She Won't Derail!

JCs said:

Wondering if I might get some suggestions or advice on a mechanical issue I'm having.

I have a bike with 3 chain ring setup in the front that will not jump to the big chain ring no matter what adjustment I make.

Touring Bike, bar end shifters, Shimano Tiagra 3 Chain Ring front, Deore 9 Speed Cassette.

I've adjusted the angle on the derailleur to try different combinations, the height down to about 1 mm over the big chain ring, the cable length, barrel adjusters, and high/low limit screws in many different positions. No big Chain Ring. 🙁

Middle and small rings/gears, no problem. The position of the chain on the rear cassette has little to no bearing on the situation. Obviously, you can get some cross chaining, but the position on the rear will not really help or hurt the situation.

The Front Derailleur will move all the way over the large front ring but will not "push" it over to to make the change. And there seems to be ALOT of pressure on the cable. So much so that it frayed one cable. So I just replaced it and now while attempting to adjust it again, it pulled it out of the cable holder on the Derailleur again.

So I got frustrated, and since it was already out, I decided to physically pull the Front Derailleur by hand and get it to the big Ring. No dice. Won't pull far enough.

Any suggestions at all?

Well, presuming you adjusted the outer stop on the front derailleur ... it's probably EITHER the wrong front derailleur AND/OR the wrong chain ...

So, I'm going to guess that you once had a 7-or-8-speed (or, less!?!) rear end ... that you changed it to 9-speeds and consequently bought a 9-speed chain BUT you didn't change the front derailleur.

Is that right?

BUT, if that isn't right ... is the frame steel or aluminum?

What is the distance from the outer chainring to the centerline of the bike (i.e., the center of the seat tube)? That is, what specific crankset & BB-type are you using?

What front derailleur type & model are you using?

Presuming you've recently made changes, did the PREVIOUS (?) configuration work properly?

Thanks for the reply. All original components. Very few KM/Miles on the bike.

I looked at the front derailleur height again and it was too high. I think I was looking at it on the low position in relation to the large Chain Ring. Reset it by the large ring, reattached the cable, and can get it to "jump" now.

One thing that is probably normal that I have to get used too is that the left bar end shifter (front Chain Rings) is not indexed but friction. So I have to position the front derailleur to make sure I don't get chain rub after changing rings. A little up and down on the shifter to get it just right. I assume this is normal.

The right is indexed and works fine. But can also be flipped to friction if necessary. Played with that and it works fine also.

An important note in my opinion: The front derailleur requires alot of pressure on the cable to pull it onto the large Chain Ring. At least on my bike. I found actually wrapping the cable around the attaching bolt of the derailleur gives better pulling power, more cable contact to reduce wear & spread the load, and no pull outs. Maybe everyone does this but it did not come this way.

Either way, I've got it working, and thanks for anyone that reads or replies. New to cycling and learning so much here.

Love my bike!

J.

It sounds like the cable tension is too high, thus it's hard to move the lever and the tension won't allow you to go to the outside ring. Also check the shifter if it's very hard to move. Make sure that the reason is not just that the shifter friction adjustment has been set too tight. Some shifters have a large screw or wingnut that can be adjusted. When too loose, the shifter slips back into high gears when you hit bumps. When too tight, the shifter is hard to move.

Anyway's here is a site that can help you: Park Tool Website

Also here, just scan down to front derailleur: Derailer Adjustment-How To

JCs said:

Thanks for the reply. All original components. Very few KM/Miles on the bike.

I
An important note in my opinion: The front derailleur requires alot of pressure on the cable to pull it onto the large Chain Ring. At least on my bike. I found actually wrapping the cable around the attaching bolt of the derailleur gives better pulling power, more cable contact to reduce wear & spread the load, and no pull outs. Maybe everyone does this but it did not come this way.

J.

If the bike did not come with the cable around the attaching bolt and it worked fine that way then something else is wrong, hopefully the web sites I gave earlier will shed some light on this.