Who made a high-quality front derailleur to fit a 1" seat tube?

[Gordon]

Thank you for all the responses. I have learned a lot in this thread, and I suspect there is more to come. I am leaning toward the Suntour Spirt simply because it looks like it has the biggest stoutest hinge. I can live with it working backwards, although I see it clamps the cable and the housing moves the derailleur. That might get a little weird with modern stiff cable housing, but maybe it will be fine.

I may have one of these also, I will look.

 

[Chavez]

I didn't want to use shims because I figured they would slip. Also, it seems nobody makes a direct mount adapter for 25.4. I dug deep for that but it doesn't seem to exist. I would be back to using shims.

Yeah I was thinking a direct mount adapter in a 28.6 might exist and then you could use the shim. Keep in mind that many if not most non-direct Mount modern derailleurs have shims that come with them from the factory. If you don’t like using shims, I totally get it. You want your bike the way you want it. I’m the same way. Good luck on your search. I’m sure you’ll figure out a great if not the best option.

 

[bloo]

Pictures of the Rainier project are over here:

1981 RaceLine Rainier | Project Rides

Well Cabers, I haven't posted anything about the 41 Schwinn lately because I have been a little distracted. You see, I bought a pile of parts on ebay. This is what's left of a 1981 RaceLine Rainier 26 inch "Trail Cruiser". I had a new one back in 81. It looked like this. This was a...

thecabe.com

 

[Gordon]

Here is a Suntour Spirt. A little dirty, but no wear, I'm sure it has never been on a bike.

 

[bulldog1935]

late to the party, but I would recommend the SunTour infinite band-clamp, which adjust to any size seat tube
This may have also been marked Spirt (when they meant Sprint)