Quote Originally Posted by Chicago rider View Post
Yeah, I hadn't heard of Suntour, but didn't know if that was just my ignorance.
Suntour was a big name back in the 1980's. At the time, Shimano was an "also ran". Suntour didn't keep up with technology and went bust. Essentially, the small bike specific company was buried by the big company that made bike parts as a sideline.

Sakae Ringyo (aka SR) is another Japanese company that was popular back in the day.

The remnants of these companies have been resurrected as a brand name for what today are probably Taiwanese parts.

Quote Originally Posted by Chicago rider View Post
The SRAM shifters vs the shimano....well I think the SRAM is all thumb use and no trigger finger. Is this a large learning curve do you think?
I've ridden Shimano Rapidfire+ for years. But my newish commute bike has SRAM triggers. I feared the adaptation process but it really wasn't bad. I did however have to rotate the shifters to avoid accidental shifts.