Thanks for the article. After struggling with front Derailleur Adjustment and consulting innumerable articles and RUclips videos I just about gave up until I discovered one additional factor in proper derailleur shifting, Crank Bolt Tension. While inspecting my bike, I noticed a very slight "play" and a new "sound" during a ride. I realized that the crank was a little loose. When I tightened the crank bolt, I realized it was way looser than the manufacturers torque specs. Once I tightened the crank bolt, it brought the outside chain ring a little closer in, enough to make a significant difference in the range of the derailleur. Hope this helps.
Once again a detailed look at reasons why the shifting system can be maintained or adjusted or cable replacement. Also derailleur adjustment might be necessary. Not for those who aren't patient as this is an advanced tutorial as mentioned. Usually taking to a competent shop will be necessary. Nice video again!!!
A born teacher, he saved me from having to make a service appointment and all the attendant hassles that brings. I was able to fix my derailleur problems in less than 20 minutes.
So ... my story begins with a new bicycle for which I didn't manage to set it in a way to change correctly to the highest gear from the front derailer. After some searches on the net, I found your tutorial. Following your presentation I tried for more than 20 times... and nothing fixed my problem. Anyhow, I found the solution and I want it to share with you because it could be included in your future troubleshooting videos. For a new bike, anyone thinks that all pieces and parts are set up and right positioned. I put a lot of trust in guys from the store. Maybe I'm a stupid exception :) In my case, the right pedal arm was not well/full screwed. When the arm was well/full screwed, I realize that I move it with almost 1.5 mm. This distance was what was missing for the correct setup and from this cause, my front derailleur with all settings done didn't manage to change to the highest gear. Personal consideration You are the perfect combination between mechanical + engineer + teacher! This tutorial, from my point of view, is in the first place in top 3 "How to do it" in the world. I'm sorry for my non-academic English language. I'm not a native speaker.
I bought a new bicycle but found out it's rubbing the chain for some gear combinations, after watching your other two basic videos and a few hours of tuning, I found out that the large chain ring is not rotating on the same surface, there is 1-2mm in and out while rotating, not sure if it's wobbled chain ring or other things caused it to off the surface... but the 3'05'' of this video talks about the wobble chain ring which confirmed my difficulty of adjusting cable/H/L limit. thank you very much. learned a lot from your videos. the bike will be returned to store.
So..... I watched the earlier video on how to adjust a front derailleur. That was super helpful and after loosing the clamp I was able to pivot the cage to bring it parallel to the chain ALMOST and reduce the rubbing of the chain against the cage. But I couldn't get it perfect and I'd concluded that I'd bent the cage when the bike fell over in our hallway. Then I watched this video and sure enough..... that's one of the problems identified here. Does this mean I'm now ADVANCED at front derailleur troubleshooting??? Well heck yeah!
Thank you for the advice, which helped me to exclude options, I discovered that a small piece of not visible rock had become stuck in the front derailleur mechanism and it fell out as I turned my bike upside down - problem solved
Great! Addresses the problems that most video's don't. Also see his other video about front derailleur "Basic" adjustments when basic adjustment doesn't do the job...Which I can't find now. :-( But it deals with the 1) gap between the front derailleur and chainring and 2) when the front derailleur is rotated so the cage is not aligned with the chainring
im just missing one thing in these tutorials. how to start from scratch. i mean, it normally starts with "shifting to the lowest gear" or something like that. sometimes you cant do that becuase of the wrong indexing, cable tightness, barrel adjustment, etc. it would be great to have a tutorial like an instalation, everything from 0. just a thought
After watching all the videos on "front derailleur", I was hoping this one was the answer. Believe it or not, it wasn't. It was my mistake not to have recorded what side of the screw the cable was supposed to go. I had threaded the cable on the opposite side of the clamp down point than I should have. Just that little change made it impossible to get the chain on to the largest ring. So, after I moved the cable over and made sure everything was in lubed and adjusted, I tried it. Just a little tweaking of the High/Low screws and now it is back to the way it was before I decided to change from grip shifters to trigger shifters. Bottom line, however, is: These are without question the best bicycle maintenance video presentations out there. (Which could be why I always go to Park Tools for my bicycle needs.) Thanks.
Great video(s)! The detail and intuition provided is really helpful. The issue I'm having is that adjusting the limit screws does not move the cage. I manually moved it in and out and managed to get a little movement out of it so I think maybe its just really grimy in there. Would lubrication (or wd-40 or similar) help? I just changed the cables on my bike so I'm confident they're ok. Thanks!
Thanks! Lubrication will definitely help. Sometimes You may have to turn it a few times to get the screw to come in contact with the stop. This is especially prevalent on the low limit of the front derailleur. Lube... good, and keep turning. Hope this helps! Let us know how it goes.
OMG in My Case there was a little stone trapped within the shifting mechanism blocking it - the shifter lever wasnt moving at all - i first thought my rapid fire mechanism was gone !!! i dont believe it im glad i DID NOT disassembled everything at first place . Removing this F**** little stone fixed shifting
Before taking the bike to a mechanic, check your chain. I made the mistake of putting the wrong chain and it often fell off the large chain ring when shifting. Tried another one and the problem was solved. So my derailleur cage wasn't bent after all!
I'm indexing my gears and adjusted the front derailleur, but when on the lowest gear+smallest ring and trying to switch the front derailleur to the big ring, the chain gets stuck. The derailleur cage is practically parallel to the ground and it seems like the problem is related to that. How can I fix it?
Hey there, I have a front derailleur issue that is not in the video. When I try to take front gear to lowest it immadiately slacenks the cable, I mean its like shifter just loses its grip. If you can help I would really appreciate it. Thnks for the video btw.
29 дней назад
I watched all your videos and they are great. However, I have an issue with the front derailleur shifter I've never seen. When I try to shift from middle to larges cog (front), the shifter lever does not pull the cable until I repeat it a couple of times and then it "catches". From smaller to middle cog this issue does not occur. Any advice you could share?
I was going to adjust mine but for some reason the tension is so high I cant seem to get the lever on the handlebars to go past half way (front stays on middle cog and wont go to largest). i checked the cable when its on the smallest cog and it isnt really tight just firmly in place... any idea whats causing this? changing the l and h screws dont solve it.. i cant find anything it could be stuck on either... its a brand new bike and i found out the spokes are so loose they creak from the slightest movement of the bike so i'm pretty frustrated... to be fair it was shipped through mail so i should have expected as much.
