Need help adjusting front derailleur
Over the past couple weeks tt's been getting harder and harder for me to shift down to the small chainring, and now it seems I can only get down there when I'm on one of the 2 largest gears in the back (to clarify, when the shifter is down all the way, the derailleur isn't moving over enough to slide the chain down to the small chainring). IMLOU is this week and is gonna require some quick shifts, so this won't do. LBS is backed up and can't get me in this week for a tune up. Anyone have some tips for fine tuning my front derailleur? It's a Shimano Ultegra, stock on a 2010 Cervelo P2. Thanks!
Jason
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Jason
It might be time to fire your LBS - just sayin'
This video: How to Adjust a Front Derailleur on YouTube gets to all the important points.
Try searching for Adjust Front Derailleur if you want to see more instructional videos, plenty of them up there.
Hope you get it worked out promptly. Good luck in Louisville.
Bring in your bike + 6-pack and say "doode...I'm racing an Ironman on Sunday. Can you hook me up?" Seriously, tuning a DR takes about 5 minutes, maybe.
If that doesn't work and you can't figure it out for yourself, there's a good bike shop directly across the river from Louisville, in Indiana, that a lot of the locals go to. Don't know the name though.
When the shifter is all the way down and the FD does not seem to be moving over enough, is there any play in the cable or is it tight?
If it is snug, the cable is likely too tight and you nee to loosen it just a bit and slide maybe a mm or two of cable out and then tighten it again. This will allow the FD cage to move move further in towards the frame.
If the cable has some play, then you are probably hitting the lower limit screw on the FD and you can just loosen the lower limit screw a quarter to half turn.
In both of those cases make sure you do not let it go too far in or you could drop a chain when going from big ring to little rign under load.
If neither of those work, check the alignment of the cage as you may have bent it or the whole FD could have slightly rotated. The cage should be parrallel to the chain when it is in the center of the raer cassette, if it is off one way or the other you will have less than ideal shifting.
If this does not make sense... DON'T mess with it the week of the race and find a mechanic too instead.
Sorry for all the IF statements.