105 front shifter

No it is not something to lve with. The front should
change easy!

My first guess ( at a real distance mind you ) is that the
cable needs to be greased or replaced.

Regards

Wayne

Tim Carey said:

My wife's 105 STI (triple), mated to a 105 front derailleur
is a bear to move from middle ring to the big ring. I can
move it but she really struggles to get it up top. No
problem from small to middle. Down shifting is not an
issue. Bike shop mechanic chic says that this is a problem
on the front for smaller hands. The rear shifts very
effortlessly.

Is the hard shifting on the front something to just
live with?

Thanks.

On Sun, 28 Mar 2004 00:14:01 GMT, "Tim Carey" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

My wife's 105 STI (triple), mated to a 105 front derailleur
is a bear to move from middle ring to the big ring. I can
move it but she really struggles to get it up top. No
problem from small to middle. Down shifting is not an
issue. Bike shop mechanic chic says that this is a problem
on the front for smaller hands. The rear shifts very
effortlessly.

Is the hard shifting on the front something to just
live with?

Thanks.

OK, I was having trouble believing your wife was having
trouble shifting but I happen to have the same setup on a
bike on my trainer, so I just got on it and tried it, and it
does take a lots of strength to do that shift. Apparently I
just got used to it, but I can see how it could be a problem
for some people. The other option is switching to a double
110 crank with 50/34 in front.

On Sun, 28 Mar 2004 00:14:01 GMT, "Tim Carey" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

My wife's 105 STI (triple), mated to a 105 front derailleur
is a bear to move from middle ring to the big ring. I can
move it but she really struggles to get it up top. No
problem from small to middle. Down shifting is not an
issue. Bike shop mechanic chic says that this is a problem
on the front for smaller hands. The rear shifts very
effortlessly.

Is the hard shifting on the front something to just
live with?

If you're sure the cable is free and lubricated (both in the
housing and at the bottom bracket cable guide) one other
thing to check is the cable attachment to the derailleur. On
the Ultegra triple (and perhaps your 105) the cable has to
pass over the little projection next to the clamping bolt.
If the cable is under the projection shifting from middle to
big ring becomes very difficult (but not impossible).

Removing the clamping bolt will reveal the cable groove in
the lever arm, making things abundantly clear.

jeverett3<AT>earthlink<DOT>net
home.earthlink.net~jeverett3Open ↗

Quoted message said:

My wife's 105 STI (triple), mated to a 105 front
derailleur is a bear to move from middle ring to the big
ring. I can move it but she really struggles to get it up
top. No problem from small to middle. Down

shifting

Quoted message said:

is not an issue. Bike shop mechanic chic says that this is
a problem on

the

Quoted message said:

front for smaller hands. The rear shifts very
effortlessly.

Is the hard shifting on the front something to just
live with?

The shift from middle to largest front chainring is always
the most difficult with an STI bike, for two reasons-

#1: Technique. Most don't realize that you actually have to
# hold the shift
lever all the way against the stop for a second or two to
get it to make that shift. It's not that she's not pushing
it far enough, but probably not long enough. It's
something that most of us do automatically, but many new
riders don't recognize. I see this all the time on test
rides; when we explain what to do ahead of time, the
problem usually goes away.

#2: Cable tension could be too tight, so that the
# derailleur just barely
moves to the point where the lever engages, requiring a lot
of force to get it to the click. A bit less cable tension
and things more better, in some cases.

#3: Make sure the cable is greased where it runs underneath
# the bottom
bracket, particularly on bikes where there's a metal
plate the cable runs over (the plastic ones aren't as
much of a problem).

But really focus on #1, especially if it's a problem that
she has with the bike and not others. It may seem like
mostly a small-hands problem, but it often isn't.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
chainreactionbicycles.comchainreactionbicycles.comOpen ↗