SUNTOUR SUPERBE TECH Rear Derailleur

[cnighbor1]

10/16/2023
SUNTOUR SUPERBE TECH Rear Derailleur
Have anyone have major problems with these derailleurs?
I have read that there is a cable inside the breaks and allows derailleur to swing into the spokes which can cause wheel failure.
Thanks for any input has I a nice used one I give away if safe to use
Charles

[Gwerziou]

Pretty. I wish Suntour hadn't gone unde. It was early in my cycling 'career' when they went away, but I loved their stuff.

[Black Dog]

Originally Posted by Gwerziou

Pretty. I wish Suntour hadn't gone unde. It was early in my cycling 'career' when they went away, but I loved their stuff.

Indeed they made some amazing stuff.

[jamesdak]

Hi Charles.


I know the Mont techs had problems handling dirty conditions.

For the Superbe Techs though here are the few comments on Velobase.

"Hopelessly unreliable unfortunately. You will hear horror stories of the steel rod inside these bending. It is far more likely that one of the internal pivots that holds the rod will break. I've owned 2 of these, it happened to both, one before I got it, the other during my possession. The rod is normally too long which puts pressure on the internals causing this failure and they are usually out of line from the moment you get them. They are easier to put back together than you will hear though."

"I have used this rear derailleur for 25 years on my Raleigh touring bike (32 tooth max on freewheel) and it has performed flawlessly."

"I also have the Suntour Superbe Tech derailleur on a 1984 Trek 660 (I had the bike equipped with all Superbe components when I bought the bike in 84), I've ridden the bike for over 160,000 miles, this derailleur never gave me a lick of problems! I haven't ever ran into anyone else who owned the Tech so the only experience I can relate to is mine. I heard through cycling publications back in the late 80's that they were problematic so I bought a backup Tech derailleur on closeout sale due to Suntour going bankrupt just in case my first one failed, that backup sets in my parts drawer new and unused. The reason I chose the Tech vs the Superbe Pro was due to the fact that the Tech could shift under load which I wanted due to riding in the mountains, and it does that quite well. I do keep my stuff clean and lubed so maybe that's why it lasted so long? I don't know, all I do know is mine has been bulletproof after all these years and miles."

I'd tend to take a gamble on it myself. Big fan of Superbe parts and have never had problems with any of it.

Hope this helps with your decision.

[djg21]

Originally Posted by Gwerziou

Pretty. I wish Suntour hadn't gone unde. It was early in my cycling 'career' when they went away, but I loved their stuff.

I loved Suntour’s track components. The hubs and cranks were really nice.

[froze]

Suntour Superbe Tech is hopelessly unreliable?

Not quite!

I have two of those Tech derailleurs as well as a Mountech which is the long cage version. I bought the first one, road version back in 1984, that one was put on a 1984 Trek 660, a bike I was racing in Southern California, a bike I trained on as well, I accumulated over 150,000 miles on that bike, and on the Superbe Tech, that derailleur never had one hiccup, that derailleur still works today. But in 1987 when I heard word that Suntour was going out of business, and I had heard those Tech derailleurs were problematic I bought another as backup, a backup I never used until 12 years ago when I bought a used 84 Fuji Club that had Suntour ARX on it, that derailleur did indeed suck, so after much fooling around with it I got fed up with it and put on the new unused Superbe Tech, I've been using that bike on and off and it now has about 5,000 miles on it, and again not one hiccup with the derailleur. I also have an 85 Schwinn Le Tour with the Mountech, never an issue either.

The huge thing about the Superbe Tech, there wasn't a friction derailleur EVER made that shifted as fast and as positive as that one, plus it could shift while I was cranking up a mountain without taking the load off the pedals.

The Mountech is also the best shifting wide-gear range derailleur I've ever used.

Those derailleurs do not care much for dirt, I keep my stuff clean, is that why mine have lasted and worked so well? I don't know, but keeping it clean didn't hurt them either.

Hopelessly problematic? not from the two examples that I have, nor from the Mountech, in fact they were the best derailleurs I've ever owned and I had a few.

[EB]

Oddly enough, the ghost of SunTour lives on, partly as a Taiwanese company called SR SunTour that purchased the name only, and partly as SunXCD which is a Japanese company started by the former President of SunTour Japan.

Neither of these companies make anything related to the original SunTour - SR SunTour is primarily known in the US for suspension components and SunXCD makes retro parts like 126mm high flange hubs.

[osbk67]

Hi Charles I have a short cage Superbe Tech I plan to use on a vintage time trial bicycle this season. It would be great to have this one as a long cage option and or for spare parts. I’ll send you a PM.

[darkmother]

Nothing relevant to add, but I must say that is a beautiful RD.

[jamesdak]

Originally Posted by froze

Suntour Superbe Tech is hopelessly unreliable?

Not quite!

I have two of those Tech derailleurs as well as a Mountech which is the long cage version. I bought the first one, road version back in 1984, that one was put on a 1984 Trek 660, a bike I was racing in Southern California, a bike I trained on as well, I accumulated over 150,000 miles on that bike, and on the Superbe Tech, that derailleur never had one hiccup, that derailleur still works today. But in 1987 when I heard word that Suntour was going out of business, and I had heard those Tech derailleurs were problematic I bought another as backup, a backup I never used until 12 years ago when I bought a used 84 Fuji Club that had Suntour ARX on it, that derailleur did indeed suck, so after much fooling around with it I got fed up with it and put on the new unused Superbe Tech, I've been using that bike on and off and it now has about 5,000 miles on it, and again not one hiccup with the derailleur. I also have an 85 Schwinn Le Tour with the Mountech, never an issue either.

