28.6 15 Speed Front Derailluer



AustinMartin

New Member
Jul 22, 2010
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I need a 28.6 15 speed front derailluer for my Nishiki Ultra Tour 15. It broke Sunday while I was doing restoration work on it. It has a 3 gear cassette up front. It had a Suntour Cyclone derailluer on it. But I would like to find something newer for it. What can you guys suggest? The part needs to be under $50!

Austin
 
First off, in todays terminology it's more frequent to use the number of gears at the back as the determining factor. You're looking for 5-speed parts, or possibly 3x5. And I don't think I've seen anything new with 5 speed for years. 6-speed is still around on department store bikes and such though.
However, assuming it's friction shifted a FD isn't particularly finicky about where it's used.
In theory derailer cages should become narrower as the number of speeds go up, but I'm far from certain to which extent that change has been implemented.

My guess is that anything listed as 7-speed compatible should work fine. This automatically puts you at the low end of the range, so price shouldn't be an issue.
Something like a Shimano non-group component should do, or maybe an Acera/Tourney.
Oh, and try to match tooth count span and Seat tube diameter too. A wider clamp can be successfully shimmed to a smaller size(as long as you don't use tape, pieces of inner tube or something equally squishy) but stretching a too small one will most likely be more of a headache.

Otherwise if you want to keep it in "period" style there is always ebay.
 
I think all 8-speed Shimano front derailleurs have roughly the same size cage as the 7-speed front derailleurs ...

So, a (NOS, or used) Shimano 600 (8-speed Ultegra) would probably be a good choice ... figure $15-to-$25 on eBay.
 
Thanks guys! Sorry for taking a few hours to reply. My bike got vandalized pretty badly this morning, so its been busy.
 

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