SunTour Superbe (2100 early 1977 version) derailleur

Following Shimano’s foray into rebranding their Crane as a ‘pro quality’ derailleur (as part of the Dura-Ace groupset), SunTour responded with the aptly named Superbe. This is a beefed up Cyclone, with wider parallelogram plates, stronger castings for the knuckles and beefy stainless steel pivot pins.

So that those dare-devil pro mechanics could replace gear cables on the move (while leaning out of car windows, Tour de France style) the cable routing was moved outside the parallelogram and the eye bolt (hard to thread on those rough Pyrenean roads) was replaced by a bolt and clamping washer.

The first model, launched in early 1977, was the plain vanilla Superbe (2100). Like the Cyclone this had steel b-pivot and p-pivot main Allen bolts with branding on them. It also has steel hex headed pulley bolts and cable clamp bolt. Taken altogether, the Superbe (2100) was another fantastic design from SunTour.

There were three distinct variants:

The very first models from early 1977 had a hex headed parallelogram spring retaining bolt and no black paint surrounding the ‘Superbe’ lettering on the outer parallelogram plate. As well as the silver version, this variant was also offered anodised gold.
In late 1977 black paint was added to the outer parallelogram plate attractively highlighting the ‘Superbe’ lettering.
In 1978 the hex headed parallelogram spring retaining bolt was replaced by a smoother recessed Allen key item.

This is a plain-ornery silver example of an early 1977 version of the SunTour Superbe (2100).

On this particular example every single bolt head and allen key socket has been chewed as if by some crazed, chrome-eating beaver. This illustrates a rule known to all bicycle mechanics - that ace racing cyclists think they are ace bicycle mechanics but, in fact, athletic prowess and mechanical sympathy have a correlation coefficient of exactly zero.

You will often see a local cycling star eschewing a ring spanner in favour of the open-ended variety, using a screwdriver as a chisel or tightening a nut with a pair of pliers. When you observe this, cast your mind back to all those adverts you have seen claiming that this or that product was developed using the expertise of that or this professional racing team. And thank your lucky stars that the claim is only so much marketing bullshit.