Need a Fender Friendly Front Derailleur

rosco said:

Just put a Shimano FD-M953 (XTR standard link front derailleur) on my touring bike. The thing now
interferes with the placement of my rear fender. I would have to cut away a section of the fender
to make it not interfere. My cable is bottom routed. Are there any better alternatives?

I've seen them cut away before. It sounds like an odd touring bike if the chainstays aren't long
enough for the fender to clear the FD by miles. If the original FD was OK, why not get another one
of those and sell the XTR one on eBay - there are hordes of drooling lunatics willing to pay above
shop prices for anything with "XTR" or "Dura Ace" on it.

Use a top-swing model instead, has worked fine on lots of bikes I've set up. Those darn bottom-swing
models need a ton of space to work with a fender.

-pete

"rosco" <reverse-the-following"ocsor_g"@hotmail.com> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Just put a Shimano FD-M953 (XTR standard link front derailleur) on my touring bike. The thing now
interferes with the placement of my rear fender. I would have to cut away a section of the fender
to make it not interfere. My cable is bottom routed. Are there any better alternatives?

"Zog The Undeniable" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

rosco said:

Just put a Shimano FD-M953 (XTR standard link front derailleur) on my touring bike. The thing
now interferes with the placement of my rear fender. I would have to cut away a section of the
fender to make it not interfere. My cable is bottom routed. Are there any better

alternatives?

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I've seen them cut away before. It sounds like an odd touring bike if the chainstays aren't long
enough for the fender to clear the FD by miles. If the original FD was OK, why not get another one
of those and sell the XTR one on eBay - there are hordes of drooling lunatics willing to pay above
shop prices for anything with "XTR" or "Dura Ace" on it.

The bike has plenty long chainstays. Right now I'm running 700 x 35 winter tires, and like to have
good clearance between the tire and fender. Now that I research it more, it appears like Shimano mt
bike front derailleurs have the cable mount point closer to the frame than road derailleurs (from
pictures it looks like Campagnolo triple fronts might give the best fender clearance).

I originally got the XTR because it was on sale for less than a XT, and it's spec calls for
compatibility with my 48 tooth big chainring. I'm running 9 speed barcon shifters. The original
front was a Suntour, but I'd rather find a mainstream current day part if possible.

Road parts typically assume a much larger chainring than 48 teeth. Will this still shift OK with a
road derailleur?

I always just cut a little spot out of the fender whto prevent interferrence.

Am I missing the point?

"Zog The Undeniable" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

rosco said:

Just put a Shimano FD-M953 (XTR standard link front derailleur) on my touring bike. The thing
now interferes with the placement of my rear fender. I would have to cut away a section of the
fender to make it not interfere. My cable is bottom routed. Are there any better

alternatives?

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I've seen them cut away before. It sounds like an odd touring bike if the chainstays aren't long
enough for the fender to clear the FD by miles. If the original FD was OK, why not get another one
of those and sell the XTR one on eBay - there are hordes of drooling lunatics willing to pay above
shop prices for anything with "XTR" or "Dura Ace" on it.