How do I adjust the Front Deraileur

[Bill Sornson]

A Muzi wrote:
> Zonta wrote:
>> It says Shinmano on the clamp bracket and "333" appears on the side
>> of the cage.
>
> Made before about 1977 or so when they stopped using the
> old trademark and among the less expensive versions at that.
>
> New changers are about $15 if you can't get it going by
> cleaning it. Your changer may be fully amortized.

I'm picturing Andrew with a shop apron and an accountant's green visor.

Bill "easily entertained" S.

 

[Zonta]

In article <[email protected]>, A Muzi
<[email protected]> wrote:

> Made before about 1977 or so when they stopped using the
> old trademark and among the less expensive versions at that.
>

You guys are amazing!! I found a picture on a web site just last night
showing a fixed gear bike with exactly the same frame as mine, colour
and stickers and brand badge etc., and it says the bike was from around
1975, and you were able to name the year of the deraileur to that
proximity!

> New changers are about $15 if you can't get it going by
> cleaning it. Your changer may be fully amortized.

Thanks, it's good to know that, so I'll try the cleaning first and will
see.

 

[Zonta]

In article <[email protected]>, Werehatrack
<[email protected]> wrote:

> Okay, having looked at the ders on the bikes in the stable and at the
> ones in the Pile-O-Junk, I think i know what the return spring
> assembly is likely to include. Is there a shaft sticking out of one
> end of the round plastic "drum" you mentioned with an E-clip on it?
> If so, *in theory* you could open up the assembly and clean the crud
> out of it directly. Unfortunately, there's a very good chance that
> opening it up would be a dissassemble-only operation; at least one of
> the ders I examined clearly required that this part be assembled
> before the rest of the linkage was attached, and ther wasn't any way
> that I could see to take it apart far enough to allow the torsion
> spring end to be remounted correctly.
>
> If you know someone who has an ultrasonic cleaning tank, you could try
> taking it to them to run through that. I'm going to join the opinion
> which holds that the mechanism is heavily contaminated with crud, and
> that it needs to be cleaned out and lubed. If nothing else, take it
> off and drop it in a can with a 50-50 mixture of solvent (such as
> mineral spirits, but NOT gasoline) and motor oil overnight, and then
> manually work the linkage across its entire range vigorously (dipping
> it again periodically to flush loosened crud out) until it frees up.
> Nitrile gloves would be a good idea. Merely soaking it with cleaning
> agents alone may not do the trick, but I've found that the
> solvent-and-oil mixture frequently will free up things that had been
> declared hopeless. A lot depends on what's got it stuck; if it's old,
> gummed-up grease in a long-tube pivot, you may have to leave it in the
> solvent for several days before it will work loose.
>

Excellent advises, thanks. It just so happen that I have a small
ultrasonic cleaning tank, but I have never thought of applying it that
way. Thank you!

> For under $20, you can likely get a better one as a replacment,
> though. Is it worth the trouble?

And thanks again, but I'll try the cleaning first, looks like which
ever approach I may take, I'll have to take it apart, so I will go for
the free option first and see if it will work.

 

[Phil, Squid-in-Training]

Robin Hubert wrote:
> Phil, Squid-in-Training wrote:
>> Zonta wrote:
>>
>>> Thank you all for your replies, but I need more help.
>>>
>>> So far all the web pages I've been reading made reference to
>>> Parktool's instructions, but Parktool's instruction made no mention
>>> on adjusting the tension to the front deraileur cage itself.
>>>
>>> Let me explain it this way : if the cable is removed, the cage
>>> should move close to the frame under the tension of a spring
>>> attached to the cage itself, but on my bike, that movement is slow
>>> and sluggish, causing the chain to drop between the two gear plates
>>> during shifting from the large gear to the small gear. If I can get
>>> more spring force on the cage forcing it to move faster, this
>>> should not happen. I've checked my kid's bike and there is a visible "v"
>>> shaped spring
>>> attached to the front deraileur cage, from the way it is installed,
>>> no adjustment can be made to it, if it does not have enough
>>> tension, the spring has to be replaced.
>>>
>>> My bike has a different arrangement. The cage is attached to its
>>> clamp through a "drum" thing, it is apparent that a coil spring is
>>> housed inside giving the tension required to return the cage close
>>> to the frame when cable tension is removed, I believe this coil
>>> spring can be adjusted to give it more tension, I just don't know
>>> how. Can anyone help?
>>>
>>> Thanks in advance.
>>
>>
>> That drum thing is just a plastic cover that serves no purpose other
>> than aesthetics. The coil spring inside is still going to be weak. It's
>> likely a new derailleur is in order. Thankfully, they're cheap.
>
> Or possibly just cleaned and lubed?


