New front derailleur

Paul M said:

Could anyone please advise on a new front derailleur to fit my 21 speed Dawes Audax 1997 with
Shimano STI indexed RSX.

Crankset is 26/36/46 and I have always had trouble keeping it working perfectly. It has to be set
just so if I want to be able to get all three chainwheels and it very soon goes out of adjustment
and then I can only get two of the three cogs. (Usually, the outer two).

I have noticed that the cage curve doesn't anything like match the perimeter of the 46 tooth wheel
and it also seems as if the derailleur doesn't have quite enough range of side to side movement so
won't quite go far enough to the left even with the stop screws removed.

There's only one front derailer that works well with this setup, the actual 1997 RSX. If yours
doesn't match the curve of the 46 ring, you don't have one of these, probably somebody pulled a
switcheroo at some time.

We still have some of these left, see:

sheldonbrown.comderailers.htmlOpen ↗

Sheldon "One And Only" Brown +-----------------------------------------------+
| I don't need instructions, I have a hammer. | -- T.W. Wier |
+-----------------------------------------------+ Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts Phone
617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041 harriscyclery.comharriscyclery.comOpen ↗ Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
captainbike.comcaptainbike.comOpen ↗ sheldonbrown.comsheldonbrown.comOpen ↗

paul-<< Could anyone please advise on a new front derailleur to fit my 21 speed Dawes Audax 1997
with Shimano STI indexed RSX.

<< Crankset is 26/36/46 and I have always had trouble keeping it working perfectly. It has to be set
just so if I want to be able to get all three chainwheels and it very soon goes out of adjustment
and then I can only get two of the three cogs.

Conventional brake(non sti) lever and a single bar-end shifter-

A MTB(old style for 46t rings) fder-

Peter Chisholm Vecchio's Bicicletteria 1833 Pearl St. Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535 vecchios.comvecchios.comOpen ↗ "Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

cant get to granny ring- sounds naff but check cables are okay-or replace them.

"Paul M" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Could anyone please advise on a new front derailleur to fit my 21 speed Dawes Audax 1997 with
Shimano STI indexed RSX.

Crankset is 26/36/46 and I have always had trouble keeping it working perfectly. It has to be set
just so if I want to be able to get all three chainwheels and it very soon goes out of adjustment
and then I can only get two of the three cogs. (Usually, the outer two).

I have noticed that the cage curve doesn't anything like match the

perimeter

Quoted message said:

of the 46 tooth wheel and it also seems as if the derailleur doesn't have quite enough range of
side to side movement so won't quite go far enough

to

Quoted message said:

the left even with the stop screws removed.

Any help gratefully received.

Thanks Paul.

(Remove junk to reply)

Please dont give [censored] advice to sell your own products.

"Sheldon Brown" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Paul M wrote:

Quoted message said:

We still have some of these left, see:

sheldonbrown.comderailers.htmlOpen ↗

Sheldon "One And Only" Brown +-----------------------------------------------+
| I don't need instructions, I have a hammer. | -- T.W. Wier |
+-----------------------------------------------+ Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts Phone
617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041 harriscyclery.comharriscyclery.comOpen ↗ Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
captainbike.comcaptainbike.comOpen ↗ sheldonbrown.comsheldonbrown.comOpen ↗

Sheldon Brown writes: [snip]

Quoted message said:

There's only one front derailer that works well with this setup, the actual 1997 RSX. If yours
doesn't match the curve of the 46 ring, you don't have one of these, probably somebody pulled a
switcheroo at some time.

We still have some of these left...

sheldonbrown.comderailers.htmlOpen ↗

Sheldon, Sir! You have these?!? Which model is it that works with the compact triple? RSX FD-A410,
A416 or A417? I think they made an RSX FD-A413, too.

Please let me know! Nicholas Grieco

Openworld said:

Please dont give [censored] advice to sell your own products.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

We still have some of these left, see:

sheldonbrown.comderailers.htmlOpen ↗

Sheldon "One And Only" Brown

Interesting that "Openworld" hides in anonymity while Sheldon has made many informative and useful
postings to help many of us sort various problems, for no charge at all.

If he were to disappear from this group, it would clearly be to our loss. I certainly don't begrudge
him offering advice that may result in sales for Harris Cyclery.

