Front Derailleur Adjustment

RedRider2009 said:

I just bought a used Trek Pilot 1.0 which is a triple. My front derailleur works fine on the 2 smaller chainrings, but it will not go to the top ring without a ton of hesitation and pampering. Any suggestions about how to adjust my front derailleur so it will get to the big chainring while still functioning properly on my other rings would be appreciated. Thank you.

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1 of 2 things:

the H-screw may need some adjusting. This is one of the two small screws facing outward on the front derailleur. Turning it counter-clockwise should work. warning, don't open it up too much though or the chain may come off the big ring.

or the cable may be a little loose. New cable sets will undergo some "stretch" which is really just the housing compressing a little from the initial use. Generally when I re-cable a bike, I ride it for a couple hundred miles and then re-adjust it. To tighten the cable, you should be able to do this with the barrel adjuster. If you don't have a barrel (I don't on one of my bikes), just shift the front d into the small ring, loosen the pinch bolt and pull the cable though ever so slightly, until it's right.

Some folks will suggest to bring it back to the shop where you bought it, but I am a proponent of trying it yourself Some stuff, like cutting a steerer tube, it's best to let the shop do it (although I always cut my own) since an error would be costly or dangerous. Anything involving the tuning of the drivetrain though i think it helps to learn to do it yourself. It's part of the cycling experience, and you will save money over time. IMHO

PeterF said:

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1 of 2 things:

the H-screw may need some adjusting. This is one of the two small screws facing outward on the front derailleur. Turning it counter-clockwise should work. warning, don't open it up too much though or the chain may come off the big ring.

or the cable may be a little loose. New cable sets will undergo some "stretch" which is really just the housing compressing a little from the initial use. Generally when I re-cable a bike, I ride it for a couple hundred miles and then re-adjust it. To tighten the cable, you should be able to do this with the barrel adjuster. If you don't have a barrel (I don't on one of my bikes), just shift the front d into the small ring, loosen the pinch bolt and pull the cable though ever so slightly, until it's right.

Some folks will suggest to bring it back to the shop where you bought it, but I am a proponent of trying it yourself Some stuff, like cutting a steerer tube, it's best to let the shop do it (although I always cut my own) since an error would be costly or dangerous. Anything involving the tuning of the drivetrain though i think it helps to learn to do it yourself. It's part of the cycling experience, and you will save money over time. IMHO

Disagree philosophically(sp?). Bike shops are notorious for selling poorly assembled and adjusted bicycles. They need to have their feet held to the fire to put well assembled bikes on the street or potential cyclists will get frustrated and take up tennis or something. You wouldn't buy a car and be happy with it if some adjustment wasn't right, don't do it with a bicycle.

So I suggest going back to where you bought it.

Peter@vecchios said:

Disagree philosophically(sp?). Bike shops are notorious for selling poorly assembled and adjusted bicycles. They need to have their feet held to the fire to put well assembled bikes on the street or potential cyclists will get frustrated and take up tennis or something. You wouldn't buy a car and be happy with it if some adjustment wasn't right, don't do it with a bicycle.

So I suggest going back to where you bought it.

Peter I appreciate your point but isn't it just part of the initial break in? Also there is a certain value with becoming familiar with the system. I agree about the car analogy, but I think it's nice to be able to fix bike issues on the road. Calling my wife to come get me when I have a mechanical at 6:30am when she's getting the kids ready for school doesn't go over to well... :eek:

Back to the first suggestion: I purchased the bike from another person in the bike club I ride with. The bike had about 2000 miles on it when I bought it. Would the cables still be stretching? Isn't that one of the primary pieces of a bike to break in? I will try moving the H screw like you said. Thanks for the feedback Peters!

RedRider2009 said:

Back to the first suggestion: I purchased the bike from another person in the bike club I ride with. The bike had about 2000 miles on it when I bought it. Would the cables still be stretching? Isn't that one of the primary pieces of a bike to break in? I will try moving the H screw like you said. Thanks for the feedback Peters!

I had trouble with shifting onto my large ring too, and all the adjusting in the world, and lubing, etc., would not fix it. I fnally ended up replacing the little plastic guide on the bottom of my BB and now it works great.

I had other obligations today, but tomorrow I will try adjusting it, and if that does not work I may have to try your suggestion. How much would one of the plastic things cost?

PeterF said:

Peter I appreciate your point but isn't it just part of the initial break in? Also there is a certain value with becoming familiar with the system. I agree about the car analogy, but I think it's nice to be able to fix bike issues on the road. Calling my wife to come get me when I have a mechanical at 6:30am when she's getting the kids ready for school doesn't go over to well... :eek:

I say what I said in a philosophical sense, not a practical sense. A well assembled bike needs little in terms of post sale adjustments, why most offer it(costs little). This doesn't sound like a small issue, not really being able to get it into the big ring, but a loose inner wire, limit screw issue that should have been addressed during the build. It's like buying a new car and have one tire too low, have it be dirty, stuff scattered about in the trunk, stickers on the window...examples of poor setup.

Bike adjustments sometimes go south, I realize that but the bike shop still needs to take care of their customers. I have talked to others in other bike shops that hope they never see the customer again(worked for one also)...poor form and damaging to the bike biz.

Peter@vecchios said:

I say what I said in a philosophical sense, not a practical sense. A well assembled bike needs little in terms of post sale adjustments, why most offer it(costs little). This doesn't sound like a small issue, not really being able to get it into the big ring, but a loose inner wire, limit screw issue that should have been addressed during the build. It's like buying a new car and have one tire too low, have it be dirty, stuff scattered about in the trunk, stickers on the window...examples of poor setup.

Bike adjustments sometimes go south, I realize that but the bike shop still needs to take care of their customers. I have talked to others in other bike shops that hope they never see the customer again(worked for one also)...poor form and damaging to the bike biz.

I agree.

RedRider2009 said:

I had other obligations today, but tomorrow I will try adjusting it, and if that does not work I may have to try your suggestion. How much would one of the plastic things cost?

Is this the same bike with the out of true wheel you mentioned in another thread??

No, the out of true wheel is on the Trek 1.5 that I bought about 1.5 months ago new. The bike that needs adjustment is a Trek pilot 1.0 that I bought used from a club member...

RedRider2009 said:

I had other obligations today, but tomorrow I will try adjusting it, and if that does not work I may have to try your suggestion. How much would one of the plastic things cost?

Correct name is bottom bracket cable guide. When I replaced mine, it was about $1.25.