My early Santana has the Compe V on the front shifting a TA Cyclotourist triple and the VGT Luxe on the rear. They comfortably handle a 28 T differential on the front and a 20 T differential on the rear! I think for touring dead reliable shifting into the small front cog may be more important, where in racing the shift into the big cog is often necessary for break activity. The SL alloy cage was prone to wear so the Compe V may be the best.
These earlier Suntours are so sturdy, easy to take apart and clean. Plus about $20 retail for the pair at the time.
Joe
At 10:54 AM 2/14/01 -0800, Diane Feldman wrote:
>Suntour made the SL concurrently with the CompeV and the Spirt.
>Yes, that's not "Spirit," but "Spirt." I frequently saw them on touring
>bikes and tandems, as they pulled the chain from the middle to small ring
>better than most regular front derailleurs of the time.
>Early Santana tandems (ca. 1980) were equipped with a Suntour Spirt front
>derailleur and VGT Luxe rear.
>David Feldman
>----- Original Message -----
>From: <RALEIGH531@aol.com>
>To: <das@aasurvey.com>; <Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
>Sent: Wednesday, February 14, 2001 10:22 AM
>Subject: Re: [CR]Reverse front der.
>
>
>> In a message dated 2/13/01 2:07:11 AM Eastern Standard Time,
>das@aasurvey.com
>> writes:
>>
>>
>> > The CompeV is heavy and of relatively low quality, mostly chromed steel
>> > parts, not alloy. Were any high quality, materials and finish, reverse
>pull
>> > front derailleurs ever made?
>> >
>> >
>> I have a similiar Raleigh branded derailleur.
>> It is all alloy except for the cage and is a real nice example of
>Suntour's
>> quality from the 70's. The cage has five holes stamped in it.The mounting
>> clamp appears to be interchangeable with some other Suntour derailleurs so
>if
>> you find one on an old Raleigh you could switch parts(unless it's going on
>an
>> old Raleigh)
>>
>> Pete Geurds
>> Douglassville, Pa