Tried exchanging front derailleur. But ''seat post angle'' and or ''cage size'' caused a problem? Do the cages differ in angle and or size in length? On crank I changed from 2 to 3 chain rings. Hoping to see a solution on RUclips. Thank you
I've gone through the main tutorial, adjusted alignment in both planes of movement, adjusted limit screws, done the indexing, then checked the advanced tutorial and checked cable housing and chainring bolts. My rings and chain are all brand new. I'm at my wit's end. The chain still has problems shifting from big to middle ring (worst offender) and also from middle to big ring. This also can be perfect on the work station, but then when riding for a few minutes reverts back to being a ****. I've taken everything off and rebuilt and readjusted countless times now and keep getting the same issue. The only thing I noticed was that when the cable is slack and I'm testing the movement of the derailleur, in order to then re-tighten the cable to set the perfect tension, that my derailleur doesn't ever move over as far as yours does in the main tutorial. Even with full slackness it does a half-arsed movement (even when I pull the chain to the side to stop it getting in the way). I took it off and sprayed it up in all the nooks and crannies and tested it whilst in my hand, and it moves fine, but when on the bike and activated by the shifter it seems weaker. No matter what I adjust I can never get the whole system working perfectly. If one part is working perfectly due to cable tension, another part will be off. What are your thoughts?
When you replaced the chainrings on the bike did you time the rings correctly? I ask this because you say it works in the stand but not while riding. This indicates that the chain might not be catching on the correct part of the chain ring. many chainrings will have ramps and pins that help the chain catch the next gear and also helps the chain drop. If these are not correctly oriented then the shifting will not work under load very well. Also, what is the condition of the cable and housing?
I replaced the left shifter and it came with a new cable. I installed everything and then used one of your videos to adjust the front derailleur and it was very helpful. However, no matter what I adjusted, the shifter won't click to 3rd when the cable is attached. If I loosen the pinch bolt and disconnect the cable, I can get the shifter to do all 3 clicks and the cable moves slightly for each. What is happening when I reattach that prevents the shifter from clicking to 3? When it is in 2, I push the thumb to click to 3 and the thumb just presses all the way in with no impact on the derailleur and no click. Any thoughts?
Awesome explanatory vid! I've learned a lot and can now make successful adjustments myself ^^ Unfortunately I'm currently still riding my 14y old "MTB" with a 3X gear up front ... more of a 'city bike gear' on an ok MTB like frame :/... and after playing with the rear suspension settings ... which didn't turn out well since it's more a bike pretending to be a MTB ... the sticker on the frame even says so :D ... I ended up with the problem that I can get everything to work alright in the repair stand but during testriding the suspension obviously manipulates the chain tension thus the front derailleur doesn't want to shift well between the 3 gears. Either (i) all except the biggest work fine ... or (ii) the problem is going back down from the biggest cog. Guess it's just a matter of a lot of try and error and making small adjustments over time ... Guess this explains why real MTB's normally only have a 1x or at most 2x at the front... Thus currently I'm just gonna use the medium size cog at the front until I've had enough time and patience to get it fully set. I have "motor bike throttle style" shifters thus I guess I can use the extra click's to "over adjust" the derailleur while on the repair stand and than see what effect it has during test riding.
I had big problems with my FD. Watched this and other videos, but no clues. The reason was that the middle chainring had been mounted the wrong way (yup, I did it myself). Just another thing to check if nothing works and you don't know why...
I just bought a Shimano 4050 9 speed crankset, i can now only afford a chain or front derailleur, which one would be more important until i can afford the latter? Thanks
Hi every time I ride my bike and start pedalling there is a constant clicking noise coming from front derailleur. It sounds more like a drilling noise than a clicking noise Can you please help to solve this issue thank you and stay safe.
I think mine is just slightly bent lol. I slammed my ebike so hard i busted the lcd, bent my key inside the ignition, and bent the front detailer. Bike will still work even with a broken lcd and ignition i just need the chain to move, even though i can just throttle
I recall about 20 years ago, reading about many different types of cable housing (Teflon-coated, reinforced, black or white, etc.) some of which required special tools and techniques to install. Nowadays, all the mechanics say "Buy new cable housing" like it's a generic "one size fits all" product. Is that true these days??
There are quality levels in cables and in housings these days. Many shops or home mechanics have a big sspool of a decent housing and then have some decent cables that they use as the shop or home mechanics "everyday" use stuff. Then they usually will have a higher end option or two. Never lower quality as some of the inexpensive cables and housings are terrible.
Clamps by their design must press against the tube. It certainly can occur that you get a scratch. However, remove the derailleur. Feel inside the clamp for any sharp edges. Use a jeweler's fine or find emery cloth to finish smooth. I can sometimes help to use thin adhesive tape. Place this inside the derailleur clamp, not the frame. The adhesive sticks to the clamp surfaces. Use a razor blade to trim off any excess beyond the clamp. Thick tape will change the diameter and may not allow the clamp to work, use an electrician's tape.
It sometimes happen to me, that in order for derailleur to work fine, I need to set cable tension so that it's slack on first gear. What do you think could be an issue here? Bad chainline?
The limit screws do not move the derailleur, they limit the derailleurs movement on the extreme ends of its range. So, that means that your derailleur is not at either of its limits.
First, your videos are great. Just enough detail, but not overwhelming. My problem is that my Shimano front brifter moves the front derailleur far enough outboard to move the chain to the large outside sprocket. But it doesn't click and hold the position. So the derailleur moves back inboard and jumps the chain back to the small front sprocket. It seems to me this is a problem with the brifter, not the derailleur. What can I do?
If you fully disconnect the cable and verify that the shifter is missing a shift then I would flush the shifter with a light lubricant like TriFlow or T9. Work the shifter to exercise the internals. The gear may come back. It may not.
@@parktool thanks so much for taking time to reply. I received the same advice from others and fully flushed the shifter. It is very clean now with fresh lubricant. It turns out that the derailleur was out of position to begin with. Too far inboard. I enlisted my wife's help. I pulled the derailleur over, pulled the cable tight, she tightened the nut.
