Front Derailleur Adjustment



G

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Guest
In trying to rid a front derailleur cage rub when on small chainring and large freewheel, I have a very difficult time getting the adjustment so that all gears work properly. I don't know if I just have a mental block when it comes to adjusting the front derailleur, or what, but I often seem to have trouble with it.

I have Ultegra STI 16 speed(about 5 years old).

When I started the adjustment using the limit screw to move the cage to avoid contact with the chain, the limit adjustment screws did not touch the derailleur body, so the limit adjustment screws did nothing when turning it in the direction I needed to move the cage. So, I released some tension from the cable to allow the screw adjustment to work. That worked to be able to get the derailleur off the chain, problem is now the chain won't shift to the large chainring. It almost makes it and will go to the large chainring and then shift back to the small ring as soon as I release the lever.

Do I need to just have more patience and continue to adjust the cable tension (slightly) until it will shift to the large chainring AND be able to adjust the limit screws to end the cage rub? Is there a secret handshake or way that I need to hold my mouth to get this right?

I figured that some of you wise roadies out there would be old hands at this issue.

Thanks for the help.
 
Big_Daddy - Lets start from the beginning:

  • Make sure you have selected the lowest gear in front i.e. the selection that will move your chain to the small chain ring (this might be the cause of your problem ”and then shift back to the small ring as soon as I release the lever”) if you haven't and you want to shift up the lever will not click to keep the tension.
  • Loosen the nut that clamps the cable totally so there is no tension on the cable
  • Adjust the limit screw so that the alignment is correct for the small chain ring
  • Now pull the cable as tight as you can with some pliers and tighten the ‘cable clamp nut’

You should now be able to shift to the big chain ring:

If it goes to far; adjust the other limit screw to move the derailleur towards the smaller ring.

If it still doesn’t make it; put some more tension on the cable and try again.

Let me know how it went.
 
Thanks Goat,

There were a few steps in there that I missed. I'll give it a go tonight and let you know how it went.

Thanks again
 
I'm lazy to type..

This URL might help you

http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech/?id=fix/frontmech

Good Luck
 
Good link 53x14, pictures always help
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There are a heap of great articles on cyclingnews.com about anything 'tech' related

http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech/
 
Thanks everyone. Great info 53x14.

Worked on it last night using Goat's advise and I think I finally got it right. I think part of my problem is adjusting to far at one time instead of small increments.