Front derailleur

I don't know a lot about bikes, but you have to realize your bikes are at least 10 years old. You cant look up 105 or Sora and find components for your bike. The names remain the same, but the specs aren't. Your 105 8 speed setup(2 chain ring x 8 cassette) isn't the same as todays 105(11 speed, 2 chainring x 11 cassette). The other problem is, older parts are sometimes more expensive as opposed to cheaper. This is due to the fact that they go out of market and can be harder to track down. I can understand wanting to do it yourself, bike shops can be expensive and relying on others to fix things isn't ideal. I'm not mechanically inclined and can only do basic repairs at the moment.

One option you may try is to bring your bike to a shop and tell the owner that you want to do the repairs yourself. Let him know you came to order all the necessary parts to repair it yourself. If you don't want to go that route, find the name of every component and year. You may be able to do this by looking up your bikes make and model year to find its specs online.

JD1234 said:

I'm just plain confused.

So am I.

JD1234 said:

What do I need to purchase?

I have absolutely no idea! Perhaps you can possibly be less specific. What, exactly, is broken? Or in need of repair/adjustment?

6 speed and 8-speed bikes and their components are kind of obsolete. This does not mean you can't get needed spare or replacement parts, but they may take a bit more searching to track down.

10 years in a hot attic? You're going to need tires, possibly need inner tubes and every bearing will need grease and/or oiled. You may also need brake blocks/pads.

JD1234 said:

Believe you me I have a TON more questions to come like how to cut shifter cables and where to buy parts,

I would suggest cable cutters. Maybe those by Park Tool or perhaps you could use a pair ol linesman's 9's and a file or maybe a Dremel tool and square it up with a bench grinder if talking about the housing. The actual multi-strand inner wire can be soldered first and cut to length with side cutters, diagonal pliers, by-pass loppers, needle nose pliers with cutters...anything sharp and strong enough to yield a clean cut.

Parts? Amazon. Any of the reputable online dealers. Any good local bike store. The local shop can sell you the parts you might need, correct tools to perform the repairs and they usually dispense good advice to rookies for free.

Start at the local bike shops. Hit the Park Tool website for advice on tools and watch the videos on how to use them. Hit up the online bike dealers as you gain experience.

Uawadall said:

I don't know a lot about bikes, but you have to realize your bikes are at least 10 years old. You cant look up 105 or Sora and find components for your bike. The names remain the same, but the specs aren't. Your 105 8 speed setup(2 chain ring x 8 cassette) isn't the same as todays 105(11 speed, 2 chainring x 11 cassette). The other problem is, older parts are sometimes more expensive as opposed to cheaper. This is due to the fact that they go out of market and can be harder to track down. I can understand wanting to do it yourself, bike shops can be expensive and relying on others to fix things isn't ideal. I'm not mechanically inclined and can only do basic repairs at the moment.

One option you may try is to bring your bike to a shop and tell the owner that you want to do the repairs yourself. Let him know you came to order all the necessary parts to repair it yourself. If you don't want to go that route, find the name of every component and year. You may be able to do this by looking up your bikes make and model year to find its specs online.

Yeah, I went to my local bike shop and let them check out both bikes then spent $400 on parts for their efforts. We knew these derailleurs could be an issue but the guy didn't seem that concerned about it and even gave me an old on for free which ended up not working. I have plenty more parts to order but this should be a simple issue to solve.

And as far as specificity I was very clear: Front derailleurs. I didn't mention tires, tubes, cables, chains, cassettes, grease, etc because I've got that solved... except for the cable cutter part and thank you for the advice. The way I figure it these are mediocre parts and when they go bad, and if I keep riding, then I'll upgrade. These will get me the next several thousand miles no problemo.

JD1234 said:

I had two road bikes up in my attic which haven't been used in a decade and need fixing. The goal is to do it myself and I have little to no practical bike experience. Thank goodness for forums and youtube.

Anyway, of all my issues, the one I need to solve at the moment is replacing the front derailleur's on both bikes.