The huge thing about the Superbe Tech, there wasn't a friction derailleur EVER made that shifted as fast and as positive as that one, plus it could shift while I was cranking up a mountain without taking the load off the pedals.

The Mountech is also the best shifting wide-gear range derailleur I've ever used.

Those derailleurs do not care much for dirt, I keep my stuff clean, is that why mine have lasted and worked so well? I don't know, but keeping it clean didn't hurt them either.

Hopelessly problematic? not from the two examples that I have, nor from the Mountech, in fact they were the best derailleurs I've ever owned and I had a few.

Hey, it was your positive comments I found over on Velobase! I know I wouldn't hesitate to run one of these myself.

[stefthehat]

I’ve also read the more negative comments over the years including on Disraeli Gears site ,I’ve still got mine it’s always worked flawlessly,way way back in the day over 30 yrs ago I used it on my touring bike on a big European trip paired with 46/30 T.A chainset and Shimano barend shifters ,it got my carcass up Mont Ventoux etc .At the time I didn’t realise it should of been used with its own proprietary chainstay cable stop ,I somehow bodged the cable to run from the frames normal stop to the mechs cable channel ,I recently managed to find and buy the correct cable stop

[froze]

Originally Posted by stefthehat

I’ve also read the more negative comments over the years including on Disraeli Gears site ,I’ve still got mine it’s always worked flawlessly,way way back in the day over 30 yrs ago I used it on my touring bike on a big European trip paired with 46/30 T.A chainset and Shimano barend shifters ,it got my carcass up Mont Ventoux etc .At the time I didn’t realise it should of been used with its own proprietary chainstay cable stop ,I somehow bodged the cable to run from the frames normal stop to the mechs cable channel ,I recently managed to find and buy the correct cable stop

Yup, and I even made comments on Disraeli about that.

I think the reason there was such lies and negative press was that Shimano index shifting was emerging when this Tech derailleur came on the marketplace, and that Tech Derailleur was shifting better than the index stuff was that they were pushing hard through marketing forces to get people to get away from friction, gee, where are we seeing that now? Can you say rim brakes vs disk brakes on road bikes? I digress. In other words, it was a snow job, which was probably mostly from Shimano, and doing what Shimano did eventually put Suntour out of business. That Tech derailleur, if I hit the shifts right, which I do most of the time, shifts faster than STI does!

Like I said before, it doesn't like to be dirty, so you have to keep it clean. The only potential fail spot on that derailleur would be the seals that other derailleurs don't use, but those seals have been on since 1984 and they still seal just fine.

[zennmotion]

I generally agree with the positive comments above, although froze's reason for the negative perception BITD sounds a little conspiratorial - I think it was just over-engineered as SunTour already had "better" (lighter, cheaper, equally robust) derailleurs already in the pipeline. Because there's so little chatter on the internets on the Superbe Tech, Disraeli's bemused, and detailed, opinion carries more weight than it maybe should IMHO. I'm currently riding a Superbe Tech "L" (mid-cage) without issues on my late 80s Eisentraut and it works a treat (a 'traut?) with a 12-28 8 speed cassette and 30-42-52 triple crank. I don't see why there would be any more risk of running your derailleur into the spokes as a "normal" derailleur (with a cable housing running into the back). In fact, I initially set it up as I always do, adjusting the limit screws before attaching the cable, so if the low/big cog limit screw is set properly, the derailleur won't travel far enough to be a problem with a broken cable. One thing to keep in mind about the Superbe Tech is that it comes/came with a separate chainstay bolt-on cable guide to provide a smooth path. You don't need it if you have a cable stop underneath your chainstay, but it won't work if the cable stop is brazed ABOVE the chainstay, you'll need SunTour's cable guide or jury-rig something. I keep the cable lubricated where it passes through the chainstay cable stop with a drop of NFS lube (dunno if it's really necessary). But it's a nice shifting derailleur, no better and no worse than say a SunTour Cyclone, or in my case a longer cage Shimano deerhead Deore (which it replaced) but I wouldn't want to dissemble it, especially the upper jockey wheel. If/when I wear it out I'll probably replace it rather than try to repair it. It is pretty cool looking though, a little Japanese cachet in a world of vintage campy!

Edit: I just noticed the pic in Charles' post that includes the cable guide, so all good. It's a nice gesture to give away, but these things are rare and worth selling- like Delta brakes they're weird and very collectible.

[tigerdognew]

Hi Charles!
If this derailleur is still available, how can I contact you? I'm restoring a 1985 Vitus kitted out as a touring bike. I think this derailleur would be a great finishing touch to the project. It would be going to a good home
Doug

[eddiepaletti]

Ah, the memories. Superb Pro was the absolute best for a time. Worked, er, ah, superbly and was beautiful to boot. Shame that their reign didn't last long. One of the prettiest bikes I ever owned was a Fuji Mark Gorski track bike with the Superb Pro track groupset.