Issue. Orbea Avant h30. Shimano 105 front derailleur and rear. Adjusted everything really well. The bike is new. Less than 100 miles on it. Clean as a whistle. The issue I'm having is front derailleur is slow to downshift. I have 2 front chainrings and 3 index position on the Front derailleur. To downshift quickly I need to double downshift. If I single downshift...it drags too much before dropping inward to the small chainring. Otherwise the bike is smooth in all.otber shifting.
I'm guessing this is the most recent 105 group. The front shifter has 4 positions. You are dealing with was one of the upgrades with the new system. So when shifting to the large right it goes up normally, then the shift down it hesitates and shifts and may make a bit of noise until you release again? They made this shift to the smaller chainring a two tap process in order to reduce the amount of chain drops people would have. Usually you can get it to the point where it is hard to notice the rubbing on that first down shift but it is best to hit it twice. You can also run the low limit a little bit looser as there is less risk of the chain falling off.The 4th position up top is found if you very lightly press the release lever instead of doing a firm shift. It is a trim for the large ring and the other one is the trim adjust for the small ring.
Park Tool awesome! That makes perfect sense! I was thinking maybe it was a trim... hence the double tap to down shift into small ring. It's smooth and has no issue going in...it's just that trim setting that is noisy. That being said...it seems it's normal then. They didn't adjust it properly from the shop I purchased...so I used your videos to go through my enitre indexing for all my gears. Thank you greatly for the response!!! And the videos! Tremendously helpful
How about a small wobble in chainring? I think even that makes 3-by-systems hard to tune just right and replacing all the whole front end cogs just for that gets expensive. Is it possible to bend chainring to true, shim the chainring or is the replacement the only real option?
Small deviations can be adjusted out of chainrings. Careful use of pry tools, a hammer and a punch can correct these deviations. start with small adjustments and go bigger.
My Shimano FD-R2000 front derailer's trim is troubling me a lot, there's always a gear or two in the middle of the cassette that results in the chain rubbing the derailer cage even after the trim is performed. it's like the cable pull ratio is too big, so instead of rubbing the outer plate, it starts rubbing the inner one after the trim is performed. I checked the assembly as per the manual like million times, all the gear is brand new, so this is really frustrating to have like two gears in the middle not available without rubbing. The only working way to get rid of this is to set the 3rd (of 4) position so it covers only two gears like 4-5 and then upper limit screw would prevent the cage from moving too far for the 4th position to get 6-8 gears in place. But that's like 10 or 11 working gears in total with very limited freedom of not using the left shifter all the time, better off without the derailer in the first place and simply put up with 50x11-32 I think.
Have you tried routing the cable differently? That derailleur has 2 different routing options that provide different leverage ratios depending on the angle that the cable is fed to the derailleur. You can see the gauge that shimano provides for setup on page 14 of there installation manual.
I noticed a small wobble in my chainring Which makes the chain rub against the derraileur when in the two smallest cogs and the biggest chainring. I tried to set the limit screw but the chain keeps rubbing. Please help me
Some small wobbles are not uncommon. But these can rub if big enough as you have seen. Sometimes some models can accept bending to straighten, but sometimes it just means new rings.
@@parktool thank you! I recently bought a new bike with the grx groupset, and needed to do some adjustments. I was super confused, but eventually figured it out. I have been a Sram guy this last decade and set it up like a normal FD. Didn't work out so well.
What to do, when my L limit screw is loosen up, the cable tension is loose as well, but the chain still rubs the inner part of front derailleur when on small chainring and biggest sprocket (Shimano 105 2x11, 52/36 chainring, 11-30 cassette)?
Lubricate the pivots of the derailleur. Also lubricate the cable. To test the lever pull, disconnect the front cable, and pull it with one hand. Move the lever with the other hand. It should not be hard to move the lever. Lubricate the lever if it is still.
Be careful, don't force it. Disconnect the cable at the pinch bolt to get slack. Now align the threads of the adjuster with the lever and carefully re-thread it. If it will not start, the internal thread might be damaged, and need a M5 x 0.8mm tap to clean.
There could be a few things happening. You could have something like a spoke protector or a pice of string or grass wedged behind the freewheel not allowing it to freewheel properly. Or you could have a seized up freewheel. If you clean the debris or there is none and it still is having the issue you can sometimes get some lubricant into the freewheel to break it free but replacement is suggested at that point.
Paid 350+ dollats for this brand new schwinn trailway bike.... very frustrating that this front derailler isn’t shifting from 1 to 2, but will shift from 1 to 3
Hi Calvin, I need your expertise. I have a 2x10 Tiagra 4700 setup. The front derailleur is a bottom pull. I removed it to clean and lube pivot points. After reinstalling and adjusting cable tension, the front derailleur will no longer shift to the large chainring without having to use excessive force which makes it utterly unusable. In my troubleshooting, I found that when the cable is disconnected, the front derailleur moves smoothly. With the cable still disconnected and holding the cable with my fingers, the shifter works normally and cable is pulled and released as I shift through its range. It was working decently prior to removal and clean/lube. I have played with cable tension, limit screws all to no avail. I am stumped. Any ideas??
I have to use my inline barrel adjuster way too much to avoid excessive rubbing. When I use my hardest combination, I need to tighten the barrel adjuster 6 times, so I don't rub a lot. (This is not because I'm pedaling hard.) When I use my easiest one, or two combinations, I have to loosen the barrel adjuster all the way back 6 times, so it doesn't rub the other way. The cable was installed with proper tension. I installed this FD-7900 exactly like ParkTool recommended. Later, I tried adding a crank spacer to move the chainrings out, but that didn't help much. It was working well on my CAAD7 (60cm); but not on my CAAD7 (58cm). Maybe the cage got bent, but I know it didn't take a hit of any kind. I wonder if tightening the pinch bolt too hard could have bent the cage in? From (my) naked eye, it seems okay. But, that light-weight DuraAce probably bends easy. I think if I try bending the whole cage outward, it might help, but I hate going down that road. I just got this expensive derailleur, and hate to ruin it, unless it's already on the way out.
@@parktool Yes, everything is seated tightly. It just seems that the whole cage needs to start out further away from the seat-tube. I'm about to switch derailleurs to see if there's any difference.
If you can get it not to rub by changing the cable tension I would not think the location is incorrect. Check the routing of the cable too. There is a small tab on the derailleur the cable needs to be run over that to increase the amount the cable moves the derailleur.
Do not heat the metal. Just bend it a little at a time, trying not to over shoot. If it breaks, it was unusable anyway. Test ride and see how it works.