Bike 1 has two front gears and 8 in the back for a total of 16 speeds and currently has a Shimano 105 derailleur.

Bike 2 has three front gears and 6 in the back for a total of 18 speeds and currently has a Shimano Sora derailleur.

Problem: When I go online to buy parts I see "9 speed double" and "9 speed triple" and "double front derailleur" and "11 speed". I'm just plain confused. What do I need to purchase?

Believe you me I have a TON more questions to come like how to cut shifter cables and where to buy parts, etc. The best way to learn is just to dig in. 🙂 Thanks for your help!

Welcome aboard JD1234 !

Seeing that you have very little experience with bike maintenance, one real good source would be to check out bikemanforu on you tube. He has hundreds of videos on all kinds of bicycle repairs and basic maintenance tips. He also runs a Live show on you tube on Saturday morning starting at 10 am eastern time. You might find some helpful videos on his channel.

If you are looking to replace your front derailleurs, look for the series identification numbers on them. The 105 should be identified as FD1050, FD105, FD105SC, etc.

Search using that number. I used "shimano 8 speed 105 front derailleur" and came up with this on eBay:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2053587.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xshimano+8+speed+105+front+derailleur.TRS0&_nkw=shimano+8+speed+105+front+derailleur&_sacat=0

Anything look familiar to what you have?

I'm guessing your 8-speed rig is from the early to mid 1990's.

Searching by "vintage shimano sora triple front derailleur" the first two items might be what you have...maybe.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=shimano+sora+triple+front+derailleur&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xvintage+shimano+sora+triple+front+derailleur.TRS0&_nkw=vintage+shimano+sora+triple+front+derailleur&_sacat=0

JD1234 said:

I had two road bikes up in my attic which haven't been used in a decade and need fixing. The goal is to do it myself and I have little to no practical bike experience. Thank goodness for forums and youtube.

Anyway, of all my issues, the one I need to solve at the moment is replacing the front derailleur's on both bikes.

Bike 1 has two front gears and 8 in the back for a total of 16 speeds and currently has a Shimano 105 derailleur.

Bike 2 has three front gears and 6 in the back for a total of 18 speeds and currently has a Shimano Sora derailleur.

Problem: When I go online to buy parts I see "9 speed double" and "9 speed triple" and "double front derailleur" and "11 speed". I'm just plain confused. What do I need to purchase?

Believe you me I have a TON more questions to come like how to cut shifter cables and where to buy parts, etc. The best way to learn is just to dig in. 🙂 Thanks for your help!

WOW?!?

Did I read this thread correctly?

[INDENT]You asked a question at 3:46pm ...

And then, in less than hour later you are back from a trip to your LBS and you are telling us that you spent $400 while you were there!?![/INDENT]

Really?

FYI. Just to let you know that you were NOT a wise shopper, you probably only needed to add some oil to the pivots on your derailleurs AND/OR replace the cables and/or housing ...

[INDENT]And, possibly the tires-and-tubes ...[/INDENT]

While there is a difference in the space between cage plates on the 8-speed Shimano front derailleurs and on the 9-speed Shimano front derailleurs, it is ONLY meaningful if your bikes have Shimano's integrated shifters ... you didn't say ... and, while THAT may be the case with the bike which has the 8-speed cluster BUT it is not likely with the bike which has a Triple crankset & (presumably) a 6-speed Freewheel ...

[INDENT]BTW. IF you have not installed the derailleurs/etc., yet, then you should consider returning them and then consider just how you want to have the bikes to be configured and then buy the specific parts as needed (of course, if you like, your future purchases can certainly be from the same bike shop which had apparently chosen to provide you with enough mumbo-jumbo to keep you confused) ...[/INDENT]

In 45 years of cycling I have not worn out one single front derailleur. I have seen complete morons attempt to saw through cages with the chain, but anyone that could put up with the noise of the chain rubbing the cage doesn't belong on a device as complicated as a bicycle...sort of like anyone in 2016 that can't figure out eBay, provide a digital picture of their components or a model number belongs on the internet. Even a link to a stock photo...

