Front Derailleur Adjustment

thegodplato

I noticed that on my last ride there was a slight clicking noise coming from the derailleur which wasn't there all the time. I'm new to this cycling and mechanicing so bear with me! To me the derailleur is catching on the chain when in the smallest gear so I have tried to adjust the two small screws ( travel limit and external travel limit according to my handbook ) and the derailleur doesn't seem to move back towards the frame much. I'm wondering whether the derailleur is not in the right place on the frame - as in its slightly twisted so its not square with the gears. I did get the bike from an online shop and maybe they had set it up wrongly initially or maybe its just movement during its first few times of use? I can undo the bracket itself and try to align it with the gears but don't want to if I'm opening up a can of worms and will end up with other problems.
Any advice,please.

g00se

It does look a little out of whack - generally, the inside of the outer plate of the front derailleur should be parallel with the chainrings. Yours looks to be sticking out at the back a little. Looks like a Campag front derailleur. Best bet would be to get hold of the Campag technical manual and set it up from scratch. If the bike shop got the alignment wrong, they may have got a few other things wrong too (height etc).

thegodplato

Re-adjusted the front so it was parallel and been out for a run. Took a tumble at a set of traffic lights cos the car in front didn't set off when I thought he was and I didn't have a foot free from the pedals ( Plonker!! ). After the fall the front derailleur wouldn't move up to the big ring so it looks like I will be re-re-adjusting it again! One question, how tight should the cable be when I pull it into place on the little screw? I've also managed to pull the small silver crimped on cap that goes on the end of the wire. I hope this is just to protect you from the edges of the wire strands?

Sesquepidilian

thegodplato wrote:

Re-adjusted the front so it was parallel and been out for a run. Took a tumble at a set of traffic lights cos the car in front didn't set off when I thought he was and I didn't have a foot free from the pedals ( Plonker!! ). After the fall the front derailleur wouldn't move up to the big ring so it looks like I will be re-re-adjusting it again! One question, how tight should the cable be when I pull it into place on the little screw? I've also managed to pull the small silver crimped on cap that goes on the end of the wire. I hope this is just to protect you from the edges of the wire strands?

Ha ha I did pretty much the samer thing and just wound some electrical tape around the end of the cable instead. Looks a little scruffy but meh.

I couldn't get my derailer set-up without it catching at some point so I set it to run smooth at the top 3/4 gears on the high crank and the low 3 gears on the low crank (two speed crank and 7 speed rear cassette). That way it runs smooth when in top or a gear or two down ie; most of the time and smooth when in the lowest gears/crank when climbing hills. You (I'm told) shouldn't use the high crank and the lowest gears, and vice versa, anyways.
If you're struggling you could ask a local bike shop ("LBS") to set it up for you. Shouldn't cost too much.

TBH next time, when I spend proper money, I'm gonna go to an LBS. Much less hassle unless you're really handy with setting cycles up yourself.

sungod

cable tension needs to be enough to hold the cage out far enough to avoid rubbing on the chain when on the big ring and smallest sprocket, i find 2-3mm is enough, then you can use the limit screw to narrow it down

but before adjusting the cable, get the height and angle of the fd correct

also set the barrel adjuster to minimum so that you've got plenty of room to adjust later if you need

once you've got the tension correct, you can set the limit screw on the big ring

check the limit screw on the small ring is correct too

if it's a shimano one, you'll find instructions here...

http://techdocs.shimano.com

...for other manufacturer's look on their website

otherwise, park tool, for instance...

http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-hel ... djustments

...there's generic how-to info on most tasks on this site

the wire cap stops the cable fraying at the end, a decent lbs should give give you one free, or use a bit of electrical tape, or solder the end, etc.

g00se

thegodplato wrote:

One question, how tight should the cable be when I pull it into place on the little screw? I've also managed to pull the small silver crimped on cap that goes on the end of the wire. I hope this is just to protect you from the edges of the wire strands?

Don't think about the limit screws holding the mech in place - cable tension should do that. When on the smallest ring and with the ergo lever on the lowest setting, there should be no slack (otherwise, clicking up to the first ratchet point on the lever will end up taking some of the slack and not moving the mech to the full extent). The limit screws are only there to stop the mech moving too far one way or the other.

You'll be able to get a new cable crimp-end from a LBS for pennies - that's if they even charge you for one.

For installation instructions for campag front mechs, see section 4.3 here:

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CFAQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.campagnolo.com%2Frepository%2Fdocumenti%2Fen%2F7269401-OEM_manual-UK.pdf&ei=tBSGT_bDBoPR0QWwtrTcBw&usg=AFQjCNGWequcQPW-LwM_2jvgdlkeqkb8qQ&sig2=ZU8fCkM3NcdiO01pIIre9g