Bicycle Mechanics - 105 front der shifter difficulty

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roadbuzz
05-09-04, 07:08 PM
The frond derailleur shifter on my wife's bike is really a bear. It's a 105 triple, and to shift, she has to lean to her left and basically throw her weight into it. I've tried it and it's uncomfortably difficult even for me. It's way more resistance than my Ultegra double FD shifter. Is this normal for 105? Is there a relatively easy way to reduce the resistance?

seely
05-09-04, 07:36 PM
The frond derailleur shifter on my wife's bike is really a bear. It's a 105 triple, and to shift, she has to lean to her left and basically throw her weight into it. I've tried it and it's uncomfortably difficult even for me. It's way more resistance than my Ultegra double FD shifter. Is this normal for 105? Is there a relatively easy way to reduce the resistance?

Cable too tight?
dexmax
05-09-04, 07:38 PM
its either the cable to tight, as seely mentioned, or the cable needs lubrication.

Retro Grouch
05-10-04, 04:24 AM
The frond derailleur shifter on my wife's bike is really a bear. It's a 105 triple, and to shift, she has to lean to her left and basically throw her weight into it. I've tried it and it's uncomfortably difficult even for me. It's way more resistance than my Ultegra double FD shifter. Is this normal for 105? Is there a relatively easy way to reduce the resistance?

Does it do that all of the time or just the middle to big shift and vice versa? I've seen several bikes where the high limit screw was just a hair too tight. That makes shifts into and out of the big ring take more effort than would otherwise be necessary. If that's the case a 1/4 turn counterclockwise on the limit screw will fix it but a 1/2 turn will make it throw the chain so don't overdo it.
roadbuzz
05-10-04, 06:06 AM
The frond derailleur
Frond... that's, er, French cycle-speak for front. :o

Thanks for the suggestions, y'all. It feels more like there's just too much tension on a spring somewhere, rather than an cable issue, but I'll definitely investigate that angle, too.

The difficulty is pretty much on all shifts. And with a triple, you need to use the "trim" shift feature more than you would with a double. But because it takes so much pressure to shift at all, it's pretty difficult to do a trim-shift (going toward a smaller ring) without pushing so hard it does a full shift.
tlippy
05-11-04, 09:32 AM
RoadBuz - I also have 105's and I do have to use all 4 indent positions very often. I have adjusted the 105 to require the least amount of effort while ****ing from the middle to the small ring. But it requires extra effort to jump it to the large ring in this setting. I guess it's just a quirk of triples. I did find that the instructions on Shimano's site are the best for adjustments - better than the oververbaged Barnetts version.