I wouldn’t take into the time of straightening a bent front derailleur cage. You’ll never 👎 get it exactly right again. If this happens to a front chain ring 💍, either a tooth 🦷, or a section of the chain ring 💍 is bent, it can be straightened, except when the bend is severe. Your friend, Jeff.
Often that is the end of that front derailleurs life. maybe look at images of that specific front derailleur andyou will find where it is supposed to be attached as it varies from model to model.
John Mitchell it does it even without the shifting cable attached, i know that Sounds not logical. My next step is to remove the derailleur and look what happens underneath when i pedal hard
I think its the chain tension. Because it only happens in the smallest cog in the back that the chain goes on the bigger gear in the Front when i Pedal Hard
Find the offending "burr" and file it down or it could be "chain suck" Chain suck is when the teeth of the ring are worn or the chain is muddy so it clings to the chainring as it is pedaled and it is not allowed to release from the chainring. It gets bound up. Often the solution is a new chainring.
Did you know that if your high limit screw is too slack, your derailleur cage can rub up against your chainring protector and cause it to move out of alignment? Me neither, but I do now!! 🚲
The problem I have is a little trickier. When the cable is disconnected from the derailleur, I get all 3 'clicks' from the shifter. But when attached, 1st & 2nd are fine, but the derailleur will shift the chain to the largest sprocket, but the 'click' is missing hence the chain moves back down to the middle chainring. Very frustrating. Any ideas out there?
@@ticnatz Im sure you hooked the cable up while the chain was in the small sprocket and the shifter was fully released? If not that would do it. Has the crank or bottom bracket ever been replaced on this bike?
@@parktool I have 30 years experience dealing with both retail & rental facilities. I do know what I'm doing. The cable was of course clamped down with the shifter in position one (fully released) and the chain in the granny gear. My rental shop was closed down by the Army 2 years ago and our fleet was sold off. I'm dealing with my own old rental fleet here. The cranks on this particular bike were changed a couple of years before we actually changed shifters. There were no problems before the shifters were changed. About half of the bikes that underwent this shifter change experienced this same problem. Half didn't. The cranks (Shimano) and shifters were exactly the same. We worked forever to try and solve this. Since it was a rental fleet and rented to clients who weren't particularly picky (they only needed basic transportation), we simply dialed out the large sprocket and told them to not use it, if effected (these were lower end MT bikes-HMs-$400 retail, 20 years ago). The new shifters were the real issue I believe. They were (and are) non-descript Shimano shifters. 8-speed integrated (of course that doesn't matter on the front shifter), perhaps Acera, but they don't have anything on them to tell you what level they are. I thought I left this all behind me when I retired but several friends & others have recently bought some of these bikes and are coming to me now to fix something that, frankly, I had forgotten about. I'm just reaching out here to see if there are any more ideas that I may have overlooked. It was frustrating 6 years ago, and that frustration has returned. Thanks for ANY insight.
@@ticnatz i'm experiencing the same problem with a friends Specialized Rockhopper SL, Shimano Mega 9 crank, Alivio front mech, and Shimano Mega 9 M590 front shifter. I wont go onto largest ring, the first click on the shifter from smallest ring is 'slack' (not cable ,thats tight) and does a faint click (deraileur dosnt move?) then when pressed a second time only then it moves from small to middle , then when pressed again lever only moves a bit and hit its stop therefore hasnt the range left to lift chain from then middle to top ? is the shifter busted ? one thing i have noticed is the gear display stopped working and when the covers were removed a small peice of red plastic dropped out ?? maybe this has damaged the mech ?
You know the channel is good when you've watched all of the videos, despite not having a bike.
How you know when you need to go outside and buy a bike^
hey man i got multiple unused bikes in my back yard come thru
@@hashslinginhasher where are you from🥹
I think it is time for you to get a bike!!
@@michaelmueller3228 :) i got one!
Thanks for the article.
After struggling with front Derailleur Adjustment and consulting innumerable articles and RUclips videos I just about gave up until I discovered one additional factor in proper derailleur shifting, Crank Bolt Tension.
While inspecting my bike, I noticed a very slight "play" and a new "sound" during a ride. I realized that the crank was a little loose.
When I tightened the crank bolt, I realized it was way looser than the manufacturers torque specs. Once I tightened the crank bolt, it brought the outside chain ring a little closer in, enough to make a significant difference in the range of the derailleur.
Hope this helps.
Perfect. Found my front derailleur was bent. Bent it back with good success!
No one else. That's who has videos more clear, concise and packed full of pro advise. Thank you for these.
Awesome! All your videos are very clear and well explained through visuals. Thank you!
Once again a detailed look at reasons why the shifting system can be maintained or adjusted or cable replacement. Also derailleur adjustment might be necessary. Not for those who aren't patient as this is an advanced tutorial as mentioned. Usually taking to a competent shop will be necessary.
Nice video again!!!
A born teacher, he saved me from having to make a service appointment and all the attendant hassles that brings. I was able to fix my derailleur problems in less than 20 minutes.
Thank you so much !!!! The front derailleur has been annoying me for ages, all sorted now 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Just buy modern mountain or gravel bike and be done with it!
Ha, ha!
Thanks for a helpful video. I have managed to sort out my problem.Dave
So ... my story begins with a new bicycle for which I didn't manage to set it in a way to change correctly to the highest gear from the front derailer.
After some searches on the net, I found your tutorial. Following your presentation I tried for more than 20 times... and nothing fixed my problem.
Anyhow, I found the solution and I want it to share with you because it could be included in your future troubleshooting videos.
For a new bike, anyone thinks that all pieces and parts are set up and right positioned. I put a lot of trust in guys from the store. Maybe I'm a stupid exception :)
In my case, the right pedal arm was not well/full screwed.
When the arm was well/full screwed, I realize that I move it with almost 1.5 mm.
This distance was what was missing for the correct setup and from this cause, my front derailleur with all settings done didn't manage to change to the highest gear.
Personal consideration
You are the perfect combination between mechanical + engineer + teacher!
This tutorial, from my point of view, is in the first place in top 3 "How to do it" in the world.
I'm sorry for my non-academic English language. I'm not a native speaker.
I need a new bike. That's what I found out.
No
Ha yo same
Yep XD mongoose?