Whoops, yes... I had read the other posts and assumed the OP had tried
cleaning it already.

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

 

[Zonta]

In article <[email protected]>, Phil,
Squid-in-Training <[email protected]> wrote:

> > Or possibly just cleaned and lubed?
>
>
> Whoops, yes... I had read the other posts and assumed the OP had tried
> cleaning it already.

Yes, you assumed correct, but I have cleaned the visible parts only,
once on the road again, it takes no time for it to jam up again. After
reading the very helpful replies here, I now believe that the enclosed
spring mechanism is either already jammed up itself which weakens the
tension and cannot tolerate the smallest amount of dirt accumulation on
the pivots, or that the spring has aged beyond its function.

I am going to give it a thorough cleaning (after Christmas) and try
again.

In the mean time, thank you everybody for your most helpful replies.

Merry Christmas to all.

 

[Ted Bennett]

> A Muzi wrote:
> > Zonta wrote:
> >> It says Shinmano on the clamp bracket and "333" appears on the side
> >> of the cage.
> >
> > Made before about 1977 or so when they stopped using the
> > old trademark and among the less expensive versions at that.
> >
> > New changers are about $15 if you can't get it going by
> > cleaning it. Your changer may be fully amortized.
>
> I'm picturing Andrew with a shop apron and an accountant's green visor.
>
> Bill "easily entertained" S.

Bill, here's a sartorial update for your mental files: Mr Muzi may be
the only shop guy who wears Armani at work, and no, he doesn't spend his
day behind a desk. Rather dashing apparel in comparison to the usual
t-shirt with clever sayings that most shop rats sport.

--
Ted Bennett

 

[A Muzi]

>>>Zonta wrote:
>>>>It says Shinmano on the clamp bracket and "333" appears on the side
>>>>of the cage.

>>A Muzi wrote:
>>>Made before about 1977 or so when they stopped using the
>>>old trademark and among the less expensive versions at that.
>>>New changers are about $15 if you can't get it going by
>>>cleaning it. Your changer may be fully amortized.

>>Bill "easily entertained" S. :
>>I'm picturing Andrew with a shop apron and an accountant's green visor.

Ted Bennett wrote:
> Bill, here's a sartorial update for your mental files: Mr Muzi may be
> the only shop guy who wears Armani at work, and no, he doesn't spend his
> day behind a desk. Rather dashing apparel in comparison to the usual
> t-shirt with clever sayings that most shop rats sport.

They're _used_ jackets, no longer needed by their dead
owners. Thrift store Italian clothing is much cheaper than
dry cleaning.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

 

[Ted Bennett]

A Muzi <[email protected]> wrote:

> >>>Zonta wrote:
> >>>>It says Shinmano on the clamp bracket and "333" appears on the side
> >>>>of the cage.
>
> >>A Muzi wrote:
> >>>Made before about 1977 or so when they stopped using the
> >>>old trademark and among the less expensive versions at that.
> >>>New changers are about $15 if you can't get it going by
> >>>cleaning it. Your changer may be fully amortized.
>
> >>Bill "easily entertained" S. :
> >>I'm picturing Andrew with a shop apron and an accountant's green visor.
>
> Ted Bennett wrote:
> > Bill, here's a sartorial update for your mental files: Mr Muzi may be
> > the only shop guy who wears Armani at work, and no, he doesn't spend his
> > day behind a desk. Rather dashing apparel in comparison to the usual
> > t-shirt with clever sayings that most shop rats sport.
>
> They're _used_ jackets, no longer needed by their dead
> owners. Thrift store Italian clothing is much cheaper than
> dry cleaning.

Yes, I was aware that, but should have mentioned it. I would not wish
to give anyone the erroneous perception that your pricing policy
supports new Italian suits.

Despite my often careless attire[matching socks? HA!], I find that most
people respond better to others who are well dressed.

--
Ted Bennett