Rans tailwind gearing/shifting

You are in luck.

All Shimano and SRAM front shifters move exactly the same amount of cable (between gears, and overall). The shifters and derailleurs are also completely interchangeable between the two manufacturers, and between mountain and road groups.

I rode a Tailwind for a couple of years and the shifting was always right on (don't let the LBS tell you it's because of the big gears). The LBS mechanic should be able to tune the shifting perfectly, as long as the parts are installed properly and functioning normally.

If the shifters, cable, cable housing, alignment, limit screws, adjustment knob, derailleur height, chain, and crankset are all working perfectly, then that only leaves a couple of possibilities.

One is that the derailleur cage might be bent. Both plates should be exactly parallel with the chain (when chain is in the middle gear both front and back). I've accidentally kicked mine a couple of times (one time bending it slightly out of place). The mechanic should be able to see this.

Another possibility is that the bottom bracket axle is too short (it may have been swapped out at some time?). A couple of other less likely problems (though neither will cause as severe a problem as you describe) could be related to chain type and wear, or chainring style (HG/IG).

I think the solution is actually presented in the second part of your question. Replacing the crankset with something like the Shimano Ultegra Triple (30-42-52) will give you a better "granny" gear for those tough hills. Of course you lose the big 62 tooth gear for the other side of the hill! But that is the compromise of course.

The LBS will also have to replace the bottom bracket. If this is getting too expensive, then the 105 group is very worthy too.

Good Luck, and hope this helps some!
R2

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

Quoted message said:

You are in luck.

All Shimano and SRAM front shifters move exactly the same amount of cable (between gears, and
overall). The shifters and derailleurs are also completely interchangeable between the two
manufacturers, and between mountain and road groups.

And you are 'Blowing smoke'.

SRAM ESP Rear Derailleurs have a 1:1 Actuation Ratio while Shimano Rear Derailleurs have a 2:1
Actuation Ratio. SRAM Makes Shimano Compatible shifters. These are the 'Named' models like 'Rocket'
and 'Attack' The SRAM models are the 'n.0' series. Shimano only makes Shimano Compatible shifters.

BTW Guess how I found this out? :-(
--

Cletus D. Lee Bacchetta Giro Lightning Voyager clee.orgclee.orgOpen ↗
- Bellaire, TX USA -

Cletus Lee said:

And you are 'Blowing smoke'.

Quoted message said:

SRAM ESP Rear Derailleurs have a 1:1 Actuation Ratio while Shimano Rear Derailleurs have a 2:1
Actuation Ratio. SRAM Makes Shimano Compatible shifters. These are the 'Named' models like
'Rocket' and 'Attack' The SRAM models are the 'n.0' series. Shimano only makes Shimano Compatible
shifters.

All true enough, but we're talking about /front/ shifters here. Do SRAM front grip shifters pull the
same amount of cable as Rabidfires? IIRC the R440 front mech is /supposed/ to work with a
combination of "Flat-bar" (i.e. Rabidfire) shifters and "road" sized chainrings.

Dave Larrington - legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uklegslarry.beerdrinkers.co.ukOpen ↗
===========================================================
Editor - British Human Power Club Newsletter
bhpc.org.ukbhpc.org.ukOpen ↗
===========================================================

That was a beautiful reply. Nice job Lon

R2D2 said:

You are in luck.

All Shimano and SRAM front shifters move exactly the same amount of cable (between gears, and
overall). The shifters and derailleurs are also completely interchangeable between the two
manufacturers, and between mountain and road groups.

I rode a Tailwind for a couple of years and the shifting was always right on (don't let the LBS
tell you it's because of the big gears). The LBS mechanic should be able to tune the shifting
perfectly, as long as the parts are installed properly and functioning normally.

If the shifters, cable, cable housing, alignment, limit screws, adjustment knob, derailleur
height, chain, and crankset are all working perfectly, then that only leaves a couple of
possibilities.

One is that the derailleur cage might be bent. Both plates should be exactly parallel with the
chain (when chain is in the middle gear both front and back). I've accidentally kicked mine a
couple of times (one time bending it slightly out of place). The mechanic should be able to
see this.

Another possibility is that the bottom bracket axle is too short (it may have been swapped out at
some time?). A couple of other less likely problems (though neither will cause as severe a problem
as you describe) could be related to chain type and wear, or chainring style (HG/IG).

I think the solution is actually presented in the second part of your question. Replacing the
crankset with something like the Shimano Ultegra Triple (30-42-52) will give you a better "granny"
gear for those tough hills. Of course you lose the big 62 tooth gear for the other side of the
hill! But that is the compromise of course.

The LBS will also have to replace the bottom bracket. If this is getting too expensive, then the
105 group is very worthy too.

Good Luck, and hope this helps some! R2

--

Quoted message said:

--------------------------<

Posted via cyclingforums.com cyclingforums.comcyclingforums.comOpen ↗

well, i think I will get my old grip shifter put back on. It has 3 clicks per chainring so that you
can adjust it so the chain won't rub against the front derailleur and will also shift OK.

I would like to get lower gears though, without sacrificing the highest gear. Would it work to
change the smallest chainring to something smaller? Or to change the rear cluster to something with
a larger largest gear?

thanks

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

Quoted message said:

well, i think I will get my old grip shifter put back on. It has 3 clicks per chainring so that
you can adjust it so the chain won't rub against the front derailleur and will also shift OK.

I would like to get lower gears though, without sacrificing the highest gear. Would it work to
change the smallest chainring to something smaller? Or to change the rear cluster to something
with a larger largest gear?

thanks

Your present set up (62-52-39 crankset and 11-12-14-16-18-21-24-28 cassette) can be modified as
follows: You can drop the granny on the fron to 36T or 38T and use the existing fron Derailleur. On
the rear, You can replace the 11-28 with a 11-34. However, the capacity (largest cog) of the rear
derailleur needs to be 34T. What you have for a rear derailleur may or may not have the capacity for
the larger cogs. If it does not, you will need a new rear derailleur. At that time you can match the
new rapid-fire shifters if you like.

If you make these changes, you will not lose any of the high gears and gain a lot on the low gears.
--

Cletus D. Lee Bacchetta Giro Lightning Voyager clee.orgclee.orgOpen ↗
- Bellaire, TX USA -

R2D2 said:

All Shimano and SRAM front shifters move exactly the same amount of cable (between gears, and
overall). The shifters and derailleurs are also completely interchangeable between the two
manufacturers, and between mountain and road groups.

That's not what I was told when I asked about it here recently. According to Sheldon Brown:

"While rear indexing is the same for all recent shifters/derailers, Shimano fronts use a different
amount of cable pull for drop bar vs straight bar controls. This makes it difficult if you want to
use a "road" crankset, with full-sized chainrings (52, 53 top) with straight handlebars, or if you
want to use a "mountain" crankset (44-48 tooth top) with drop bar STI shifters. "

Source: sheldonbrown.comderailers.htmlOpen ↗

However Shimano does make road bike front derailleurs compatible with flat handlebar controls: the
R440 (double chainring) and R443 (triple).

Ken Kobayashi [email hidden] solarwww.mtk.nao.ac.jppersonalOpen ↗