Perhaps a new bike mechanic
🤭🤣
thank you soo much i got this full suspention trek and the frotn gears wont work and now i fixwd this vidio helped me so much
This video helped me a lot, fixed my front derailleur with the help from this video.
I bought a new bicycle but found out it's rubbing the chain for some gear combinations, after watching your other two basic videos and a few hours of tuning, I found out that the large chain ring is not rotating on the same surface, there is 1-2mm in and out while rotating, not sure if it's wobbled chain ring or other things caused it to off the surface... but the 3'05'' of this video talks about the wobble chain ring which confirmed my difficulty of adjusting cable/H/L limit. thank you very much. learned a lot from your videos. the bike will be returned to store.
So..... I watched the earlier video on how to adjust a front derailleur. That was super helpful and after loosing the clamp I was able to pivot the cage to bring it parallel to the chain ALMOST and reduce the rubbing of the chain against the cage. But I couldn't get it perfect and I'd concluded that I'd bent the cage when the bike fell over in our hallway. Then I watched this video and sure enough..... that's one of the problems identified here. Does this mean I'm now ADVANCED at front derailleur troubleshooting??? Well heck yeah!
Thank you for the advice, which helped me to exclude options, I discovered that a small piece of not visible rock had become stuck in the front derailleur mechanism and it fell out as I turned my bike upside down - problem solved
Great! Addresses the problems that most video's don't. Also see his other video about front derailleur "Basic" adjustments when basic adjustment doesn't do the job...Which I can't find now. :-( But it deals with the 1) gap between the front derailleur and chainring and 2) when the front derailleur is rotated so the cage is not aligned with the chainring
im just missing one thing in these tutorials. how to start from scratch. i mean, it normally starts with "shifting to the lowest gear" or something like that. sometimes you cant do that becuase of the wrong indexing, cable tightness, barrel adjustment, etc. it would be great to have a tutorial like an instalation, everything from 0. just a thought
Great video, well presented video, I learned a lot in 4 minutes.
Because of this video, I've finally noticed that my derailer cage is bent. 2:00
this guy rules
After watching all the videos on "front derailleur", I was hoping this one was the answer. Believe it or not, it wasn't. It was my mistake not to have recorded what side of the screw the cable was supposed to go. I had threaded the cable on the opposite side of the clamp down point than I should have. Just that little change made it impossible to get the chain on to the largest ring. So, after I moved the cable over and made sure everything was in lubed and adjusted, I tried it. Just a little tweaking of the High/Low screws and now it is back to the way it was before I decided to change from grip shifters to trigger shifters. Bottom line, however, is: These are without question the best bicycle maintenance video presentations out there. (Which could be why I always go to Park Tools for my bicycle needs.) Thanks.
Yeah replacement is the best option
Very nice job! The video editing is fantastic as well!
Great video(s)! The detail and intuition provided is really helpful. The issue I'm having is that adjusting the limit screws does not move the cage. I manually moved it in and out and managed to get a little movement out of it so I think maybe its just really grimy in there. Would lubrication (or wd-40 or similar) help? I just changed the cables on my bike so I'm confident they're ok. Thanks!
Thanks! Lubrication will definitely help. Sometimes You may have to turn it a few times to get the screw to come in contact with the stop. This is especially prevalent on the low limit of the front derailleur. Lube... good, and keep turning. Hope this helps! Let us know how it goes.
Yeah! Ortherwise use the T9,its very helpful
videos are well made and well explained
Thanks Park Tool this saved my marriage,
OMG in My Case there was a little stone trapped within the shifting mechanism blocking it - the shifter lever wasnt moving at all - i first thought my rapid fire mechanism was gone !!! i dont believe it im glad i DID NOT disassembled everything at first place .
Removing this F**** little stone fixed shifting
Love you man! You remind me so much of my Lolo♥️
Why do my chain is hanging on front derailleur
Beautiful explanation
My problem is everytime when I'm in the largest cog, when I'm putting it on second it goes directly in smallest and skipping the second
Adjust your front system from scratch. It's usually a bad combination of the shifter set screw and low set screw but more the shifter screw.
Thank you
Before taking the bike to a mechanic, check your chain. I made the mistake of putting the wrong chain and it often fell off the large chain ring when shifting. Tried another one and the problem was solved. So my derailleur cage wasn't bent after all!
Bent cage, baby!! Woo-hoo. Thanks!
Excellent video
Thanks. Great clear concise vid!
Like ParkTool is like a legend for giving these free
I'm indexing my gears and adjusted the front derailleur, but when on the lowest gear+smallest ring and trying to switch the front derailleur to the big ring, the chain gets stuck. The derailleur cage is practically parallel to the ground and it seems like the problem is related to that. How can I fix it?
Hey there, I have a front derailleur issue that is not in the video. When I try to take front gear to lowest it immadiately slacenks the cable, I mean its like shifter just loses its grip. If you can help I would really appreciate it. Thnks for the video btw.
I watched all your videos and they are great. However, I have an issue with the front derailleur shifter I've never seen. When I try to shift from middle to larges cog (front), the shifter lever does not pull the cable until I repeat it a couple of times and then it "catches". From smaller to middle cog this issue does not occur. Any advice you could share?
Dude you my Hero....
I was going to adjust mine but for some reason the tension is so high I cant seem to get the lever on the handlebars to go past half way (front stays on middle cog and wont go to largest). i checked the cable when its on the smallest cog and it isnt really tight just firmly in place... any idea whats causing this? changing the l and h screws dont solve it.. i cant find anything it could be stuck on either... its a brand new bike and i found out the spokes are so loose they creak from the slightest movement of the bike so i'm pretty frustrated... to be fair it was shipped through mail so i should have expected as much.
Thank you, In my case all it took was a cleaning and lubrication!
