Spring for Raleigh branded Suntour RD

[Asqui]

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?

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks in advance, Dani.

 

[Fred Hinkson]

It may be better off to replace the derrailleur. It looks like a short cage from the pic. A Shimano
or Sram would do.

MTB Ride hard die free.

 

[Paul Southworth]

In article <[email protected]>, asqui <[email protected]> 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.

 

[crazy6r54]

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.

 

[Asqui]

g.daniels wrote:
> 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.

What makes the new derailers safer?

What is a double pivot and single pivot derailer?

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

Dani

 

[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" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> 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