Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - upgrading kona dew derailleurs

i'd like to upgrade some components on my kona, namely the derailleurs. shifting gears is always troublesome and i'd like to smoothen it out. which derailleurs would be a good upgrade from the stock shimanos?

What problems are you having? I'm seriously looking into the Dew myself.

when i shift gears, it takes a while for the chain to switch chain rings. the front chain ring is especially slow to shift. and on the small chain ring, there's a lot of noise as i'm pedaling. it goes away if i slightly push and hold the thumb shifter, but i don't think i should have to keep doing that.

Have you had them adjusted by your LBS? There's often cable stretch on a new bike that can cause such things. On a decent bike less than 6 months old you shouldn't have to replace components.

As stated by Jurgen, get those derailleurs adjusted. The first few hundred miles are tough on new cables, they'll stretch as they're being broke in. No need to rush off and buy a set of XT's unless you really want to spend the money. But then again, if it's in your head that you must have new components then buy em and get back on your bike :).

I would certainly check the adjustment first. Unless you have totally xmart quality parts (which I doubt), the higher end shifters are more of a weight/bling factor than greatly improved performance.
Are you easing off the load slightly when you shift?

http://www.parktool.com/repair/byregion.asp?catid=53
http://sheldonbrown.com/derailer-adjustment.html

This definitely sounds like a bike in need of adjustment. I'd also double check to make sure you're not cross gearing (avoid small ring, 2 smallest cogs; middle ring, largest or smallest cog; big ring, 2 largest cogs is a good rule of thumb). If you get some adjustments and find you're still having issues with your shifting then I'd think about upgrades/replacements. Although in my experience a poorly engineered/pinned/ramped big ring will cause more issues that a less than top of the line front derailleur.

you might need something simple, like a new chain

i've had the lbs adjust it several times. i was there for almost 4 hours when i bought it. maybe i should take it to a different lbs than the one i bought the bike from?

1: Did you buy this bike brand new or was it used?

2:How long ago did you purchase it?

3:Has the bike been back for a tune up since you bought it?

If you let us know the answer to these questions I'm sure we could better assist you.

Bau

i bought it brand new in june. i complained to the lbs about it not shifting smoothly and they upgraded the shifters, but that didn't seem to help much. when the chain is on the small front chain ring, there's a sound like the chain is rubbing against metal, possibly the derailleur. when i push the trigger shifter slightly and hold it between the small and middle chain ring setting, the sound goes away. i don't think i should have to hold the shifter to make the sound go away. i haven't brought it in for a tune up yet, but i'm wondering if i should bring it back to the same lbs where i bought it from to have them do it. i can get it done for free if i bring it there but they weren't able to really fix this problem before.

You could try SRAM...

It's probably not better or worse than shimano, but the shifting does have a different feel that you may prefer. Shifting seems quicker. If I hit the trigger on my SRAM SX4 shifters, it shifts almost immediately at the same time as I hit the trigger. On my gf's shimano setups (Altus, Alivio), it's more like I hit the trigger and then it shifts... Both shift very smoothly though.

However, it's possible there's nothing wrong and you're just cross chaining. You should not be on the smallest front ring and the smallest back ring, or on the biggest front ring and the biggest back ring. This is cross chaining and places unnecessary stress on your drivetrain components. You might also hear noise from the derailleurs in this configuration.

http://www.activesports.co.zw/train_health_nutrition/mtb_cross_chain.htm
http://pedalpowerct.com/page.cfm?pageID=109
etc. etc.




i bought it brand new in june. i complained to the lbs about it not shifting smoothly and they upgraded the shifters, but that didn't seem to help much. when the chain is on the small front chain ring, there's a sound like the chain is rubbing against metal, possibly the derailleur. when i push the trigger shifter slightly and hold it between the small and middle chain ring setting, the sound goes away. i don't think i should have to hold the shifter to make the sound go away. i haven't brought it in for a tune up yet, but i'm wondering if i should bring it back to the same lbs where i bought it from to have them do it. i can get it done for free if i bring it there but they weren't able to really fix this problem before.

Yeah, it sounds like an issue a decent mechanic could fix. I'd demand that your LBS resolve the issue.