--
Ted Bennett Portland OR

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Please dont give [censored] advice to sell your own products.

I have purchased products from Harris Cyclery after reading about them in Sheldon's posts on RBT and
have been very satisfied at the help and practical advice he has provided, including candid posts
like "X won't help much and I wouldn't recommend it". You obviously aren't aware of how unbiased he
has been or what a valuable resource Sheldon has been to so many here.

Rick

I asserted:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

There's only one front derailer that works well with this setup, the actual 1997 RSX. If yours
doesn't match the curve of the 46 ring, you don't have one of these, probably somebody pulled a
switcheroo at some time.

We still have some of these left...

sheldonbrown.comderailers.htmlOpen ↗

Nicholas said:

Sheldon, Sir! You have these?!? Which model is it that works with the compact triple? RSX FD-A410,
A416 or A417? I think they made an RSX FD-A413, too.

I don't remember the Shimano part number, but the one featured at the URL quoted above is the
one you need.

Sheldon "See The Site" Brown +-------------------------------------------------------------+
| Give a man a fire, and he will stay warm for a day. | Set a man on fire, he stays warm for the
| rest of his life. |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+ Harris Cyclery, West Newton,
Massachusetts Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041 harriscyclery.comharriscyclery.comOpen ↗ Hard-to-find parts
shipped Worldwide captainbike.comcaptainbike.comOpen ↗ sheldonbrown.comsheldonbrown.comOpen ↗

Usually a lurker not a poster but got to jump in here. I'm a novice/beginner and have learned a ton
from Sheldon's posts. He's been so useful, I actually dropped him a personal note thanking him. So
what if he says "we have them" He told you what was needed and that they sold them. You can take his
FREE advice and shop elsewhere if you want. Personally I'm going to shop with people who have helped
me in some way

"Java Man (Espressopithecus)" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Please dont give [censored] advice to sell your own products.

I have purchased products from Harris Cyclery after reading about them in Sheldon's posts on RBT
and have been very satisfied at the help and practical advice he has provided, including candid
posts like "X won't help much and I wouldn't recommend it". You obviously aren't aware of how
unbiased he has been or what a valuable resource Sheldon has been to so many here.

Rick

Openworld-<< cant get to granny ring- sounds naff but check cables are okay-or replace them.

Since you give poor advice with even poorer typing and see fit to slam a guy that gives GREAT advice
on this NG, for FREE, why don't you sit back and listen, ya may learn something...

Peter Chisholm Vecchio's Bicicletteria 1833 Pearl St. Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535 vecchios.comvecchios.comOpen ↗ "Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

I think it's the A410. Just set one up with a 48t and the curve match is much better with it than
with the other A4XX that I have. Works great by the way with STI.

-Bruce-

"Nicholas" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Sheldon Brown writes: [snip]

Quoted message said:

There's only one front derailer that works well with this setup, the actual 1997 RSX. If yours
doesn't match the curve of the 46 ring, you don't have one of these, probably somebody pulled a
switcheroo at some

time.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

We still have some of these left...

sheldonbrown.comderailers.htmlOpen ↗

Sheldon, Sir! You have these?!? Which model is it that works with the compact triple? RSX FD-A410,
A416 or A417? I think they made an RSX FD-A413, too.

Please let me know! Nicholas Grieco

One other thing to check is that the derailleur isn't stopped on the seat tube.

Sorry Openworld, Sheldon is 100% correct on this one.

Shimano offered RSX with several unique characteristics, one of which was a road crank with 46T
large ring. That combined with STI and the funky angled motion of the dedicated RSX front derailleur
means the only derailleur that will work is the one designed for it, the one Sheldon recommended.

Peter offered an excellent option, which was to ditch the STI and use an older MTB derailleur.

"Openworld" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Please dont give [censored] advice to sell your own products.

"Sheldon Brown" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Paul M wrote:

Quoted message said:

We still have some of these left, see:

sheldonbrown.comderailers.htmlOpen ↗

Sheldon "One And Only" Brown +-----------------------------------------------+
| I don't need instructions, I have a hammer. | -- T.W. Wier |
+-----------------------------------------------+ Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041 harriscyclery.comharriscyclery.comOpen ↗ Hard-to-find parts shipped
Worldwide captainbike.comcaptainbike.comOpen ↗ sheldonbrown.comsheldonbrown.comOpen ↗

"Sheldon Brown" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Paul M said:

Could anyone please advise on a new front derailleur to fit my 21 speed Dawes Audax 1997 with
Shimano STI indexed RSX.