Thanks mate your a legend
Tried exchanging front derailleur. But ''seat post angle'' and or ''cage size'' caused a problem? Do the cages differ in angle and or size in length? On crank I changed from 2 to 3 chain rings. Hoping to see a solution on RUclips. Thank you
I've gone through the main tutorial, adjusted alignment in both planes of movement, adjusted limit screws, done the indexing, then checked the advanced tutorial and checked cable housing and chainring bolts. My rings and chain are all brand new. I'm at my wit's end. The chain still has problems shifting from big to middle ring (worst offender) and also from middle to big ring. This also can be perfect on the work station, but then when riding for a few minutes reverts back to being a ****. I've taken everything off and rebuilt and readjusted countless times now and keep getting the same issue. The only thing I noticed was that when the cable is slack and I'm testing the movement of the derailleur, in order to then re-tighten the cable to set the perfect tension, that my derailleur doesn't ever move over as far as yours does in the main tutorial. Even with full slackness it does a half-arsed movement (even when I pull the chain to the side to stop it getting in the way). I took it off and sprayed it up in all the nooks and crannies and tested it whilst in my hand, and it moves fine, but when on the bike and activated by the shifter it seems weaker. No matter what I adjust I can never get the whole system working perfectly. If one part is working perfectly due to cable tension, another part will be off. What are your thoughts?
When you replaced the chainrings on the bike did you time the rings correctly? I ask this because you say it works in the stand but not while riding. This indicates that the chain might not be catching on the correct part of the chain ring. many chainrings will have ramps and pins that help the chain catch the next gear and also helps the chain drop. If these are not correctly oriented then the shifting will not work under load very well. Also, what is the condition of the cable and housing?
I replaced the left shifter and it came with a new cable. I installed everything and then used one of your videos to adjust the front derailleur and it was very helpful. However, no matter what I adjusted, the shifter won't click to 3rd when the cable is attached. If I loosen the pinch bolt and disconnect the cable, I can get the shifter to do all 3 clicks and the cable moves slightly for each. What is happening when I reattach that prevents the shifter from clicking to 3? When it is in 2, I push the thumb to click to 3 and the thumb just presses all the way in with no impact on the derailleur and no click. Any thoughts?
thanks my guy
thnx that's helpful
Great videos! Thanks!
Awesome explanatory vid! I've learned a lot and can now make successful adjustments myself ^^
Unfortunately I'm currently still riding my 14y old "MTB" with a 3X gear up front ... more of a 'city bike gear' on an ok MTB like frame :/... and after playing with the rear suspension settings ... which didn't turn out well since it's more a bike pretending to be a MTB ... the sticker on the frame even says so :D ... I ended up with the problem that I can get everything to work alright in the repair stand but during testriding the suspension obviously manipulates the chain tension thus the front derailleur doesn't want to shift well between the 3 gears. Either (i) all except the biggest work fine ... or (ii) the problem is going back down from the biggest cog.
Guess it's just a matter of a lot of try and error and making small adjustments over time ...
Guess this explains why real MTB's normally only have a 1x or at most 2x at the front...
Thus currently I'm just gonna use the medium size cog at the front until I've had enough time and patience to get it fully set.
I have "motor bike throttle style" shifters thus I guess I can use the extra click's to "over adjust" the derailleur while on the repair stand and than see what effect it has during test riding.
I had big problems with my FD. Watched this and other videos, but no clues. The reason was that the middle chainring had been mounted the wrong way (yup, I did it myself). Just another thing to check if nothing works and you don't know why...
If the Gear Shifter is on 1 or L for the Front Derailleur, which cog should the chain be on in a 3 cog/18 speed bike?
took me a while to get the hang of it but now its shifting smoothly i think😅
I suspect that my derailleur cage is slightly bent. Also the fact that I have a biopace/oval tech crank probably makes the adjusting harder.
I just bought a Shimano 4050 9 speed crankset, i can now only afford a chain or front derailleur, which one would be more important until i can afford the latter?
Thanks
Dude you could be a teacher in a private school. Send them these video's as resume and u are probably hired
LEGEND
Hi every time I ride my bike and start pedalling there is a constant clicking noise coming from front derailleur. It sounds more like a drilling noise than a clicking noise
Can you please help to solve this issue thank you and stay safe.
I think mine is just slightly bent lol. I slammed my ebike so hard i busted the lcd, bent my key inside the ignition, and bent the front detailer. Bike will still work even with a broken lcd and ignition i just need the chain to move, even though i can just throttle
In addition,
Can wobbling rear hub or gear also be cause the front derailleur problems?
Thanks
I recall about 20 years ago, reading about many different types of cable housing (Teflon-coated, reinforced, black or white, etc.) some of which required special tools and techniques to install. Nowadays, all the mechanics say "Buy new cable housing" like it's a generic "one size fits all" product. Is that true these days??
There are quality levels in cables and in housings these days. Many shops or home mechanics have a big sspool of a decent housing and then have some decent cables that they use as the shop or home mechanics "everyday" use stuff. Then they usually will have a higher end option or two. Never lower quality as some of the inexpensive cables and housings are terrible.
Parktool can you make a vid preventing the front derailluer clamp scratching the frame? I hope youll notice me.
Clamps by their design must press against the tube. It certainly can occur that you get a scratch. However, remove the derailleur. Feel inside the clamp for any sharp edges. Use a jeweler's fine or find emery cloth to finish smooth. I can sometimes help to use thin adhesive tape. Place this inside the derailleur clamp, not the frame. The adhesive sticks to the clamp surfaces. Use a razor blade to trim off any excess beyond the clamp. Thick tape will change the diameter and may not allow the clamp to work, use an electrician's tape.
My chain does not sit on the middle chain ring when shifting from top chain ring to middle
thank you for the video .... guess ima have to mess with the barrel and tugging on the wire -.- :(
My chain rubs in the fd when using the big plate. And if i adjust it, the other plate will have also the same problem
It sometimes happen to me, that in order for derailleur to work fine, I need to set cable tension so that it's slack on first gear. What do you think could be an issue here? Bad chainline?
Why is my front derailleur not moving when I adjust the limit screws?
The limit screws do not move the derailleur, they limit the derailleurs movement on the extreme ends of its range. So, that means that your derailleur is not at either of its limits.
hi park tool! do you have video for adding Front derailleur (spacer) ring?
Calvin Jones 2020
❤
First, your videos are great. Just enough detail, but not overwhelming.
My problem is that my Shimano front brifter moves the front derailleur far enough outboard to move the chain to the large outside sprocket. But it doesn't click and hold the position. So the derailleur moves back inboard and jumps the chain back to the small front sprocket. It seems to me this is a problem with the brifter, not the derailleur. What can I do?
If you fully disconnect the cable and verify that the shifter is missing a shift then I would flush the shifter with a light lubricant like TriFlow or T9. Work the shifter to exercise the internals. The gear may come back. It may not.
