New bike...can't shift into big chainring!

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Originally Posted by Catriona

He's done it to my surly as well - I've got XTR shifters with a 105 front deraileur on it - it was initially easy to shift on the front derailleur, then I asked him to adjust something - and now in order to shift up on the front derailleur, I literally have to use the palm of my hand to push it in. ... I think he made the cable too tight with his adjustments.

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If the cable were too tight, then the frameward side of the cage would rub the chain, or it wouldn't want to downshift, or both. It would actually be easier to shift to the big chainring, because the 105 FD is low normal.

+1 on what laura* said. The cable doesn't go where it seems like it ought to on the 105 FD. There's a little protrusion on the washer (or on the pivot arm? I forget which even though I just replaced that cable four days ago) - anyway, there's a little protrusion that looks like it's supposed to hold the cable, but it's not. It's to keep the washer from turning when you tighten the bolt. On the opposite side there's a shallow channel that's very hard to see, especially if there's any grit or dirt in there - that's where the cable goes. When it's properly installed, the cable lives on the frameward side of the pivot arm, and the end of it is pointed out toward your leg, so that it could even catch your calf or heel if you don't bend it back.


PS - a barrel adjuster is really handy. Make sure you install one the next time you replace your cable housings...

DA is much easier to shift, but I think it's a combination of the shifter and the FD. The throw is a lot easier and shorter compared to ultegra or 105. Some of that might be due to the spring tension on the FD, but I think a lot of it is the shifter. That's because you'd have the same cable pull with DA (at least 7800) as the others because of cross-compatibility.

I think the new DA has adjustible levers, like SRAM. Anyone know if the new ultegra (6700) will too? The cable pull on that system is very different than the old because of internal routing, so you'd have to upgrade derailleurs and shifters. Then you might as well save some money and go with SRAM Rival or something.

I still think that it's likely the tuning isn't quite right. It shouldn't be impossibly hard. What does your husband have on his bikes?

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Originally Posted by OakLeaf

+1 on what laura* said. The cable doesn't go where it seems like it ought to on the 105 FD. There's a little protrusion on the washer (or on the pivot arm? I forget which even though I just replaced that cable four days ago) - anyway, there's a little protrusion that looks like it's supposed to hold the cable, but it's not. It's to keep the washer from turning when you tighten the bolt. On the opposite side there's a shallow channel that's very hard to see, especially if there's any grit or dirt in there - that's where the cable goes. When it's properly installed, the cable lives on the frameward side of the pivot arm, and the end of it is pointed out toward your leg, so that it could even catch your calf or heel if you don't bend it back.


PS - a barrel adjuster is really handy. Make sure you install one the next time you replace your cable housings...

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Oh, the bike without barrel adjusters - I'd bought a frame that evening and just had to build it up immediately. So I stripped all the pieces off an old bike & put it on the new bike. The barrel adjusters didn't fit the new bike, so they were left off. bike was finished at 2 am, and I took it for a spin. I haven't had to tune that bike since (it shifts great), so I haven't bothered to go get barrel adjusters to fit it. It does have a barrel adjuster on the rear derailleur, so I can tweak that if I have to.


Whenever I replace the cables or anything like that, I'll get it some barrel adjusters.

I checked my surly's 105 front derailleur - the cable does stick out towards my leg and the cable is clamped on the frameward side of the arm. And it looks like there's a slight groove that it's sitting in, but I didn't unscrew it to tell for sure. I don't think it's that the cable's routed wrong. But then, the cable is routed how it seems like it out to be (at least to me), so maybe it is routed wrong. I checked the diagrams on the install pdf on shimano, and it seems to be in line with that.

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Originally Posted by Catriona

I checked my surly's 105 front derailleur - the cable does stick out towards my leg and the cable is clamped on the frameward side of the arm. And it looks like there's a slight groove that it's sitting in, but I didn't unscrew it to tell for sure. I don't think it's that the cable's routed wrong. But then, the cable is routed how it seems like it out to be (at least to me), so maybe it is routed wrong. I checked the diagrams on the install pdf on shimano, and it seems to be in line with that.

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Well that does sound right. I'm out of guesses. Hope you get it sorted. :(

When the cable's installed, it doesn't look wrong to me, that's not what I meant. It's only when I'm installing a new one - or if I've completely disconnected the existing cable to adjust it - that it looks to me like it should go on the side with the protrusion.

Oh, it's not a big deal, i just push down with my palm instead of my thumb, I should just get better at tuning this stuff myself. that bike has a short chain stay, 9 speed road cranks up front (53, 39, 30) & 9 speed 105 and an 8 speed XTR cassette & derailleur in the back - so it sort of has a short chain length to make some pretty big gear changes, and it's tricky to tune well and has a lot of cross chain effects. I have an 8 speed chain on their currently, but I think I should put a 9 speed chain on it.

From http://www.hostelshoppe.com/tech_frontderail.php

"On Shimano bottom pull derailleurs it is important to note that the cable runs UP AND OVER the leverage tab. Many people make the mistake of using the leverage tab as a cable pinch by running the cable UNDER the leverage tab - this changes the pulling leverage of the front shifter and makes it impossible to properly adjust the front derailleur."

There's a nice photo on this web site with a circle drawn on the "leverage tab" they're talking about.

Just thought I'd close this thread out with an update...took the bike back to the LBS. As it turns out, they had put the R600s on the bike already. We adjusted the angle of handlebars, which helped with comfort and my ability to grip the brakes. We then put a Dura-Ace front derailleur on, and success! Shifting is much crisper and easier.

Thanks everyone for the help!