DISRAELI GEARS
SunTour made a real effort with their 1987 range. To support index shifting the Cyclone 7000 got two sprung pivots. The quality of finish was improved from the 6000 series, in particular the coloured finish on the outer parallelogram plate cage was tougher and the writing lasted more than 5 seconds. The overall effect was more composed and integrated.
None of this made much difference. In 1987 the new game in town was indexing. Accurate indexing requires an optimised system involving all the transmission components, and SunTour had not managed to optimise the chain, freewheels, levers, inner cable or cable outer - and because of this the Cyclone 7000 never indexed reliably.
For 1987 Shimano had released the extremely stylish, white and grey, Santé groupset, based on research showing that there was a new American consumer who wanted a quality road bicycle but wanted it to be styled like a ‘proper’ consumer item, rather than a piece of industrial machinery.
This white Cyclone 7000 is a sign of just how spooked SunTour were by Shimano’s relentless progress. Santé was a fine idea but a sales failure - but SunTour’s knee-jerk response was to reach for the white metal-flake paint and slap it on the outer parallelogram plate of the Cyclone 7000.
