Front der/cage adjustment

[talisman50082]

Geesh , have a cheap but newish road bike, which hopefully is sold. The cables are all new and the front cage cable had stretched a little and needed adjusting to travel from the small to large ring. Considering there isnt a lot to adjust , H&L stops, cage and cable tension, it was a real pain lol. Its about right now but i need a test run to make sure. I think perhaps i had the H screw interfering with the cage movement. I know that sounds daft but its easily done ,especially if you simply cant get the chain to move up in the first place lol. By the way i live in a marina on a narrowboat, no garage or shed. Learning all the time, learning all the time lol. If anyone has a foolproof method of setting and adjusting the cage/cable would like to hear it.

 

[nethfel]

I wouldn't say fool proof, but I had to adjust my front cage a bit due to chain rub - there were some great videos on YouTube that really did clearly explain everything step by step (I watched several people talk about the subject, including: Art's Cyclery, GCN, Sweetsbench and Performance Bicycle). The only thing I had to mentally adjust was dealing with slack in the cable - sometimes I just couldn't seem to get enough out as I was calibrating everything and I found it easier to push the derailleur a little to add in some extra slack while adjusting the barrel up the cable (plus on the last little adjustment I could get the derailleur just where I wanted it to sit after cable tension was adjusted - granted not the technically correct way to do it, but it worked for me on the last bit of fine tuning) - made it a lot easier to pull in the slack when it wasn't being pulled on by the springs in the derailleur

 

[slowmotion]

I feel your pain @talisman50082. I'm being driven bonkers by my front derailler. On a longish ride on Saturday, the chain dropped off the small chainring when in the lower gears, and rubbed when on the big chainring when using half the cassette. I'm pretty sure that the gear service, a day before at CycleSurgery, was not entirely effective or value for money. (Grump). There are no barrel adjusters at all between the shifters and the front derailler cable clamp. That could be part of the reason that it's hard to get right.

 

[talisman50082]

I would def fit a barrel adjuster. It allowed me to fine tune ,lost without one lol. Sounds like one of your screw stops needs adjusting to stop the chain dropping off the small ring. Could be the same with the rubbing on your big ring. Im guessing ,but they are so frustrating. I also check out You Tube videos,some excellent tutorials.

 

[talisman50082]

I intend to learn to do all servicing myself. Have a couple of books now and can use google. Determined to diy and build a bike from the frame up. Thats why bikes are fun,not overcomplicated but still use precision engineering and dont require much space.

 

[slowmotion]

I would def fit a barrel adjuster. It allowed me to fine tune ,lost without one lol. Sounds like one of your screw stops needs adjusting to stop the chain dropping off the small ring. Could be the same with the rubbing on your big ring. Im guessing ,but they are so frustrating. I also check out You Tube videos,some excellent tutorials.

The cables run mainly inside the frame. I can't see anywhere were it would be possible to fit a barrel adjuster. The bike's a Cinelli Experience Veloce 2013.

 

[nethfel]

I don't know if you have one based on your original post, but if you don't then definitely get a stand, makes adjusting and cleaning a lot easier. I picked one up for ~$90 USD and never looked back (considering the cost of my bike computer, cadence, lights, pedals, shoes, etc. - $90 was a "minor" expense). The one I got is a collapsable one, fold out legs, adjustable height, rotatable gripper - makes it easy for me to store it while not in use.

 

[talisman50082]

Look at inline barrel adjusters. Just use thread lock or similar to prevent vibration problems.

 

[talisman50082]

I don't know if you have one based on your original post, but if you don't then definitely get a stand, makes adjusting and cleaning a lot easier. I picked one up for ~$90 USD and never looked back (considering the cost of my bike computer, cadence, lights, pedals, shoes, etc. - $90 was a "minor" expense). The one I got is a collapsable one, fold out legs, adjustable height, rotatable gripper - makes it easy for me to store it while not in use.

I have a stand,but you make a valid point,very useful piece of kit.

 

[slowmotion]

Look at inline barrel adjusters. Just use thread lock or similar to prevent vibration problems.

Thank you very much for the suggestion. I had never heard of in-line adjusters before.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

Setting up your FD is pretty straight forward providing you have the height and angle right, put the shifter in the lower gear position, release clamp, make sure cage is the correct distance from the inner ring by adjuster the L-stop screw, re-attach cable taking up slack either finger tight or with pilers/cable puller, take up any extra slack with the barrel adjuster (if fitted) hold the FD cage while doing this as you will feel when the slack cable is now pulling on the FD, it should now move on to the outer rings correctly, if it won't move across all the way the H-stop screw may need adjustment.

Hope this helps