Suntour XC Microdrive is it worth it?

Actually I could be wrong thinking about it some many years later.
Suntour chains were made in Japan so could be....
Sedis/Sedissport are made in French iirc.
But everyone just used Sedis anyway, so M50/M55/R80 if they are the correct ones for 92-93?

Else AP01/02 or AP11/12 which I think are 92/93.

I wonder if DID made them (they're Japan) , I don't think Suntour made too much of their actual parts, could be wrong they may have made the chains. Does anyone remember DID.

Modern KMC/SRAM etc get them 7, 8 speed or try 9 if you want.

SRAM being the people who absorbed Sachs, who themselves absorbed Sedis...
Thanks @FluffyChicken and @legrandefromage for the info.. plenty to go on there.

In reply to the topic of the thread , for what is worth, I'm putting together a Suntour Xc Pro MD build and have no previous experience with Suntour. Other than the frustration of getting 2 incorrect cassettes for my freehub, the lack of detailed info (compared for example to Shimano) can be a bit daunting - making this forum an absolute gem 💎
 
I believe that Suntour came out with XC Pro MicroDrive first and Shimano countered with XTR.
I have full XC Pro 8-speed MD on my Klein Fervor. Most was purchased when I built the bike back in 93/94, but I didn't get the hubs until I rebuilt it in 2020. Also in 2020, I found the 1 year only (1994) Ergotec brifters which are really cool and work really well.
Suntour probably outsourced the chains back in the day. The brakes were Dia Compe with minor changes to meet Suntour specs, so the chains wouldn't surprise me to be somebody else.
 
Not true.
Suntour brought MicroDrive out first in 1992, Shimano followed in 1993 with Compact Drive. CD being a lower profile crank than MD (following XTR), it used the MD BCD other than the granny ring which is 2mm wider. Who knows why, to be awkward, measured wrong when copying, computer says better.

XTR released, for 1992, didn't go Compact Drive, it stayed 110 BCD.
It didn't need to, even the M910 refresh didn't compact it.

(so XTR and Suntour MD shift where released for the same year.)
 
Big fan of Suntour XC pro here....especially MD. Both my black Aluminium "O"s have a MD chainsets.

#1 has a mix of Suntour, Mavic 840 rear mech, Shimano DX thumbies and an M732XT front mech.
#2 'mudplugger' runs more Suntour ~ chainset rear mech and thumbies. Front mech still M732XT....for no other reason than I had this to fit and didn't have a spare XC pro at the time.

If it can handle this....it's a dependable groupset!

20230122_145041.jpg

20230122_132659.jpg

20230122_145049.jpg

20221009_181803.jpg

Long Cage Suntour XC Pro (Non MD on rear)

Shimano HG70 12-28 Rear Cassette on Shimano DX hub (Rider wheelset) Chain is KMC 8/9 speed.

Was still shifting through this. In the dry, the mix and match combination has no compatibility issues, shifts smoothly.

Going for Suntour XC Pro (Non MD) on the Serrotta Proflex build. Brakes and all this time as a complete groupset.


Cheers.
boy"O"boy
 
I'm a big fan of xc pro thumbies and the last champagne brake levers....very slik shifting, far better than any xt I had...in fact i swapped to xc pro from a year old xt set bitd and never went back. The chainsets are nicely forged and the original power rings were indestructible! Grease port hubs were nice, but let down by cheese cassettes. Also I never thought much of either mech....

Mixed bag....but aren't all groupsets

I would agree that available and prices are now you biggest issue!
 
There isn't much difference between XC Pro vs. Comp. Both are lovely, cold forged stuff. Limited factory info, best source is to have a period catalog.

Comp rear mechs are even lighter due to having "normal pulleys" not cartride bearing ones. 56 BCD grannies are a real PITA, WTF were they thinkin'?! NOS/nice GG BB-s are rare, (non-GG cartridge ones even rarer) the alloy cups crack easily, they are not for hard use I suppose.

There were 3 different standards for cassettes, some are interchangeable, but not all of them. The freewheel' splines look similar to me though. Thumbies, mechs, cranks, front hubs, champagne coloured brakes/levers, pedals are worth it, rest of the stuff is at least quirky, but not top notch. Seatpost is a quality item, strong, but heavy and short, in limited stupid sizes. Headsets are light, easy to scratch. Seatpost QRs are prone to crack, since housing is alloy, lighter than Shimano though.

Very hard to collect a nice/NOS full set, as availability was rather bad even then, and they went bust shortly after. If you find a good fulll (ish) set, just go for it, even it's pricey, the savings in time/postage etc. are tremendous. I've been collecting Japanese Suntour MTB parts for over 10 years now, quite exhausting, I'm tellin' ya.

One more thing: XC Pro/Comp NOS stuff is almost too nice to be put on bikes built to ride. Well, probably the usually too long search for them makes me to write this bold statement😜.
 
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Haven't added these scans from MBUK Sept. 1991.

Here you go.....


View attachment 702323

View attachment 702325

Cheers.
boy"O"boy
Thanks for scanning and sharing! This article takes me way back...

I don't want to sound odd, but an XC Pro MD rear mech is to my eyes a thing of mechanical beauty. Shape, proportions are just 'right'. Ah nostalgia! I'm going out to the workshop in a minute just to look.
 
The very first generation of shimano sti was shit,

suntour xpress was shit

When the 2nd generation XT sti came out along with XTR, that's where Shimano overtook everyone, the 3rd generation STX shifters nailing the coffin down hard for anyone else for a very very long time

I run XC Pro 8spd thumbies with the 1989 model year Deore II on an 8spd cassette and its just about the most carefree shifting I have (over much later shimano sti)
 

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