Bicycle Mechanics - HELP! Should a triple shift so noisily?

Greetings everyone,

I was trying to be a good cycling citizen and adjust my own derailleurs and I think I screwed up.

I have an Ultegra triple 52-42-30 with a 12-27 Ultegra cassette in the rear. The front derailleur is DA and rear is Ultegra. When I was buying bike I could only find a DA front and since it was on sale it was only $5 bucks more so I figured why not.

I wanted to make an adjustment because the drive train was making too much noise compared to a double on the same bike set up that I was testing.

The noise seemed to be coming from BB or crankset. Sounded like something was rubbing. Like a very dull grind. I Wasn't coming from the chain hitting either side of the front derailleur because I watched as I listened that makes a different sound. I thought that the 30 chainring was scaping the Front der. so I loosened the whole front der. and moved it up a fraction. This seemed to throw the top portion out of alignment.

I tried to move the front der. back to the original position but no instead of just a mildly annoying dull grindish dirt or gunk in the BB type of sound the guide pulley in the back is way to close to the cassette when I am in the 30-27 gear. It wasn't like that before. It makes a load crunching noise. I tried adjusting everything I could be just made things worse. I didn't ride this morning out of fear I might break something.

The bike is brand new and I'm going into the shop tonight but I was wondering if y'all could tell me what you think might have happened or point me to some good online references about derailleur adjustment. I know that a 27 cassette is accepted by Shimano but not recommended but that's what's on there now and I can't swap it out just yet.

Thanks for any input you can offer.

HB

There is nothing wrong with the 27 rear cog.I was not aware that the DA triple front derailer was compatible with an otherwise ultegra triple drivetrain.there is deriler adjustment info at www.parktool.com A lesson learned.If you don't know what you are doing, DON't. Especially on a new bike.It just gives the shop a potrential out.

Are you (I fear) stuck with indexed control of the front derailleur? (Indexing of the front gears was a serious engineering blunder on the part of Shimano.) Even with index shifting, you should be able to make the front mech perform tolerably well.

1) Set the cage parallel to the chainrings.
2) Set the cage so that it clears the teeth by about 1mm as it swings in and out.
3) Set the low-gear limit screw so that the cage just clears the chain when you are pedaling HARD in first gear (30/27).
4) Set the high-gear limit screw so that the cage just clears the chain when you are pedaling HARD in your highest gear (52/12).
5) Now adjust the cable length for best-possible indexing.
6) When riding, avoid cross-chaining from the 52 to the two largest cogs and from the 30 to the two or three smallest cogs.

Originally posted by John E
Are you (I fear) stuck with indexed control of the front derailleur? (Indexing of the front gears was a serious engineering blunder on the part of Shimano.) Even with index shifting, you should be able to make the front mech perform tolerably well.

When my STI's gave out, I put on friction shifters.

More forgiving than the modern stuff. I won't use anything but these or grip-shifters, from now on. Adjustment is a royal pain in the derailleur. :)

(I'm not trying to save 0.1 second, anyway. And if I count the time spent in adjusting them and replacing abused front cables, that 0.1 second has already been lost. Waaaay gone.)

I have STI shifters. It's a brand new 2002 Jamis Eclipse. I had the LBS put on a triple cause I like to ride in the Blue Ridge Mts. of VA and I like to spin and look at the scenery. But I also want smooth presise shifting for when I battling for the prize money (i.e. not buying the first round of beers) on my fast club rides during the week.

I guess I'll just have to work with my LBS to tweek the shifting. And I have to learn how to do it myself.

HB

Get the lowdown on that DA front derailer while you are at it.

The Dura-Ace triple front derailleur is made for a chainring arrangement featuring a larger middle-to-outer size difference than the Ultegra front derailleur is--Dura Ace triple cranks are sold with one set of chainrings, 30/39/53, Ultegra triples are sold with a variety of chainring combinations but they all feature a 10 tooth max difference between mid and outer rings, either 42/52 or 40/50. The Ultegra front derailleur for triples has an inner plate that is shaped differently from the Dura Ace, specifically for that smaller size jump between outer chainrings. The Dura Ace isn't really better, it's just different. And John E is spot on--indexing triple front derailleurs is a terrible idea, Shimano is out of line and acting like con artists/crooks in forcing it into the marketplace. Barcons rule for triples.

Shimano triples are not as bad as some would make than out to be.It helps to know how to set one up rather than being dependent on someone else.Mine work well , and have been trouble free.I'm for barcons too,but tell that to them that think they look too retro or just have to have STI to be cool,even though they likely don't really need it.