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Date: 15 Aug 2007 13:24:03
From: Hell and High Water
Subject: Suntour 7 speed / Shimano 7 speed: Compatible?
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So far I've received about twenty VERY AUTHORITATIVE answers to this question. All of them seem to disagree.... I have an older bike that originally came with Suntour components. Downtube shifters, double front, seven back. I wanted to try STI shifters, so a LBS put on Shimano Sora brake/shifters. They said the Suntour rear derailleur/freewheel/chain/etc. were good. Worked pretty good, but I had some problems shifting. Chain searching for gears. If I went up one and it searched, I'd go up two, then back one, and it was fine. Anyway... *some* problems. Second LBS said the problem was the rear derailleur. Had to be Shimano to work. (Again, freewheel/chain were good.) Went with the Shimano Sora rear derailleur and the bike shifts much better. I felt like that made a noticeable improvement. However, every once in a while there's a weird SKIP on the back cog. Almost like something missed a tooth or two. Someone in a newsgroup told me that the Shimano freewheel and the Suntour freewheel are different, and I should go all Shimano. (BTW, none of this is exactly killing me financially. This level of gear is not terribly expensive.) I would feel great about going all Shimano, but I would be a bit irritated if I still had that skipping. Any thoughts/suggestions? I looked around Sheldon's page, but could not find this exact subject. TIA! -Bob
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Date: 16 Aug 2007 21:19:53
From: Qui si parla Campagnolo-www.vecchios.com
Subject: Re: Suntour 7 speed / Shimano 7 speed: Compatible?
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On Aug 15, 12:24 pm, Hell and High Water <tifoso...@OVEcomcast.net > wrote: > So far I've received about twenty VERY AUTHORITATIVE answers to this > question. > > All of them seem to disagree.... > > I have an older bike that originally came with Suntour components. > Downtube shifters, double front, seven back. > > I wanted to try STI shifters, so a LBS put on Shimano Sora > brake/shifters. They said the Suntour rear > derailleur/freewheel/chain/etc. were good. > > Worked pretty good, but I had some problems shifting. Chain searching > for gears. If I went up one and it searched, I'd go up two, then back > one, and it was fine. > > Anyway... *some* problems. > > Second LBS said the problem was the rear derailleur. Had to be Shimano > to work. (Again, freewheel/chain were good.) > > Went with the Shimano Sora rear derailleur and the bike shifts much > better. I felt like that made a noticeable improvement. > > However, every once in a while there's a weird SKIP on the back cog. > Almost like something missed a tooth or two. > > Someone in a newsgroup told me that the Shimano freewheel and the > Suntour freewheel are different, and I should go all Shimano. > > (BTW, none of this is exactly killing me financially. This level of > gear is not terribly expensive.) > > I would feel great about going all Shimano, but I would be a bit > irritated if I still had that skipping. > > Any thoughts/suggestions? > > I looked around Sheldon's page, but could not find this exact subject. > > TIA! > > -Bob Puit that $20 shimano HG freewheel on there, adjust RD and go ride.
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Date: 17 Aug 2007 09:08:17
From: Hell and High Water
Subject: Re: Suntour 7 speed / Shimano 7 speed: Compatible?
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In article <1187299193.107169.266370@g12g2000prg.googlegroups.com >, peter@vecchios.com says... > On Aug 15, 12:24 pm, Hell and High Water <tifoso...@OVEcomcast.net> > wrote: > > So far I've received about twenty VERY AUTHORITATIVE answers to this > > question. > > > > All of them seem to disagree.... > > > > I have an older bike that originally came with Suntour components. > > Downtube shifters, double front, seven back. > > > > I wanted to try STI shifters, so a LBS put on Shimano Sora > > brake/shifters. They said the Suntour rear > > derailleur/freewheel/chain/etc. were good. > > > > Worked pretty good, but I had some problems shifting. Chain searching > > for gears. If I went up one and it searched, I'd go up two, then back > > one, and it was fine. > > > > Anyway... *some* problems. > > > > Second LBS said the problem was the rear derailleur. Had to be Shimano > > to work. (Again, freewheel/chain were good.) > > > > Went with the Shimano Sora rear derailleur and the bike shifts much > > better. I felt like that made a noticeable improvement. > > > > However, every once in a while there's a weird SKIP on the back cog. > > Almost like something missed a tooth or two. > > > > Someone in a newsgroup told me that the Shimano freewheel and the > > Suntour freewheel are different, and I should go all Shimano. > > > > (BTW, none of this is exactly killing me financially. This level of > > gear is not terribly expensive.) > > > > I would feel great about going all Shimano, but I would be a bit > > irritated if I still had that skipping. > > > > Any thoughts/suggestions? > > > > I looked around Sheldon's page, but could not find this exact subject. > > > > TIA! > > > > -Bob > > Puit that $20 shimano HG freewheel on there, adjust RD and go ride. Done Done and DONE! THANKS! -Bob
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Date: 16 Aug 2007 14:49:21
From: Nigel Cliffe
Subject: Re: Suntour 7 speed / Shimano 7 speed: Compatible?