@@parktool thanks so much for taking time to reply. I received the same advice from others and fully flushed the shifter. It is very clean now with fresh lubricant. It turns out that the derailleur was out of position to begin with. Too far inboard. I enlisted my wife's help. I pulled the derailleur over, pulled the cable tight, she tightened the nut.
My cycle is stuck on 1 gear on the front and cycle shop is like 10 km from my home pls someone tell me something pls
Issue. Orbea Avant h30. Shimano 105 front derailleur and rear. Adjusted everything really well. The bike is new. Less than 100 miles on it. Clean as a whistle.
The issue I'm having is front derailleur is slow to downshift. I have 2 front chainrings and 3 index position on the Front derailleur. To downshift quickly I need to double downshift. If I single downshift...it drags too much before dropping inward to the small chainring.
Otherwise the bike is smooth in all.otber shifting.
I'm guessing this is the most recent 105 group. The front shifter has 4 positions. You are dealing with was one of the upgrades with the new system. So when shifting to the large right it goes up normally, then the shift down it hesitates and shifts and may make a bit of noise until you release again? They made this shift to the smaller chainring a two tap process in order to reduce the amount of chain drops people would have. Usually you can get it to the point where it is hard to notice the rubbing on that first down shift but it is best to hit it twice. You can also run the low limit a little bit looser as there is less risk of the chain falling off.The 4th position up top is found if you very lightly press the release lever instead of doing a firm shift. It is a trim for the large ring and the other one is the trim adjust for the small ring.
Park Tool awesome! That makes perfect sense! I was thinking maybe it was a trim... hence the double tap to down shift into small ring. It's smooth and has no issue going in...it's just that trim setting that is noisy.
That being said...it seems it's normal then. They didn't adjust it properly from the shop I purchased...so I used your videos to go through my enitre indexing for all my gears.
Thank you greatly for the response!!! And the videos! Tremendously helpful
How about a small wobble in chainring? I think even that makes 3-by-systems hard to tune just right and replacing all the whole front end cogs just for that gets expensive. Is it possible to bend chainring to true, shim the chainring or is the replacement the only real option?
Small deviations can be adjusted out of chainrings. Careful use of pry tools, a hammer and a punch can correct these deviations. start with small adjustments and go bigger.
My chain sometimes will suddenly jump from large chainring to the middle chainring when it was fully locked in indexed
Certainly that can occur. Double check the rotation and also the H-limit. If a bit on the tight side, it may allow the chain to fall inward.
@@parktool That's exactly what it was thank you kindly Sir :)
How do i fix my bike's derailleure spring
My Shimano FD-R2000 front derailer's trim is troubling me a lot, there's always a gear or two in the middle of the cassette that results in the chain rubbing the derailer cage even after the trim is performed. it's like the cable pull ratio is too big, so instead of rubbing the outer plate, it starts rubbing the inner one after the trim is performed. I checked the assembly as per the manual like million times, all the gear is brand new, so this is really frustrating to have like two gears in the middle not available without rubbing.
The only working way to get rid of this is to set the 3rd (of 4) position so it covers only two gears like 4-5 and then upper limit screw would prevent the cage from moving too far for the 4th position to get 6-8 gears in place. But that's like 10 or 11 working gears in total with very limited freedom of not using the left shifter all the time, better off without the derailer in the first place and simply put up with 50x11-32 I think.
Have you tried routing the cable differently? That derailleur has 2 different routing options that provide different leverage ratios depending on the angle that the cable is fed to the derailleur. You can see the gauge that shimano provides for setup on page 14 of there installation manual.
I noticed a small wobble in my chainring Which makes the chain rub against the derraileur when in the two smallest cogs and the biggest chainring. I tried to set the limit screw but the chain keeps rubbing. Please help me
Some small wobbles are not uncommon. But these can rub if big enough as you have seen. Sometimes some models can accept bending to straighten, but sometimes it just means new rings.
Can a loose cranck cap be the cause of the wobble?
@@parktool thank you
Can't shift into 1st the largest cog but second and 3rd is fine? Any ideas guys?
thanks. one sorted rear mech
erm front mech....
Can you do one on the newer shimano fd with the stabilizer and tensioner screw?
Yes we will be getting to that.
@@parktool thank you! I recently bought a new bike with the grx groupset, and needed to do some adjustments. I was super confused, but eventually figured it out. I have been a Sram guy this last decade and set it up like a normal FD. Didn't work out so well.
I tried to use the front deraileur limit screws but the deraileur didnt move, any ideas?
What to do, when my L limit screw is loosen up, the cable tension is loose as well, but the chain still rubs the inner part of front derailleur when on small chainring and biggest sprocket (Shimano 105 2x11, 52/36 chainring, 11-30 cassette)?
Double check the rotation. It may need a little clockwise rotation, as seen from the top.
My shifter for the front derailleur is stiff. It hurts my thumb while I try to shift gear onto the next. Help?
Lubricate the pivots of the derailleur. Also lubricate the cable. To test the lever pull, disconnect the front cable, and pull it with one hand. Move the lever with the other hand. It should not be hard to move the lever. Lubricate the lever if it is still.
My deraileur wont change to the third chain ring, what should i do?
Hang on, at 0:57 that's the high ratio front chain ring isn't it? Great video though
What do you do when the barrel adjuster won't thread into its place
Be careful, don't force it. Disconnect the cable at the pinch bolt to get slack. Now align the threads of the adjuster with the lever and carefully re-thread it. If it will not start, the internal thread might be damaged, and need a M5 x 0.8mm tap to clean.
Why if I'm pedalling then I stop pedalling and my chain stucks and doesn't freewheeling how can I fix it
There could be a few things happening. You could have something like a spoke protector or a pice of string or grass wedged behind the freewheel not allowing it to freewheel properly. Or you could have a seized up freewheel. If you clean the debris or there is none and it still is having the issue you can sometimes get some lubricant into the freewheel to break it free but replacement is suggested at that point.
Paid 350+ dollats for this brand new schwinn trailway bike.... very frustrating that this front derailler isn’t shifting from 1 to 2, but will shift from 1 to 3
Hi Calvin, I need your expertise. I have a 2x10 Tiagra 4700 setup. The front derailleur is a bottom pull. I removed it to clean and lube pivot points. After reinstalling and adjusting cable tension, the front derailleur will no longer shift to the large chainring without having to use excessive force which makes it utterly unusable. In my troubleshooting, I found that when the cable is disconnected, the front derailleur moves smoothly. With the cable still disconnected and holding the cable with my fingers, the shifter works normally and cable is pulled and released as I shift through its range. It was working decently prior to removal and clean/lube. I have played with cable tension, limit screws all to no avail. I am stumped. Any ideas??
