The Suntour Competition can make a strong claim to be the first truly modern derailleur. It has a slant parallelogram, it has three dimensional cast knuckles, it has logically placed, clearly labelled, adjustment screws, it fits a Campagnolo end and has an adjustment screw, but most of all it is a wee jewel with the simple composed ‘less-is-more’ look that makes it identifiably the ancestor of today’s Shimano Dura-Ace or Campagnolo Record Carbon.

The 1964 SunTour Gran-Prix may have been the first slant parallelogram derailleur, but it was also packed with eccentric features that have not stood the test of time (like a SunTour Skitter it was low-normal and had only one spring that both operated the parallelogram and provided chain tension, most versions also had an adjustable length pulley cage - as on my first style of Skitter). A Gran-Prix would look mad on a modern bike, a Competition would blend in seamlessly.

One of my ‘derailleurs that changed the world’.

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1. •Brand: SunTour
   

2. •My category: SunTour - the V story
   

3. •Country: Japan
   

4. •Date of introduction: 1965
   

5. •Date of this example: 1970? (the rear parallelogram plate is stamped ‘Maeda Industries Ltd’ but the pulleys are embossed ‘Maeda Iron Works’ )
   

6. •Model no: unknown
   

7. •Weight: 256g
   

8. •Maximum cog: 24 teeth?
   

9. •Total capacity: 24 teeth?
   

10. •Pulley centre to centre: 46mm
    

11. •Index compatibility: friction
    

12. •Chain width: 3/32”
    

13. •Logic: top normal
    

14. •Pivots: two pivots, front sprung and rear unsprung
    

15. •Material: steel parallelogram plates and pulley cage plates, bronze(?) knuckles (they are chromed but not magnetic)
    

0039/B