It works the wrong way round.

[Vigilies]

I have just fitted a new rear derailleur to my old Kona and the first thing I noticed on removing the "travel clip" after fitting the chain was that the spring is set up to take the derailleur to the low gear ring on the cassette when not under tension. This is the opposite direction to what I know as normal (ie derraileur moves to the high gear ring when not under tension). It is also a real pig to set up to index properly.
I don't think this is a general thing as my son's new Bianchi MTB works the "normal" way.
Has anyone else noticed this? Is it some wierd "foreign" design which has no place on a British standard Bike?

 

[Bobario]

the front mech on my new bike is the same. i tried setting it up about a week after i got it and it took me ages to work out how to do it. i was on the verge of giving up and taking it back to the shop to get them to look at it but soldiered on and did it in the end. you have to push the cage out as far as it will go before clamping the cable. so you need one hand to push on the mech, one to pull the cable tight and another to do up the bolt.

 

[fossyant]

You bought the wrong mech. They do both types

 

[rusty bearing]

This is known as a 'low normal' derailleur, I run one on my MTB. I don't think they are too hard to set up but the fact that everything is reversed can lead to some confusion.

 

[betty swollocks]

Used to be called 'rapid rise'. Maybe still is.
Takes a bit of getting used to but works well. The 'transitional phase' (heh heh) can be interesting though.
I thought of it like this.....now both shifters work the same way - push to pedal harder, pull to pedal easier.
Not difficult to index - just think in reverse ie start adjusting cable tension with the chain on the biggest sprocket.

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

the front mech on my new bike is the same. i tried setting it up about a week after i got it and it took me ages to work out how to do it. i was on the verge of giving up and taking it back to the shop to get them to look at it but soldiered on and did it in the end. you have to push the cage out as far as it will go before clamping the cable. so you need one hand to push on the mech, one to pull the cable tight and another to do up the bolt.

I don't believe that is correct. Low-normal is no easier or harder than normal (high-normal) mechs to set up. I think you ended up needing 3 hands only because your shifter was on the wrong (high gear) setting (with the cable all pulled inside the shifter) when you clamped the cable.

Whichever shifter one has (Low or high normal - it doesn't really matter except the number showing on the dial face plate is reversed), one should just shift it into the extreme setting with the most cable out (by pulling on the cable when you run through the shifts), then pull the cable tight at the rear mech and clamp as usual. Limit screws are set as usual (H for high limit and L for low limit for lining up the top pulley with the extreme rear cogs). Adjust cable tension as usual. Job done.

 

[Bobario]

I don't believe that is correct. Low-normal is no easier or harder than normal (high-normal) mechs to set up. I think you ended up needing 3 hands only because your shifter was on the wrong (high gear) setting (with the cable all pulled inside the shifter) when you clamped the cable.

Whichever shifter one has (Low or high normal - it doesn't really matter except the number showing on the dial face plate is reversed), one should just shift it into the extreme setting with the most cable out (by pulling on the cable when you run through the shifts), then pull the cable tight at the rear mech and clamp as usual. Limit screws are set as usual (H for high limit and L for low limit for lining up the top pulley with the extreme rear cogs). Adjust cable tension as usual. Job done.

I'm not sure I fully understand all that, but I tried to do my front mech and the only way I could get it to work was the way I described above. When I undo my cable the bolt used to clamp it disappears between the chainstays and the seat tube. I managed to find a miniature spanner that would just about reach but every way I tried it, it wouldnt work. If I push on the cage and clamp the cable with the mech and shifter in the high gear position, the bolt becomes accessible even for an allen key and everything seems to be working ok. What I may have been doing was clamping the cable without pulling it fully tight, so the slack in the cable meant it couldnt reach the outer chainring? The bike is a 2012 lapierre zesty and there are a few posts on the lapierre owners club website describing the same thing.

Thanks for the advice though, I'll have another look at it this weekend and see if there's an easier way.

 

[Camrider]

I fitted one of those on my Dawes Galaxy years ago. Did not find it any harder to set up than the traditional configuration. I like the fact that with bar end shifters pushing the lever down drops the gearing which is more intuitive.

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

I'm not sure I fully understand all that, but I tried to do my front mech and the only way I could get it to work was the way I described above.

Hi Bobario I wasn't disagreeing with you whether it might be necessary to do what you did with a front mech (for access reason e.g. in your case), I was only questioning your suggestion that the OP/yourself/anybody needing to push against the mech spring as far as it goes before clamping the cable for a Low-Normal rear mech (or indeed any rear mech).

 

[Bobario]

Hi Bobario I wasn't disagreeing with you whether it might be necessary to do what you did with a front mech (for access reason e.g. in your case), I was only questioning your suggestion that the OP/yourself/anybody needing to push against the mech spring as far as it goes before clamping the cable for a Low-Normal rear mech (or indeed any rear mech).

yeah no worries mate. your post did make me think theres got to be an easier way to do mine though. the op made me remember all the faffing about i had to do. it put me off doing the back one. its a crap design on an otherwise excellent bike.

 

[Psycolist]

Rapid rise is the dogs wotnots. Not many agree but , as somebody earlier in this thread says, It just makes both y'shifters work the same way round. I've used these mechs exclusively for about 2-1/2 years now, never had a single problem with fitting, setting up or using, but the reaction I get from staff in LBS is quite extraordiary. One even refused to order me in new jockies because he was certain that I would never be able to get it work correctly and blame him for getting the wrong parts.

 

[ufkacbln]

My wife's Rohloff is wired in reverse as she finds the concept of twisting forward for faster and backwards for slower easier to manage.