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cptnCanada
08-11-03, 03:07 PM
Hey everyone, glad to be a member here now...looks like a pretty cool forum.:)
I was wondering what top/bottom swing meant on a front derailleur. Can anyone please explain?
Thanks!
Well, it's not the easiest thing in the world to describe, but once you see them both, it's obvious.
The pivot point and clamp on older bottom-swing derailleurs is actually above the derailleur cage - so the cage kind of 'swings' below the entire derailleur.
The newer top-swing derailleurs have a pivot point & clamp more in line, or slightly below, the cage - so the cage kind of swings above (or beside) the derailleur.
None of this is to be confused with top- or bottom-pull, which describes the type of front derailleur required for a give frame cable routing design - top-pull for cables routed down from the top of the seat tube, and bottom-pull for cables routed up from under the BB shell.
This is why many derailleurs come in four different types, as well as multiple clamp sizes!
Dave:beer: