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Bit stumped by this one, been having trouble with the front shifting on my road bike very temperamental since new, but now got worse, normally will only shift on the front if the rear cassette is in the smallest cog.
Tried tightening the cable, adjusting the front mech, also had a colleague give it a try too. It shifts fine in the stand but when actually on the road with some force on it, it just grinds between the two rings. Even if I back off and try to gentle hook it on.
Any ideas what it might be? Surely front shifting on roadies aren't normally this delicate?
Compact chainset if that makes a difference
I use Force front and shifters and they shift pretty good out of the box - not quite Shimano but they aren't bad.
Are you using standard cables or sealed ones (like Gore ride ons)?
Whats the frame?
You say it only happens under pressure?
Presumably you've tried setting it up on the road? Fairly pointless sorting it on the stand if it works there! Unusual on a road bike though, no with suspension pivots etc they tend to work on the road the same as in the stand.
Not using a Red front mech are you?
Presumably you've tried setting it up on the road? Fairly pointless sorting it on the stand if it works there! Unusual on a road bike though, no with suspension pivots etc they tend to work on the road the same as in the stand.
Not using a Red front mech are you?
Rose carbon pro rs 4400 - all force. Cables are internal, what came as standard.
Not sure what you mean adjust it on the road? It is about as tight as it can be at the moment, any tighter and I can't throw the lever. Frustrating that it works perfect on the stand!
It only happens under power - been googling these threads suggest maybe too tight a chain or maybe the b screw adjustment on the rear derailler.
http://forums.bicycletutor.com/thread-1024.html
Just to confirm, the gears are fine when on the inner ring but when going up to larger ring they dont push the mech far enough? Is that across the whole of the cassette?
Have you tried slightly 'toeing in' the front mech rather than having it parallel? (presuming it is a band on).
Yes, chain won't shift from inner to outer when out on the road, but is fine in the stand when turning the cranks by hand. Once I get it into the big ring every thing works great. Shifting down is fine. Limit screws are also set right, any more and the chain starts to drop
It is a band on. The mech is inline with the chain rings at the moment with 1-2mm clearance.
By toe-in do you mean angling the back part of the mech inwards if I look down or outwards?
I had almost the same problem a few months ago, also using Sram Force shifters and front mech.
Mine either wouldn't shift up to the big ring, or if I undid the limiting screw, would push the chain off the other side. I couldn't get the mech set up to shift correctly.
I also discovered how I shifted on the stand didn't match shifting on the road. I was moving the shifter from a different position when standing next to the bike on the stand and therefore always pulled a bit more cable through.
I eventually fixed it by toeing in the front mech as 4ags4 said (rear of the mech moved out away from bike by a few mm) and doing final adjustments on the road. It has now shifted almost perfectly for the last month!
Hope it works for you too.
Yeah, experiment with the mech slightly front out (only by a mil or two though). Just enables the mech to pick up the chain and guide it a bit quicker/better.
Also try front shifting when the chain is in a fairly central position on the cassette.
Ok thanks guys will give it a try in the morning
hour of faff, toeing the mech seems to mean it catches on the big rings teeth (maybe I tried to move it too far across...)
Loosening the b-tension on the rear mech has helped and it now shifts but is still very lazy and needs to be in the small cog on the cassette to guarantee a shift.
It just doesn't seem to have enough cable throw to move the mech far enough out. Realised, as above, when you shift from the hoods you move less cable than when you shift in the drops as you are using the lower part of the lever.
Going to give it a few more rides then maybe I'll try moving the band up a couple of mm so it has clearance so I can angle it
SRAM front mech - they're shit. Get a shimano one instead.
Just make sure the cable routing is correct, there is a little raised metal section next to the cable grip bolt that the cable runs over and offers more leverage.
SRAM simply cannot make well-functioning frt derailleurs.
My SRAM Red persisted with the exact same problem for months.. a simple test is to leave everything as is (shifter, cable, housing etc) and simply swap out the frt derailleur for a Shimano or Campag.
I did and the shifting was flawless - same cables. housing etc. Proving that the SRAM frt derailleur was simply just crud.
The problem is, that once I'd done that, it was slippery slope to getting rid of ALL teh SRAM crap and replacing it with Campagnolo, which is flawless.
Do you know what.... I don't think the cable goes over the rounded bit, next thing to try! If it still doesn't work it's going in the bin in a fit of rage.
Do you know what.... I don't think the cable goes over the rounded bit, next thing to try! If it still doesn't work it's going in the bin in a fit of rage.