Sold FALSE SUNTOUR XC PRO CRANKS

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The truth is that I do not know. This is the ad where I bought them. He currently has another for sale.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/225461979387?hash=item347e94c8fb:g:RnIAAOSwWXNjXK6Q
I have not modified anything nor have I added any sticker.
So sorry to turn your milk sour, but these are like Mickey Mouse: not genuine. Suntour went out of business just after the Microdrive cranks were on the market for about 2 years. I have their last dealer catalogue, the Japanese made cranks were never this shape. The boss deliberately scrapped the tooling, (the bastard!) while other companies wanted to buy it....

As Suntour Japan went bust, they were bought out/taken over by SR (Sakae Ringyo) and no patents/rights/intellectual property of the pre '95 designs were sold to them. The Suntour brand became a hollow name and manufacturing of low end stuff started/continued in Taiwan as some of their cheaper stuff were already made there.

Detailed info here:

https://www.mechanischehirngespinnste.de/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/sunset_of_suntour.pdf
I've also seen these cranks on evilbay, but was suspicious due to their shape. Earlier it took me 5 years to find a NOS set (for a very high price indeed), as they're rare as rocking horse manure. The maker/faker might have bought some NOS rings and made a small profit on the side, that bastard.
 
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Agree with above. The top ring at least looks legit...its the right colour and right logo which is quite distinctive.

I was / am a suntour user from 89 onwards and it was a sad day they went bust.....the kit was fantastic....much better than shimano imho....the stuff that was produced by sr was utter pants! It was relly just playing on the name.

Pity suntour didn't have the capital behind them to prostitute themselves on the cheap to every major maker.....like the fishing rod supplier shimano did.!
 
My conventional design XC Pro cranks have the GG logo on the crank dust caps.
Yes, because that is where you put the grease in, the bolts were hollow, and could be accessed with the dust cap in place, so it makes sense to put the logo where the grease guarding would be happening. On the spider however?
 
This has been banded about previously;

https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads/new-or-counterfeit-suntour-xc-pro-crankset.434742/
Very clearly stamped with Suntour CW XP10 on the back of the arms in the huge weight saving hollow. This is the correct part number for XC Pro. I actually think these could be prototype arms for the following year when Suntour went bust.
Probably, but very unlikely, just think about it a little. SR Suntour did not purchased tooling, rights, patents etc. to continue production of the classic designs, let alone using the same materials. Fit & finish of these cranks are cleary some levels below the Japanese made stuff.

As the Japanese factories were closed in first half of 1994. These so called "prototype" (why would make anybody a clearly inferior product apart from being cheapskate/degrade the brand) cranks must have been made in Taiwan anyway, production outsourced to generic manufacturing companies.. Can't imagine scrapping the tooling for the wonderful, world class MD XC Pro series, and making a new one during bankruptcy just for producing these sorry looking and (despite the hollow back) heavier parts.

Also, the OG MD XC Pro cranks were lighter OEM than these are advertised, complete with rings (only the big ring genuine) on ebay. And they were stamped, with time stamps, not having moulded letters and numbers. If you check these cranks it seems they could have been made 175 mm long, by just moving the pedal axle hole forward by 5 mm. Very cheap solution, but OK for cheapskate/low cost manufacturers. I doubt Suntour Japan would made themselves ashamed by making stuff like this.
 
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Yes, because that is where you put the grease in, the bolts were hollow, and could be accessed with the dust cap in place, so it makes sense to put the logo where the grease guarding would be happening. On the spider however?
MD cranks were having ithe GG decals on the spider OEM. As the MD cranks had a chromed shiny plastic axle bolt cover without decal, so some marketing needed to be put on them anyway. The steel crank axle bolt covers with Allen key bolt holes with decals were included with GG BBs as far as I know.
 
These "Suntour" cranks are being sold here in Indonesia by a few sellers on a local e-commerce site (photo and link below). 2 years ago I bought a set out of curiosity. Trash. I gave them to a neighbor.
Strangely they had a proper Suntour big ring.
I can't guess as to their origin. They are stamped "Suntour Japan" on the backs of the arms (shrug).
For some reason there are also LOTS of 32h Grease Guard 8 speed rear hubs available, unfortunately they are supplied with 7 speed cassettes. The proper 8 speed cassettes are nowhere to be found, locally.

IMG_20230403_150219.jpg

https://www.bukalapak.com/p/sepeda/...ro-42-32-20t-enak-buat-nanjak?utm_source=apps
 
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