Having the same issue and nobody seems to have good advice for it
I have to use my inline barrel adjuster way too much to avoid excessive rubbing. When I use my hardest combination, I need to tighten the barrel adjuster 6 times, so I don't rub a lot. (This is not because I'm pedaling hard.) When I use my easiest one, or two combinations, I have to loosen the barrel adjuster all the way back 6 times, so it doesn't rub the other way. The cable was installed with proper tension. I installed this FD-7900 exactly like ParkTool recommended. Later, I tried adding a crank spacer to move the chainrings out, but that didn't help much. It was working well on my CAAD7 (60cm); but not on my CAAD7 (58cm). Maybe the cage got bent, but I know it didn't take a hit of any kind. I wonder if tightening the pinch bolt too hard could have bent the cage in? From (my) naked eye, it seems okay. But, that light-weight DuraAce probably bends easy. I think if I try bending the whole cage outward, it might help, but I hate going down that road. I just got this expensive derailleur, and hate to ruin it, unless it's already on the way out.
Have you checked that your bar tape is not preventing the housing from seating fully at the shifter? That can take up some of the cable pull.
@@parktool Yes, everything is seated tightly. It just seems that the whole cage needs to start out further away from the seat-tube. I'm about to switch derailleurs to see if there's any difference.
If you can get it not to rub by changing the cable tension I would not think the location is incorrect. Check the routing of the cable too. There is a small tab on the derailleur the cable needs to be run over that to increase the amount the cable moves the derailleur.
@@parktool They don't pay u enuf! Where do I send the case of IPA? (Yes, the small tab turns out to be a big deal!)
Could you do a 3x8 adjustments
if you have a bent tooth on a front sprocket, is it bad to torch it and try to bend it while hot?
it would be best to bend while cold. If aluminum it is going to break off. But if steel it will likely be just fine bending back.
Do not heat the metal. Just bend it a little at a time, trying not to over shoot. If it breaks, it was unusable anyway. Test ride and see how it works.
I wouldn’t take into the time of straightening a bent front derailleur cage. You’ll never 👎 get it exactly right again. If this happens to a front chain ring 💍, either a tooth 🦷, or a section of the chain ring 💍 is bent, it can be straightened, except when the bend is severe. Your friend, Jeff.
My return spring on my front derailleur is loose. But i cannot seem to find where to re-attatch it. I can shift into high but not back too low.
Often that is the end of that front derailleurs life. maybe look at images of that specific front derailleur andyou will find where it is supposed to be attached as it varies from model to model.
@@parktool Hey. Thank you so much for replying! Very helpful info :)
front derailler shifts on big ring when i accelerate really hard. bike is a 2020 trek emonda with tiagra. halp!!
Check the cable tension. The cable may be too tight. I would look at Park Tool's front derailleur adjustment video.
John Mitchell it does it even without the shifting cable attached, i know that Sounds not logical. My next step is to remove the derailleur and look what happens underneath when i pedal hard
I think its the chain tension. Because it only happens in the smallest cog in the back that the chain goes on the bigger gear in the Front when i Pedal Hard
How do i deal with my middle gear kinda gets stuck or something when climbing
Find the offending "burr" and file it down or it could be "chain suck" Chain suck is when the teeth of the ring are worn or the chain is muddy so it clings to the chainring as it is pedaled and it is not allowed to release from the chainring. It gets bound up. Often the solution is a new chainring.
Did you know that if your high limit screw is too slack, your derailleur cage can rub up against your chainring protector and cause it to move out of alignment?
Me neither, but I do now!! 🚲
The problem I have is a little trickier. When the cable is disconnected from the derailleur, I get all 3 'clicks' from the shifter. But when attached, 1st & 2nd are fine, but the derailleur will shift the chain to the largest sprocket, but the 'click' is missing hence the chain moves back down to the middle chainring. Very frustrating. Any ideas out there?
High Limit?
@@parktool I've taken that screw out! Same result.
@@ticnatz Im sure you hooked the cable up while the chain was in the small sprocket and the shifter was fully released? If not that would do it. Has the crank or bottom bracket ever been replaced on this bike?
@@parktool I have 30 years experience dealing with both retail & rental facilities. I do know what I'm doing. The cable was of course clamped down with the shifter in position one (fully released) and the chain in the granny gear. My rental shop was closed down by the Army 2 years ago and our fleet was sold off. I'm dealing with my own old rental fleet here. The cranks on this particular bike were changed a couple of years before we actually changed shifters. There were no problems before the shifters were changed. About half of the bikes that underwent this shifter change experienced this same problem. Half didn't. The cranks (Shimano) and shifters were exactly the same. We worked forever to try and solve this. Since it was a rental fleet and rented to clients who weren't particularly picky (they only needed basic transportation), we simply dialed out the large sprocket and told them to not use it, if effected (these were lower end MT bikes-HMs-$400 retail, 20 years ago). The new shifters were the real issue I believe. They were (and are) non-descript Shimano shifters. 8-speed integrated (of course that doesn't matter on the front shifter), perhaps Acera, but they don't have anything on them to tell you what level they are. I thought I left this all behind me when I retired but several friends & others have recently bought some of these bikes and are coming to me now to fix something that, frankly, I had forgotten about. I'm just reaching out here to see if there are any more ideas that I may have overlooked. It was frustrating 6 years ago, and that frustration has returned. Thanks for ANY insight.
@@ticnatz i'm experiencing the same problem with a friends Specialized Rockhopper SL, Shimano Mega 9 crank, Alivio front mech, and Shimano Mega 9 M590 front shifter.
I wont go onto largest ring, the first click on the shifter from smallest ring is 'slack' (not cable ,thats tight) and does a faint click (deraileur dosnt move?) then when pressed a second time only then it moves from small to middle , then when pressed again lever only moves a bit and hit its stop therefore hasnt the range left to lift chain from then middle to top ?
is the shifter busted ? one thing i have noticed is the gear display stopped working and when the covers were removed a small peice of red plastic dropped out ?? maybe this has damaged the mech ?