Quote Originally Posted by lph View Post
Did the FD shift to the large chainring and then make thumping sounds? Or did it not want to shift?

Once you've shifted the chain should run smoothly with no grinding or thumping sounds. Any sounds after shifting mean that the FD (or something else!) is rubbing against the chain, and needs to be adjusted. The FD should only touch the chain when shifting.

It can make some noise during shifting, but the shifting should be quick and smooth. Very noisy or sloppy shifting may mean that the FD is misaligned so that it pushes against the chain at an angle. If you have a way of suspending your bike, at least the rear wheel while you pedal and shift, you might be able to see if the der hits the chain at an angle or not.
Didn't like to shift. Once it did, it was a happy drivetrain. Didn't happen frequently enough, but there wasn't a problem after shifting.

I'll look at it tonight.

One thing he said - and I'll put this out there for all of the wise and knowledgeable folks here to confirm or debunk - he said that smaller frames (or, really, any frame that is an outlier size-wise - either really small or really big) sometimes get finicky in terms of getting them tuned well?? Truth or fiction?