Front deraileur problem

[hurricane]

I have a 98 animal, with a deore XT front deraileur and can not seem to get it to hit all three chain rings.
Any guidance would be great.  [smiley=nod.gif]

[Gordo]

Front D's are a pain on an animal frame.

[hurricane]

I have a Precision billit front deraileur on my hard tail, should I change out ?

[RoentgenRanger]

Front D's are a pain on ALL K2/Proflexes...did ya double check your limit screws?

[Thunderchild]

They are a pain, but maybe this will work.  I experimented by accident and raised mine on my Oz 9 millimeters above the large chain ring .  That measurement is from the top of the large ring to the bottom of the outside derailleur cage.  It has worked flawlessly .  The instructions place it lower.  I am running an 8-speed with a 46, 32, 20.  I am curious as to whether or not this will work with others.  Try it and let me know.  

[Rawwill]

hmmm intresting...try checking your cable ,shifters and crank (make sure you clean it and oil) try shifthing and see if the cabel slacks..that way you would know if it`s the der. or shifters that`s nuts
....might just be wear and tear...  i heard a couple of my friends have that problem before and it ended up with a worn out bottom barkets....

[Rawwill]

one more thing...did you just install your rear derailuer recently? if you did...did you change your chains too? for all we know your chain might be a couple of link short...i dun really think you would need to change out the bilit...worst [smiley=disbelief.gif] to worst....just make it a single gear bike...hehhehe [smiley=laughing.gif]

[Old Proflexer]

what do you mean you can not seem to get it to hit all three chain rings?

if you mean - the throw will not reach either in or out or both, then adjust the stop screws to accomodate.

if its over or undershifting in the middle chainring - that's a cable adjustment and you need to see that the cable is setup properly initially at the derailler clamp before starting any adjustments for the inner and outer rings.

an xt front derailler and standard 3 position shifter will stop at all three rings dead on - it simply needs to be adjusted properly to do so and probably doesn't need to be changed.

my guidance would be that you may want to go to say the park site for detailed instructions as attaching, setting up and adjusting a front derailler on an mtb is more of an art form and done generally by touch and feel.  a good lbs mech could probably get it done in a stand in about 2-3 minutes

OP

[geoff]

I have a related problem on a 98 4000.  Just bout a new xt FD as my old LX one snapped.  I cannot get the xt FD to reach out to the big (42) ring.  the stop is right out.  The thing just seems to be at the end of its reach, about 0.5mm too short.

Anyone else seen same prob with new xt FD?  Anyone know a fix, before I give up and buy a different FD?

Ta,  G.

what do you mean you can not seem to get it to hit all three chain rings?

if you mean - the throw will not reach either in or out or both, then adjust the stop screws to accomodate.

.......

[StoereVent]

I have the same experience as Thunderchild: I once installed the FD myself and it worked not fine all the times: grannygear was the problem most of the time. Then my LBS renewed my chain, rear derailleur and chain rings and placed the FD back, but higher than I did (I did exactly what the instructions told me). From that moment on the FD works OK. At every moment I can reach each chain ring.

Maybe you should try that.

(The only thing that still annoys me, is that when I use the biggest ring in front and smallest in the back, my chain touches the cage of the FD. Nothing serious, but it makes a sound, and I like to make all the sounds, don't need help from my bike.)



Jeroen.

[geoff]

sussed it!

What I did was:
a) drink a mug of wine
b) ignore the shimano installation sheet
c) installed it with common sense
and it worked.

When I looked, the FD was indeed about 10mm above the ring, not 1-3 as shimano recommend. someone else posted the same, i.e. that 3mm is too close. [smiley=evil.gif]

[smiley=evil.gif]