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Hell and High Water wrote: > So far I've received about twenty VERY AUTHORITATIVE answers to this > question. > > All of them seem to disagree.... > > I have an older bike that originally came with Suntour components. > Downtube shifters, double front, seven back. > > I wanted to try STI shifters, so a LBS put on Shimano Sora > brake/shifters. They said the Suntour rear > derailleur/freewheel/chain/etc. were good. > > Worked pretty good, but I had some problems shifting. Chain searching > for gears. If I went up one and it searched, I'd go up two, then back > one, and it was fine. > > Anyway... *some* problems. > Second LBS said the problem was the rear derailleur. Had to be > Shimano to work. (Again, freewheel/chain were good.) > Went with the Shimano Sora rear derailleur and the bike shifts much > better. I felt like that made a noticeable improvement. > > However, every once in a while there's a weird SKIP on the back cog. > Almost like something missed a tooth or two. > > Someone in a newsgroup told me that the Shimano freewheel and the > Suntour freewheel are different, and I should go all Shimano. I've a bike with old (circa 1990) Suntour 7 speed rear, using "Commander" shifters. The rear freewheel block (it is a screw-on) for Suntour has different spacing to a Shimano rear block. Not by much, but its different. The Suntour was not evenly spaced, for some reason they put some cogs closer than others. The shifters matched this. In practise, with Suntour blocks no longer available, I find that a Shimano rear block shifts OK with a Suntour rear mech and shifters provided the adjustment is done carefully (I have a new Suntour rear mech on the bike, bought last year as new old stock, this shifts much better than the old well-worn example I had previously). But I have the advantage of an cable trimmer (where the down-tube shifter would be), plus the option to go back to friction shifting if need be. As for your skipping at the back, start with the obvious: a) chain wear (stretch) b) fitting new chain to worn sprockets c) tight link in chain or faulty quick-link. Then move on to consider if it is alignment/adjustment. Given where you've reached - Shimano shifter, Shimano rear mech, I would get a Shimano rear block as well; they're still around in Europe in limited sizes (14-28 seems to be common here). Check your front rings carefully for wear, they may be causing the problem with the chain. - Nigel -- Nigel Cliffe, Webmaster at http://www.2mm.org.uk/
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Date: 15 Aug 2007 17:20:51
From: Mark
Subject: Re: Suntour 7 speed / Shimano 7 speed: Compatible?
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Hell and High Water wrote: > So far I've received about twenty VERY AUTHORITATIVE answers to this > question. > > All of them seem to disagree.... > > > > I have an older bike that originally came with Suntour components. > Downtube shifters, double front, seven back. > > I wanted to try STI shifters, so a LBS put on Shimano Sora > brake/shifters. They said the Suntour rear > derailleur/freewheel/chain/etc. were good. > > > Worked pretty good, but I had some problems shifting. Chain searching > for gears. If I went up one and it searched, I'd go up two, then back > one, and it was fine. > > Anyway... *some* problems. > > > > Second LBS said the problem was the rear derailleur. Had to be Shimano > to work. (Again, freewheel/chain were good.) > > > Went with the Shimano Sora rear derailleur and the bike shifts much > better. I felt like that made a noticeable improvement. > > However, every once in a while there's a weird SKIP on the back cog. > Almost like something missed a tooth or two. > > Someone in a newsgroup told me that the Shimano freewheel and the > Suntour freewheel are different, and I should go all Shimano. > > > (BTW, none of this is exactly killing me financially. This level of > gear is not terribly expensive.) > > > I would feel great about going all Shimano, but I would be a bit > irritated if I still had that skipping. > > > Any thoughts/suggestions? > > > I looked around Sheldon's page, but could not find this exact subject. > > > TIA! > > -Bob > Suntour freewheel cogs in a seven-speed freewheel are not all spaced the same. For example, the spacing between the two smallest cogs differs from the spacing between the two largest, IIRC. SunTour shift levers accounted for this. Shimano STI shifters assume equal spacing between cogs (I think they mostly assume a freeHUB, hence the equal spacing). Hence an incompatibility. The combination /may/ be made to work tolerably, I don't know, and that will definitely depend on your notion of "tolerable" - could mean avoiding one or two of the gears, intolerable by most accounts. Note that SunTour "regular" six freewheels (vs. the narrow spaced "ultra-sixes" and all sevens) were spaced uniformly enough that they would work with Shimano's original six-speed indexed downtube shift levers and derraileurs (I know this from experience). Finally, I think the last Suntour freeHUB cassettes made before SunTour went belly-up, and probably the ones being made now by SR-SunTour (which reportedly has no connection to the older company except in name) were/are equally spaced. In the case of SunTour, I think this was for Shimano compatibility. I invite correction by those who know this last situation better than I. Short answer: Probably won't work well at all. Much as I shudder to say it, all Shimano is probably your best bet here. Mark "SunTour lover" J.
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Date: 15 Aug 2007 22:42:55
From: still me
Subject: Re: Suntour 7 speed / Shimano 7 speed: Compatible?
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On Wed, 15 Aug 2007 13:24:03 -0500, Hell and High Water <tifosoREM@OVEcomcast.net > wrote: >However, every once in a while there's a weird SKIP on the back cog. >Almost like something missed a tooth or two. Any chance you have a tight link in the chain?
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