Replacement front mech

Triggaboy

I have have stupidly left my bike in the garage for the christmas hols in a dry muddy mess to find the front mech has more or less ceased up as the spring doesnt seem to return the cage anymore.

I've removed it from my bike to clean it thoroughly though it still doesnt move well so I'm assuming a replacement is needed.

Can anyone confirm whether it would be ok to fit a 3x9 mech on a 3x8 setup as found a good deal on a replacement?

cooldad

AS long as it's the same clamp size, swing and pull.

cooldad

Might be a tiny bit of rub on the cage in some gears, but otherwise it works fine.

Triggaboy

Basically my current is one of these http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mobi ... elID=38440 and the one I'm thinking of getting is this http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mobi ... elID=59671, checked seat tube and it is 34.9 top pull.

Ouija

I now use 9 speed deraillers on my two 8 speed aluminium bikes as they tend to work better than 8 speed deraillers (also use a 9 speed chain as the Deore and SLX front cranks recommend a 9 speed chain irrespective of what you've got on the back).

They tend to be slightly narrower than 8 speed deraillers and don't move as much between jumps, but i find this makes them better and not worse. With my old Acera and 8 speed Deore deraillers they always swung too far, limiting just how many gears you could go up on the back. If you set the cable tension so the derailler was just right in the middle ring (widest rear gears before rub) and set the limiter screw so that the derailler didn't jump too far on the outside or inside rings i'd find that the i couldn't jump up to the outside ring as the cable shifter just couldn't pull the cable enough for the shifter to click in position. Loosening the limiter screw would allow it to jump but up but then the derailler was just a little bit too far out so i could only go up three or four gears before things started to rub. Likewise, setting the inner limiter screw for the granny ring so that the chain would shift down often limited how far down the back cassette the chain could move.

I get much better movement and range with the 9 speed deraillers (SRAM X9's)

Only thing to be aware of is that the 9 speed deraillers tend to be a bit more stingy on how much of a difference in teeth between your middle ring and outer ring can be.