[davereo]

What was the problem? Please share.

[albaraptor]

They just had to do some adjustment on front derailleur. They said it was really messed up.

[joyrides]

So I'm glad I found this thread because I'm having a similar problem with the front derailleur on my mountain bike. My chain was rubbing against the cage when I was in the large chain ring. I adjusted the cable and the trim screws...and then I REALLY messed it up. After further adjustments I was able to get it to shift pretty smoothly between the large and middle chain rings, but I cannot get it to drop down to the smallest ring. Ugh!!! I'm so frustrated with it. Wanted to try and fix it myself, but now I fear I will have to take it in for repair. Thanks for any advice you may have.

[HillDancer]

Start from the beginning, make sure the cage is parallel with large chainring, and a gap of no more than 2mm (less is better) between cage and tallest tooth, shift to low ring, screw in the cable tension adjuster, loosen the cable pinch bolt, move the chain to the small ring if it hasn't moved on its own, make sure the shifter lever or grip is in the correct position, set the low limiter, pull the cable snug, tighten the pinch bolt to spec, screw out the tension adjuster till cable is taut for instant response, shift to largest ring, adjust high limit screw. For shifting precision, use cable tension adjuster.

On my MTB triple the front dérailleur pinch bolt loosens frequently despite being torqued to spec, and is spontaneously problematic even though adjusted correctly; someday I will replace that POS FD & shifter.

[newleaf150]

Originally Posted by HillDancer

Start from the beginning, make sure the cage is parallel with large chainring, and a gap of no more than 2mm (less is better) between cage and tallest tooth, shift to low ring, screw in the cable tension adjuster, loosen the cable pinch bolt, move the chain to the small ring if it hasn't moved on its own, make sure the shifter lever or grip is in the correct position, set the low limiter, pull the cable snug, tighten the pinch bolt to spec, screw out the tension adjuster till cable is taut for instant response, shift to largest ring, adjust high limit screw. For shifting precision, use cable tension adjuster.

On my MTB triple the front dérailleur pinch bolt loosens frequently despite being torqued to spec, and is spontaneously problematic even though adjusted correctly; someday I will replace that POS FD & shifter.

Hill,

Nice instructional write-up!

Have you considered something like Loctite to keep your front derailleur's pinch bolt from backing out? That would be annoying. It only works for metal to metal - will eat/melt plastic.

[joyrides]

Originally Posted by HillDancer

Start from the beginning, make sure the cage is parallel with large chainring, and a gap of no more than 2mm (less is better) between cage and tallest tooth, shift to low ring, screw in the cable tension adjuster, loosen the cable pinch bolt, move the chain to the small ring if it hasn't moved on its own, make sure the shifter lever or grip is in the correct position, set the low limiter, pull the cable snug, tighten the pinch bolt to spec, screw out the tension adjuster till cable is taut for instant response, shift to largest ring, adjust high limit screw. For shifting precision, use cable tension adjuster.

On my MTB triple the front dérailleur pinch bolt loosens frequently despite being torqued to spec, and is spontaneously problematic even though adjusted correctly; someday I will replace that POS FD & shifter.

Thanks, Hill. That IS very helpful! I will give it a try and let you know how I make out.

[davereo]

Joy try to screw the adjuster back in a little before making any drastic adjustment. You have been adjusting your barrel adjuster and the FD shifting to the smallest cog is controlled by cable slack. In other words by letting out cable your deraileur moves towards the smaller chain rings. Your cable may be too tight.

Hilldancer is correct in his method but I would try reversing the adjustments you already made before attempting this. I have the Falken bike maintenance guide at home and I just replaced my deraileur cables housings on my Roubaix. I was getting a little perturbed with the FD using the method described by HD so I decided to pull the manual out to see if there was an easier method suggested. There was'nt but one note I picked up on in the book was that the FD was the most difficult thing to adjust properly on a bike. I was able to smooth it all out after a little patience and perserverance.

[joyrides]

Originally Posted by davereo

Joy try to screw the adjuster back in a little before making any drastic adjustment. You have been adjusting your barrel adjuster and the FD shifting to the smallest cog is controlled by cable slack. In other words by letting out cable your deraileur moves towards the smaller chain rings. Your cable may be too tight.

Hilldancer is correct in his method but I would try reversing the adjustments you already made before attempting this. I have the Falken bike maintenance guide at home and I just replaced my deraileur cables housings on my Roubaix. I was getting a little perturbed with the FD using the method described by HD so I decided to pull the manual out to see if there was an easier method suggested. There was'nt but one note I picked up on in the book was that the FD was the most difficult thing to adjust properly on a bike. I was able to smooth it all out after a little patience and perserverance.

Thanks Davereo. It does seem like a very temperamental thing. I will persevere though!

[joyrides]

I did it! I did it! It finally works. It's shifting between all 3 chain rings with no rubbing. Woohoo! Thanks, everyone, for your help and advice.

[ben]

good news!