On Thu, 8 Feb 2001, jimg wrote:
> Yeah, I remember those, though I've never seen one in person. It was
> called the "Suntour X-1", I think.
>
> Here's a bit of info from Ebay, but unfortunately since the auction is
> closed, the picture is gone:
>
> http://ebay.com/
The X-1 was a "normal" derailleur. They were typically painted black, and
an optional "Chroma" kit with neon-colored plastic bits was available, too.
> Looking on the SunTour Museum website, I also see an "SX50" which looks
> as if it also has a funky mounting method:
>
> http://member.nifty.ne.jp/
This is indeed one of the S-types. I have SunTour catalogues that detail these derailleurs in excruciating detail. The design was supposed to be better on bikes where they might fall over. After looking at Data Book images, it looks like they aped the early JUY/Simplex derailleurs.
It's VERY interesting to look at SunTour's progression/decline in the catalogues from 1990 to 1994. At the end, you could tell they were grasping at any kind of OE(M) spec, no matter how crummy the product.
-- cyclist [at] dimensional [dot] com