Crankset is 26/36/46 and I have always had trouble keeping it working perfectly. It has to be
set just so if I want to be able to get all three

chainwheels

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

and it very soon goes out of adjustment and then I can only get two of

the

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

three cogs. (Usually, the outer two).

I have noticed that the cage curve doesn't anything like match the

perimeter

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

of the 46 tooth wheel and it also seems as if the derailleur doesn't

have

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

quite enough range of side to side movement so won't quite go far enough

to

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

the left even with the stop screws removed.

There's only one front derailer that works well with this setup, the actual 1997 RSX. If yours
doesn't match the curve of the 46 ring, you don't have one of these, probably somebody pulled a
switcheroo at some

time.

Quoted message said:

We still have some of these left, see:

sheldonbrown.comderailers.htmlOpen ↗

Sheldon "One And Only" Brown +-----------------------------------------------+
| I don't need instructions, I have a hammer. | -- T.W. Wier |
+-----------------------------------------------+ Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts Phone
617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041 harriscyclery.comharriscyclery.comOpen ↗ Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
captainbike.comcaptainbike.comOpen ↗ sheldonbrown.comsheldonbrown.comOpen ↗

Thanks for that. I note the spring on mine is very weak and I've been having trouble finding one in
the UK. All I've found so far is for oversize tube which would need shimming. I'll order one
immediately while they're still available. Paul.

I said:

Quoted message said:

There's only one front derailer that works well with this setup, the actual 1997 RSX. If yours
doesn't match the curve of the 46 ring, you don't have one of these, probably somebody pulled a
switcheroo at some

time.

Quoted message said:

We still have some of these left, see:

sheldonbrown.comderailers.htmlOpen ↗

Paul Moss said:

Thanks for that. I note the spring on mine is very weak and I've been having trouble finding one
in the UK. All I've found so far is for oversize tube which would need shimming. I'll order one
immediately while they're still available.

You probably don't need one.

I've never heard of a derailer spring "going weak." There's no way the spring could get
overstressed, so I very much doubt there's anything wrong with the spring.

If your mech is sluggardly, it's probably a friction issue, either in the cabling or the
derailer itself.

See: sheldonbrown.comcables.htmlOpen ↗

Put a drop of oil on each of the 6 pivot points of the front mech's parallelogram, and on the spring
coils. Also, make sure that there's some light grease on the cable guide where it runs beneath the
bottom bracket.

Sheldon "Money-Grubbing Slimeball" Brown +------------------------------------------------------+
| One of my very favorite singer/songwriters is the | French folkie Gabriel Yacoub | His discs are
| hard to find, but worth looking for, | both his solo work and his earlier recordings with | the
| Breton group Malicorne. | sheldonbrown.commusic.htmlOpen ↗ |
+------------------------------------------------------+ Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041 harriscyclery.comharriscyclery.comOpen ↗ Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
captainbike.comcaptainbike.comOpen ↗ sheldonbrown.comsheldonbrown.comOpen ↗

Sheldon Brown wrote: [snip]

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

There's only one front derailer that works well with this setup, the actual 1997 RSX. If yours
doesn't match the curve of the 46 ring, you don't have one of these, probably somebody pulled
a switcheroo at some time.

We still have some of these left...

sheldonbrown.comderailers.htmlOpen ↗

Nicholas Grieco said:

Quoted message said:

...Which model is it that works with the compact triple? RSX FD-A410, A416 or A417? I think they
made an RSX FD-A413, too.

Bruce Lange said:

I think it's the A410. Just set one up with a 48t and the curve match is much better with it than
with the other A4XX that I have. Works great by the way with STI.

I just learned that the RSX FD-A410 does NOT work with my setup: a 26-36-48, 9 speed. While the
curve is a close match to the big ring, there just isn't enough capacity to also accomodate the 26.

Perhaps my frame geometry is too different from the spec for this FD. Am I correct in speculating
that seat- tube angle is one of the many factors determining FD capacity?

Nicholas Grieco