|   A better click shift Front Derailler then LX | JJHACK
Dec 10, 2001 10:00 AM | | I don't care for the Shifting of the LX shifter on my Bike. I like the XT rear which works great and never misses a shift. Is there a "click" shift type for the front? I think some of my shifting issues may be from not pushing the thumblever far enough to engage the bigger chainring. If I felt a click at the end of the travel I would know the shift lever was bottomed out and the chain would climb up. What is the best front shifter made, how does it work different then the One I have now? Thanks |
| adjustment issue | Hank
Dec 10, 2001 10:11 AM | | you probably just need to adjust your cable tension if it was set up right in the first place. LX works great when set up properly. |
| agree with Hank..... | Dave in Md.
Dec 10, 2001 10:42 AM | | I'm using an Alivio front derailleur and it never misses a shift! And it is one the "lower line" Shimano deraillers. The front derailleur doesn't really need to do much, so unless it's a faulty derailleur, it's most likely just a matter of adjustment. |
| Click shift=rapidfire?.... | fred³
Dec 10, 2001 10:37 AM | | trying to decide if you mean the front derailleur or the actual shifter. If it's the shifter then the lx is a "click" or rapidfire shifter. If you are having problems then it's either the adjustment of the front derailleur/cable tension or you're trying to shift under load(climbing). There isn't a rapidfire shifter that will shift well under load. You should be looking ahead far enough to have your chain on the proper ring before you start to pedal hard.
I run a SRAM on my hardtail for the front shifter. It has the micro adjust and shifts just fine under load.
Luck.
fred3 |
| Click shift=rapidfire?.... | JJHACK
Dec 10, 2001 11:58 AM | | Thanks Guys,
I guess I may be the one at fault here. I may not be pushing the thumb lever far enough forward all the time when shifting from the smaller to bigger rings.
I was wondering if there was a shifter that actually "clicked" to let you know the derailler moved all the way. The Rear clicks and you can count how many gear up or down you move with each click. The front does not seem to do this. It moves when you push the thumb lever but may not move far enough if you fail to push the lever far enough. Is there suppose to be a click at the end of the travel? Any indication of a complete shift? Thanks |
| Click shift=rapidfire?.... | Hank
Dec 10, 2001 2:19 PM | | it should click. It's just a question of proper adjustment. If you bought the bike new but have never had it serviced, bring it in to the shop--with time cables "stretch"--mostly the housing wears/compresses a bit (I'm assuming it worked properly at one point). You'll need to readjust the cable tension for proper performance. It's just a simple twist of the barrel adjuster, but unless you know what you are doing, you may make it worse. For more understanding of how your bike works, check out the Zinn book on bike maintenance. Good luck. |
| If you aren't hearing a "click" ... | Philber
Dec 10, 2001 4:27 PM | | then it likely isn't your cables. Your cables would have to be too tight not to click. If the cable had stretched (which is normal), you would hear the click at your shifter but nothing would happen (because you're not pulling enough cable to make the derailer move or move enough). Odd for a cable to just get too tight. Sounds more like either (a) the shifter's gunked up and isn't pulling cable properly, so it doesn't get to the point where it clicks, or (b) the outer limit screw on your FD is screwed in a bit too tight and your derailer can't move far enough to get to where the shifter would click.
Either way, one thing I can tell you: your LX front derailer, properly positioned and adjusted, will shift every bit as well as a brand new XTR. There just aren't any significant differences in the way front derailers work. The first lesson in derailer adjustment is: it isn't the derailer.
Go to Sheldon Brown's tips at harriscyclery.com (I think) or back a month on this board there's a front derailer thread where I went through what I do to adjust my front. |
| adjusting your FD ... repost | Philber
Dec 10, 2001 4:53 PM | | Get your rear shifting working smoothly before adjusting your front. Front derailers work under a lot of load so they frequently come out of adjustment. They also tend to move up the seat tube.
Tighten the barrel adjuster on your front shifter all the way in, then back out 2 turns. Loosen the cable on your FD, and loosen the FD mounting bolt. Reposition the whole derailer on the seat tube so that the bottom of the cage is 1 mm above the teeth of the big ring. The cage should be parallel to the frame, or ever so slightly toed in at the back (for easier shifting to the little ring). Tighten the mounting bolt. Pull the cable until there is no slack and tighten the cable bolt. Adjust the two limit screws until the cage will move out to the big ring but no farther and the same for the little ring. Fine tune the whole thing with the barrel adjuster at the shifter until it goes smoothly through all 3 rings. Then fine tune your rear derailer once - if it takes a big adjustment, you might have to fine tune the front again once.
Tuning a front derailer is as much art as science. Like truing wheels. And it can take a frustrating amount of time to get it perfect. But like most things once you do it a few times you get into a familiar rythym and you can get it every time. |
| Philber, you rock dude! | JJHACK
Dec 10, 2001 5:55 PM | | That was a great set of instructions. I was so burnt out with this shifting crap and all the chatter about the Fisher shifting problems I took the bike to the LBS tonight(100 miles Round trip!). I hate to be without it but I guess my legs could use a day of rest!
Anyway I expected the Shop guy to tinker with it a few minutes and hand it over. Instead he looked it over for 10 minutes then rode it and came back. Tinkered with it again and then rode out for about 10 minutes with tools. When he came back he put it back in the rack and went to get some older guy who looked it over for another 5 minutes. Then the older guy said to me:
"could you leave it for us today. We have it working much better but something is not quite right, maybe your chain is a link to long or the bottom bracket to wide? Maybe there is something wrong with the chain rings? we'll let you know what we figure out tommorow but we need to work on it a bit longer."
They are also struggling to figure it out, so now I don't feel to bad. I'm also glad that these guys can see a problem and did not just blow it off as some lame adjustment and try to send me on my way. I'll keep you guys informed.
Thanks Philber, I printed your instructions for my bike file! |
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