Suntour Accushift doing my head in - mechanic?
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Suntour Accushift doing my head in - mechanic?
Postby smithcorp » Mon Oct 22, 2012 11:15 am
I stopped riding it about 10 years ago after I busted my elbow and couldn't straighten my arm any more - I had to adjust my position on the bike a lot (saddle down, stem up and shorter) but still couldn't stay comfortable. However, I determined to drag it out of the garage and get it back on the road. Mission accomplished, sort of.
When I was riding it years ago, the Accushift system drove me mad. It would shift smoothly for a while but then after some kms, would jump down the cluster under load, not sit properly on a cog etc.
In the meantime, I had discovered some scans of a Suntour mechanic's troubleshooting guide and using that I worked out the problem was probably related to cable tension at the RD. I fiddled with it, backing off the tension and I got it shifting perfectly. Nice, positive clicks at the shifter and positive shifts at the RD. A short ride around my local streets and it was shifting beautifully.
I then ride for about 8kms to the park my wife and kids are at - the bike performed beautifully. Leaned it against a tree for 40 minutes or so while the kids played, but when I got back on, it was a mechanical nightmare. Back to uncommanded shifts (particularly from big/big to the next gear down) and then no positive position on big/gear 3 or 4. Off the bike trying to fix it, the cable tension now feels so tight it doesn't want to shift up from the smallest cog! By adjusting tension at the RD I was able to get it shifting well enough to get home, but I had difficulties if on the big ring. These are the exact problems that led me to stop riding the damn thing back in the dim past.
I am going to work my way through the trouble-shooting guide again but does anyone have some suggestions as to what the hell might be going on; and any recommendations for Sydney-based bike mechanics who might know their way around Suntour gear to help me solve this?
Thanks in advance for any help from the brains trust,
smith
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Re: Suntour Accushift doing my head in - mechanic?
Postby ldrcycles » Mon Oct 22, 2012 12:54 pm
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Re: Suntour Accushift doing my head in - mechanic?
Postby rkelsen » Mon Oct 22, 2012 12:57 pm
Next thing to look for would be a broken spring in the derailleur.
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Re: Suntour Accushift doing my head in - mechanic?
Postby baabaa » Mon Oct 22, 2012 7:10 pm
If it is Suntour you are only allowed to ooow and ahh.
Have you tried them in friction? Also undo the cables at the rear and the see/ feel if the cables flow thru the housing with out binding if so yes try new cables and maybe housings.
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Re: Suntour Accushift doing my head in - mechanic?
Postby ldrcycles » Mon Oct 22, 2012 7:20 pm
+1 . My love for SunTour took a slight blow after the tension spring in my Cyclone RD snapped on the weekend.baabaa wrote: If it is Suntour you are only allowed to ooow and ahh.
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Re: Suntour Accushift doing my head in - mechanic?
Postby greyhoundtom » Mon Oct 22, 2012 7:26 pm
However, from what I have been told the Suntour derailleur system simply does not handle cross chaining real well unlike the more modern indexed systems.
Being careful not to cross chain may make the system work better.
Big/big will cause problems in shifting out of those gears by jumping sprockets on the rear under load.
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Re: Suntour Accushift doing my head in - mechanic?
Postby smithcorp » Mon Oct 22, 2012 9:14 pm
Thanks all - this makes sense greyhoundtom.greyhoundtom wrote:Definitely, as has been mentioned, new cables may certainly help the situation.
However, from what I have been told the Suntour derailleur system simply does not handle cross chaining real well unlike the more modern indexed systems.
Being careful not to cross chain may make the system work better.
Big/big will cause problems in shifting out of those gears by jumping sprockets on the rear under load.
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Re: Suntour Accushift doing my head in - mechanic?
Postby Wal42 » Tue Oct 23, 2012 6:25 am
Even in indexed you can trim a little, try that. But most likely is that the cassette is worn, if you can't sort it out with a little trimming then maybe look at replacing the cassette (sometimes trimming the FD will help). Is it on the middle gears, if so the very likely cassette, they're the most used ones.
If you want totally silent running, get the RD checked, fit new cables, cassette, give everything a really good lube, you have to remember, your drivetrain is 20 years old, you have to expect some creaky bones to be showing themselves.
Oh & it'll still be running long after most modern bikes & running gear have gone to bike heaven, so you beat them by having a longer life
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Re: Suntour Accushift doing my head in - mechanic?
Postby smithcorp » Mon Nov 26, 2012 1:45 pm
smith
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Re: Suntour Accushift doing my head in - mechanic?
Postby munga » Mon Nov 26, 2012 9:31 pm
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Re: Suntour Accushift doing my head in - mechanic?
Postby ldrcycles » Mon Nov 26, 2012 10:23 pm
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Re: Suntour Accushift doing my head in - mechanic?
Postby smithcorp » Tue Nov 27, 2012 9:54 am
That's how I felt. It did not look bent at all and was out by a mill or less. Seems to have made a big difference.munga wrote:palm, meet face.
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Re: Suntour Accushift doing my head in - mechanic?
Postby elantra » Thu Nov 29, 2012 5:03 pm
By the way, very nice looking bikesmithcorp wrote: ...................................................
smith
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Re: Suntour Accushift doing my head in - mechanic?
Postby smithcorp » Thu Dec 27, 2012 7:54 pm
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