In a message dated 10/15/02 1:01:11 PM Pacific Daylight Time, chasds@mindspring.com writes:
<< I dunno what derailleurs you're referring to Stevan, but I have thousands and thousands of miles on a first generation Suntour Cyclone I bought new in about 1975, that I raced on, and now use occasionally on my old race bike. It still shifts about as well as it did when new, which is to say, better than any Campagnolo friction derailleur ever made. And my Suntour V-GT Luxe has been abused way beyond what any derailleur should have to endure (three winters in Alaska, used nearly every day, often in two or more feet of new powder...I used my feet as stabilizers as I coasted down the gravel hill to work... ;> ), and until I removed it from my old Falcon, it worked perfectly. >>
All I can say is I replaced a lot of them when I worked in bike shops, and
they weren't that old. The usual problem was slop in the parallelogram body
and/or slop between the jockey cage plates and the body. They seem to develop
a lot of movement which means non rigidity in the system. Plastic bushings
don't seem to last.
If you had a good experience with them, that's great!
Stevan Thomas
Alameda, CA