Front Derailleur On Carbon Fiber Frame: Braze-On Or Clamp-On? - Page 2

Yep, that is the frame. It would be nice to switch between the 53x39 crankset that I am ordering with the frame, and a compact crankset.

By the way, the component group is SRAM Red.

Super

well given your frame you have no choice, there is no hanger attached directly to the frame (with rivet nuts or other wise) so you will need a clamp... i would likely just go with the a 34.9 clamp-on front derailleur as they recommend. even though you could get a clamp addapter and a braze-on type derailleur i usually find that the less moving part the better... the less things that can break, come loose etc and the less flex... i would just go with the 34.9 clamp-on front derailleur

I have made a decision to only buy braze-on FDs. With a braze-on, you can alway match it to a clamp ring as required, making transfers from bike to bike easy. With a fixed clamp-on FD, it's often stuck to that one bike given the variation in seat tubes these days.

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Morphed Bianchi Camaleonte IV 2006, Ridley Damocles 2006, Garmin, Mac

+1. I use my 53/12 combination once or twice a month.

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"All that we see and seem is but a dream, within a dream..."

Yup. It's a matter of where you live and ride. I use 50/11 and 50/12 a lot, descending the mountains 'round here.

All Braze-on attachments allow a wide range of adjustable vertical possitions within the attachment. It is very easy to move them up and down.

My big gear is 53/12, but who pedals downhill? Normally I get better results by tucking in tight and relying on my inherent mass properties to zoom past the skinny types who've just beaten me to the top

BTW, have you heard of the PACTOUR Desert Training Camps run out of Tucson by Lon Haldemann? A few of our local club riders go out there every spring to get in some big miles and big climbs around southern AZ.

Not necessarily so. There were some frames--big name frames, at that--whose braze on mounts didn't offer enough adjustability for compact cranks. Maybe that's changed, maybe it hasn't. I dunno.

Ah, but 25 miles of downhill get boring iffin' you don't pedal! I'll pedal 'til I spin out or my laziness starts to dominate.

Yup. I ran into a friend of Haldemann's on a ride this summer, and he tried to convince me that what I really wanted to do was ride in one of several local 24 or 48 hour events. Uhm, no thank you.

There are, as you might expect, quite a few camps run, here. Gord Fraser is running one now, and he's a pretty good joe. Then there's always the option of skipping the camps and just riding with the Fairwheel Bike rides every day (except on Sunday, 'cuz they don't have 'em then.). The Saturday Shoot Out is legendary, and iffin' you're feelin' lucky, you can test your legs by tryin' to outsprint Gord Fraser, or in the winter time, Tom Danielson, as well as others from Team Healthnet, Jelly Belly, and etc.

If you are doing 2x20 or other forms of interval, you'll need to continue to put the power in and pedal. Another scenario where high gearing is required.

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Morphed Bianchi Camaleonte IV 2006, Ridley Damocles 2006, Garmin, Mac

..or else find a flattish spot for your intervals. I find it really hard to keep at level 5 going downhill or with a tailwind.

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"All that we see and seem is but a dream, within a dream..."

I understand that some people aren't so fortunate. As said earlier, it is one scenario where 53/11 or 50/11 may be necessary.

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Morphed Bianchi Camaleonte IV 2006, Ridley Damocles 2006, Garmin, Mac

Add Trek Madones to the list of CF bikes w/ clamp-on ft. derailleurs. Parlee was mentioned earlier, and I just wanted to point out that they have a tasty-looking ft. derailleur clamp (if you're willing to spend the $!)

Add Ridley Damocles to the list also. Clamp on required.

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Morphed Bianchi Camaleonte IV 2006, Ridley Damocles 2006, Garmin, Mac