Re: Spring for Raleigh branded Suntour RD

[Paul Southworth]

In article >,
asqui > wrote:
>
>I am looking for a replacement tensioning spring for the rear derailer on my
>old Eddy Merckx bike. I posted before and people suggested that some photos
>might help, so here we are:
>
>http://www.btinternet.com/~asqui/rd/
>
>The derailer has Raleigh stamped on it but Sheldon Brown suggested it might
>be a rebranded Suntour derailer as Raleigh never produced any rear derailers
>of their own. This claim is supported by the fact that the pulley wheels are
>labelled "Suntour".
>
>Just under the exposed cable is a hollow barrel where the spring is housed.
>The spring was made of a coiled metal rod with a rectangular section. One
>end had the metal bent in towards the middle of the spring, to engage the
>end of the "stem" on the pulley assembly (which I am holding in rd2.jpg).
>The other end was bent out parallel to the axis of the spring, to engage a
>small hole at the far end of the barrel. Failure occured at this bend.
>
>The barrel has a large hole in the center of the far end, through which the
>"stem" of the pulley assembly fits. The spring then fits between the barrel
>walls and this pulley assembly "stem" and applies a rotational force between
>the two. A big-headed hex bolt (like the one attaching the derailer to the
>hanger) holds the construction in place.
>
>(I assume this is a fairly common set-up but I thought I'd explain it all as
>best I could, just in case.)
>
>I don't really want to buy a new rear derailer (as has been suggested
>numerous times) if all I need is a spring -- I don't want to spend any more
>money on this bike because I don't intend on riding it very much.
>
>So, where might I find such a replacement spring?

Sheldon is right, it's a Sun Tour.

Where to find the spring? In another similar model derailleur
in a junk heap.

I know you don't want to hear it, but that derailleur is worth
fixing only if your time is worth almost nothing. If you do fix
it, it will still shift worse than a $15-20 new derailleur, the newer
designs are superior in every way. If you want to fix it cheap,
get a whole derailleur off a dumpster bike.

--Paul

[G Huang]

If it's a Suntour derailleur, you can try to find a similar Suntour
derailleur on Ebay and carefully transplant the spring from it. I assume
this is to keep the "original" look of the bike. Otherwise, any Shimano
derailleur will probably work with existing friction shifters.

[[email protected]]

If your not going to upgrade that derailleur. Then I've
got the spring for you . I just remove it from a Suntour
derailleur that was in my parts box.

Fire up MTB 03

[g.daniels]

I have several. the design goes back a few years, a brainsstorm that
supported the Suntour Co. for years until Shimano did R+D kinda like
Campy and the quick release.The older sunderay's made when the
japanese earned 1$/hr before the west gangeed up on them have
outstanding hand work for employemnt or decoration.
the new shim derays are so superior that not buying a new deore at $20
from Nbar is dumb cause the new one's are actually safer and may some
day keep you from falling beneath the bus. Check out the double pivot
at the LBS not the sun single pivot. Keeps the chain off the road.
snick snick.

[cashrefundman]

asqui wrote:

>
> I don't want to buy a new derailer if I can avoid it because I don't even
> know that I am ever going to ride this bike again. I just want to have it in
> working order in case I ever need to, say, if my current bike gets damaged.
> I'm just a poor student y'see, $20 is a lot of money to me :)

When student apartment leases are up ( at the end of August ) you should
be able to find discarded bikes in trash piles all over town; and scam
yourself a working derailler.

I used to do this when I was in college and refurbish the bikes and sell
them to make a few bucks.

CRM

[Andrew Webster]

"asqui" > wrote in message >...
> I am looking for a replacement tensioning spring for the rear derailer on my
> old Eddy Merckx bike.

<cut>
>
> The derailer has Raleigh stamped on it but Sheldon Brown suggested it might
> be a rebranded Suntour derailer as Raleigh never produced any rear derailers
> of their own. This claim is supported by the fact that the pulley wheels are
> labelled "Suntour".

Certainly has the same number stamped on the bracket as my Suntour V
>
<cut>
> So, where might I find such a replacement spring?
>

I think your in for a long and probably fruitless search.

Most people with parts this old are calling them "classic" and giving
them price tags to match. You're main source is likely to be another
old bike, but that will more likely be more expensive than a cheap
modern derailleur in any case!

I am not knocking "old" kit, far from it (I have bikes with Suntour V,
Suntour Cyclone and Campagnolo Rally derailleurs which all still seem
to be going strong), but when they brak, modern replacements will, I
am sure, be cheaper and easier to source.

Andrew Webster