Upon cleaning and updating my Dilecta touring bike I ran into an issue that at first did not concern me. The bike came equipped with a Suntour front derailleur but the rest is pure French. Since this has a wide range triple ring set, the Suntour managed nicely but was not desireable to me as it obviously is not French.
Admittedly I did things the hard way. I removed the Suntour and went to my collection of derailleurs and pulled out a few period French models to replace it. Well by now some of you have guessed my predicament. None of these derailleurs worked. They either could not handle the triple because they move laterally or they interfered with the chain on the smallest ring. After trying about 4 derailleurs I suddenly realized why the Suntour was there to begin with.
Now I know this bike did not come with a Suntour front derailleur but that leaves me to wonder what did it come with. The Suntour uses the slant parallelogram that allows it to run up and down the cogs without interference so there is no problem with accommodating the triple. Since this is a cable driven front derailleur, I am perplexed what French version might have been used to to the same job. The period correct Huret and Simplex items I have can't cut it.
Ray Homiski
Elizabeth, NJ