ● 1990 Cannondale ST600 ● 1993 Technium RT600 ● 1996 Kona Lava Dome ●
03-11-15 | 06:54 PM
#8
feros ferio
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Bikes: 1959 Capo Modell Campagnolo; 1960 Capo Sieger (2); 1962 Carlton Franco Suisse; 1970 Peugeot UO-8; 1982 Bianchi Campione d'Italia; 1988 Schwinn Project KOM-10;
My friend did something similar. His daughter trashed the Shimano derailleur on her bike, with had a 7-speed indexed shifter, so I gave him the original VGT from my 1971 American Eagle Semi-Pro to try, and it worked great, except for the daughter complaining about how "old" it was. Kids these days!
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"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." --Theodore Roosevelt
Capo: 1959 Modell Campagnolo, S/N 40324; 1960 Sieger (2), S/N 42624, 42597
Carlton: 1962 Franco Suisse, S/N K7911
Peugeot: 1970 UO-8, S/N 0010468
Bianchi: 1982 Campione d'Italia, S/N 1.M9914
Schwinn: 1988 Project KOM-10, S/N F804069
"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." --Theodore Roosevelt
Capo: 1959 Modell Campagnolo, S/N 40324; 1960 Sieger (2), S/N 42624, 42597
Carlton: 1962 Franco Suisse, S/N K7911
Peugeot: 1970 UO-8, S/N 0010468
Bianchi: 1982 Campione d'Italia, S/N 1.M9914
Schwinn: 1988 Project KOM-10, S/N F804069
03-12-15 | 04:41 PM
#9
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From: Gilbert, AZ
Bikes: Univega Activa Country
Here is the finished project ...
Everything works and it rides very smoothly. The rear brakes were hitting the tire when fully extended, so I had to add a bracket to lower them about an inch. Should make a good "town" bike for someone.