105 has been around in various iterations for about 30 years. Even the 8-speed variant offered several models. As Alf stated, knowing shifter type, year of production, model number, what make & model bike...anything...might prove useful in replacing front derailleurs that may or may not require replacing and aid in listing functional substitute/compatible models.

CAMPYBOB said:

In 45 years of cycling I have not worn out one single front derailleur. I have seen complete morons attempt to saw through cages with the chain, but anyone that could put up with the noise of the chain rubbing the cage doesn't belong on a device as complicated as a bicycle...sort of like anyone in 2016 that can't figure out eBay, provide a digital picture of their components or a model number belongs on the internet. Even a link to a stock photo...

It happens. I came across a couple of these whose "love bumps" were worn down but not completely sawed through, and still got a few bucks for them on eBay. I've also come across many 2300, Sora, and Tiagra fron derailleurs whose knob that anchors the downshift spring had broken off.

Knowing what people put derailleurs through, I'd get a new 2x8 Shimano Claris unit, FD-2400. Also, Microshift makes dandy Shimano-compatible derailleurs that cost a bit less. I can't recommend their shifters without caveats, but the derailleurs are very good. Microshift is available at Nashbar and local shops that have J&B accounts.

oldbobcat said:

I've also come across many 2300, Sora, and Tiagra fron derailleurs whose knob that anchors the downshift spring had broken off.

How in the name of Sam Hill do you break a spring perch?

I guess the old saw about breaking an anvil with a rubber mallet is true.

CAMPYBOB said:

How in the name of Sam Hill do you break a spring perch?

I have no idea, but that's the number cause of 2300, Sora, and Tiagra front derailleur failure around here. The knob is bigger on 105 on up, so I imagine that it just gets fatigued and flakes off.

I think Shimano listened, because the spring perch has become a lot more substantial in the last two generations.

While we're on the subject . . . yup, I replaced another one this afternoon. Broken spring perch, Tiagra 4503.

The front derailleurs are sorted out. I ended up going to the bike shop and they got me the right parts: Two derailleurs for $45. The spring on one was bad and the second was an optional replacement since it was working just fine. Yup, I'm fixing two bikes and $400 is easy to spend: 4 shift cables, 4 brake cables, 4 sets of brake pads, 2 chains, 2 front derailleurs, 2 types of lubricants, 4 tires, 6 tubes, 4 tire levers, 1 air pump, 1 chain tool, 1 cable cutting tool, 1 chain whip, 2 bits to remove 2 different cassettes, 2 cassettes. Oh, and I still need pedals for one of the bikes. Considering the parts list the price is well worth it for all the free advice and help I've received plus I didn't have to pay shipping. I suppose I could have spent a ton of time figuring it out all by myself and saving an extra 10% by ordering online but the $40 difference is not worth all the time. Heck, I thought I had a brake issue today and they checked out the bike and told me how to resolve the issue for free. Anyway this is quite a learning curve but the bikes are coming along nicely.

JD1234 said:

The front derailleurs are sorted out. I ended up going to the bike shop and they got me the right parts: Two derailleurs for $45. The spring on one was bad and the second was an optional replacement since it was working just fine. Yup, I'm fixing two bikes and $400 is easy to spend: 4 shift cables, 4 brake cables, 4 sets of brake pads, 2 chains, 2 front derailleurs, 2 types of lubricants, 4 tires, 6 tubes, 4 tire levers, 1 air pump, 1 chain tool, 1 cable cutting tool, 1 chain whip, 2 bits to remove 2 different cassettes, 2 cassettes. Oh, and I still need pedals for one of the bikes. Considering the parts list the price is well worth it for all the free advice and help I've received plus I didn't have to pay shipping. I suppose I could have spent a ton of time figuring it out all by myself and saving an extra 10% by ordering online but the $40 difference is not worth all the time. Heck, I thought I had a brake issue today and they checked out the bike and told me how to resolve the issue for free. Anyway this is quite a learning curve but the bikes are coming along nicely.

Post a pic when your done !