advice please - Raleigh Suntour front mech

[Greenfingers1001]

Hi - im into a retro rebuild 10 speed bike - Suntour double stem shifters (friction) - Suntour VX rear mech all fitted & cabled up to the point of choosing a front mech from my parts bin - the nicest was a Raleigh / (Suntour i think) so i thought "Perfect" - it fitted to the frame like a dream, then i came to fix the cable only to be confused on how this works - i ended up putting another on the bike, but still baffled on how this works ....as the inner cable seems to fix to the body of the mech rather that the moving arm - it also when manually moved against the spring works in the opposite direction to all the others a have - any advise welcome - .............I have my Homer "Doh" pic ready !

 

[Walterscot]

It’s simply reverse sprung. So adding tension to the cable (pulling the shifter towards you) drops it down to the inner ring. By releasing the cable tension the spring in the mech shifts the chain up into the big ring. You set it up as you normally would except the mech is in the big ring before the cable is attached or you put any tension on the cable. Takes a minute to get your head around it but works well when set up properly.

 

[juvela]

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MAEDA's model name for the mech is COMPE-V

there were three models of these "top normal" pattern front mechs

the other two models were the Spirt and the SL



"Mk.II" Spirt, current 1976-83



COMPE-V



"Mk. II" model SL

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[Greenfingers1001]

Thanks guys

 

[Greenfingers1001]

It’s simply reverse sprung. So adding tension to the cable (pulling the shifter towards you) drops it down to the inner ring. By releasing the cable tension the spring in the mech shifts the chain up into the big ring. You set it up as you normally would except the mech is in the big ring before the cable is attached or you put any tension on the cable. Takes a minute to get your head around it but works well when set up properly.

Im still a bit foggy on this, baring in mind the cable end is fixed to the body of the mech & doesn't in effect move anything, is it the outer cable that actually creates movement by being either tight or slack ? do i unhook the spring to set it ? will my front mech lever be half way down instead of the up "at home" position ?

 

[Walterscot]

Yes, the outer cable will move (up) when you pull the shifter lever to shift the chain down into the inner ring. So when setting up just make sure there is enough cable outer to allow this movement. You don’t unhook the spring to set it, the neutral/slack/starting position for the mech is in the big ring. When installing the cable your front mech lever should be in the ‘home’ position and the front mech will be in the ‘big ring’ position. Then when you pull on the lever to add tension to the cable the cable will effectively pull the mech down to the inner ring against the force of the spring. Releasing tension and returning the lever to the ‘home’ position will allow the spring in the front mech to shift the mech/chain up into the big ring position.

I’m sure someone has a more concise way to explain/describe the above.