The story of the SunTour Gran Tech/Superbe Tech series is a perfect example of hubris - of overweening pride, self-confidence, and even arrogance resulting in fatal retribution (you can’t beat Wikipedia for a definition).

In 1982 SunTour was at the peak of its powers, dominating the world market for derailleurs like a colossus. The French were vanquished, the Italians driven back into their tiny road racing redoubt and Shimano was smarting from the distinctly lukewarm market reception for its Positron and Dura-Ace AX initiatives.

SunTour decided that it would redefine the derailleur for a generation - and that the Gran Tech (later renamed Superbe Tech) would be that redefinition. The cable run was under the bottom bracket, along under the chainstay, then through a clamp-on tubular guide and straight onto the clamp bolt. No cable outer anywhere to add friction or get clogged with mud. The parallelogram was completely enclosed, with the smooth enclosure effectively acting as one parallelogram plate. The longer cage versions had SunTour’s sophisticated ‘Tech’ dual-pivot cage design. Combine it all with SunTour’s slant parallelogram and reputation for reliability and you have a brilliant package, so far ahead of anything anyone else had to offer that it was over the horizon. I remember these derailleurs as being irresistable to bike freaks everywhere, we all wanted to admire them, touch them and even, despite the expense, to dream of buying them.

But the whole package was a flawed work of genius. Whilst the parallelogram enclosure was effectively one ‘paralellogram plate’, the role of the other ‘parallelogram plate’ was played by a piece of high-tensile steel wire, only 2mm in diameter and anchored by right angle bends at either end (US patent # 4,469,479 figure 4a shows an exploded diagram). In use these right angle bends straightened or even broke and the parallelogram was no longer parallel. Needless to say, the fancy sealed parallelogram was hell to disassemble and repair. It was a weirdly trivial mistake to make, if SunTour had only used 3mm wire we might all be riding around with enclosed parallelogram derailleurs today.

To add insult to injury, the longer cage, dual-pivot, models shared with the MounTech the problem of the unreliable, hard to replaceable guide pulley. And all the variations were distinctly weighty. At a time when the short cage SunTour Cyclone Mark-II weighed 164g the Gran Tech tipped the scales at a chubby 203g.

A defeat snatched from the jaws of victory.

The timeline of different versions of these derailleurs is a little hard to work out, but it might go something like this:

• In 1982 SunTour released two models, the Gran Tech, with a conventional, short, 55mm, pulley cage, and a touring/mountain bike model with a dual-pivot, mid-length, 65mm, pulley cage. Hideki Sasaki refers to this touring/mountain bike model as the 'Gran Tech GT'. I think that it may have been called the 'Gran Tech L'. On this dual-pivot model the small screw on the inner pulley cage plate, that restricts its rotation, is towards the centre of the plate.
• It is possible that SunTour also released a Gran Tech model with the conventional long, 66mm, pulley cage from the SunTour Cyclone Mark-II GT. You can see this illustrated in US patent # 4,469,479. I think that this model may have been called the Gran Tech GT.
• There was some kind of copyright problem with the name 'Gran Tech' so during 1982, SunTour relaunched the series as 'Superbe Tech'. This is a touch odd as the Gran Tech was not really constructed to 'Superbe' standards. The engineering was more at the excellent, but not ultimate, Cyclone level.
• There were definitely 2 initial Superbe Tech models - the short cage Superbe Tech S and the mid-cage dual pivot Superbe Tech L. These derailleurs had a redesigned, simpler, more conventional, b-pivot bolt. There may also have been a third model - Hideki Sasaki refers to a conventional long-cage Superbe Tech GT - but this may only be a prototype.
• In 1983, SunTour made a number of small changes. They added a dual-pivot, long-cage, 85mm, model called the Superbe Tech GTL. They redesigned the b-knuckle with a reinforcing buttress on the mount of the b-pivot adjustment screw. They also redesigned the pulley cage on the Superbe Tech L, moving the small screw on the inner pulley cage plate that restricts the rotation to the front edge of the pulley cage plate.
• In 1984, SunTour changed the dual-pivot pulley cages yet again. Possibly because of, unarguably idiotic, Californian safety regulations, they foresook the excellent 'Quick Cage' design and changed to having a, much less convenient, openable chain trap at the tension pulley.

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This is a, tidy, but used, mid 1983 example of a Superbe Tech GTL (5400). It has an 85mm long, 'quick cage' style pulley cage. Some of its features include:

• It is branded 'SUNTOUR SUPERBE TECH'. The word 'SunTour' is uncoloured and embossed.
• The b-pivot bolt is a, fairly conventional, 6mm allen bolt trapped by a threaded ring at the rear of the bolt.
• There is a reinforcing buttress underneath the mount of the b-pivot adjustment screw.
• The inner surface of the p-knuckle has the trap for the end of the spring inset from the main barrel.
• The plastic seal between the p-knuckle and the outer pulley cage plate has a protruding part to cover the trap for the end of the p-pivot spring.
• The 85mm long dual-pivot pulley cage is a 'Quick Cage' design.
• The inner pulley cage plate does not have a 'spoke saver' at the tension pulley.

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• Derailleur brands: SunTour
• Categories: SunTour - the Superbe story, SunTour - the mountain bike gears, SunTour - Frank Berto and the curse of Duopar
• Country: Japan
• Date of introduction: mid 1983?
• Date of this example: unknown (it’s all too beautiful to mar with a two letter date code)
• Model no.: 5400
• Weight: 307g
• Maximum cog: 34 teeth (Source: Sutherlands fourth edition)
• Total capacity: 40 teeth (Source: Sutherlands fourth edition)
• Pulley centre to centre: 85mm
• Index compatibility: friction
• Chain width: 3/32”
• Logic: top normal
• B pivot: unsprung
• P pivot: two, both sprung
• Materials: largely aluminium with steel pulley cage plates and link element plate

Ref. 150