Bicycle Mechanics - Upgrading from the Tiagra 4403 front derailleur.

My 4403 broke. I have never liked how it shifted and how many adjustments I had to make. I wonder what my options are for upgrading?

The 4403 is a Tiagra clamp-on 31.8

The bike is a 9 speed: 52/42/30.

What are your recommendations? THX!

I doubt the Tiagra was the shifting problem. Nothing wrong with a Tiagra part. But if you want to move up a little, next up the line is a 105. Derailleurs are really dumb devices, they just move to the right or left based on how far the cable is moved. The "brains" of the operation are in the shifter itself. I am always amazed how well even the bottom end Shimano stuff shifts anymore.

Guess, as above, you can get one picked from a higher price point group,
105 perhaps? sounds like you need the Triple version.

Shifting a Derailleur bike used to be a skill you learned,
then Index systems came in, and the mechanism , parts,
began to be some other place to lay Blame..

Any triple FD from Shimano will work fine. As the above said FDs are really stupid things that does the simple bidding of the shifter. No point in wasting $$$ for high end. stuff when a $10 FD2203 will shift just as well. The key is setting it up...

My 4403 broke. I have never liked how it shifted and how many adjustments I had to make. I wonder what my options are for upgrading?

The 4403 is a Tiagra clamp-on 31.8

The bike is a 9 speed: 52/42/30.

What are your recommendations? THX!

FD-5503 a.k.a 105 triple front.

A 9-speed Shimano triple road derailleur should work best. I recommend that you stay with the Tiagra.
Have you tried replacing the shifter cables and housings?

Yes, the cables I know were replaced after a riser bar/extension was installed.

A piece that held the spring inside the 4403 broke or sheared off leaving no tension for shifting.

Thanks for the tips.

My 4403 broke. I have never liked how it shifted and how many adjustments I had to make. I wonder what my options are for upgrading?

The 4403 is a Tiagra clamp-on 31.8

The bike is a 9 speed: 52/42/30.

What are your recommendations? THX!

How did it break? Did the tab holding one end of the spring break by any chance?

Unless you want to start using a 10 speed chain, you'll want to avoid any 10 speed front derailler. The only 10 speed that would work anyway is the 5603 as the Ultegra deraillers need a 13T gap between middle and big rings to work. Your best bet is to find a NOS 105 or Ultegra 9 speed derailler or use a current Tiagra or Sora.

This will do: http://www.niagaracycle.com/product_info.php?products_id=30484

Make sure the der you plan on getting will handle a 22t range of gear changes. Lots of them won't. bk

the current Tiagra (FD-4503) and Sora (FD-3403) both specify a maximum tooth differential if 20 teeth. The current 2200 (FC-2303) specifies 22 teeth.

The previous versions all allowed 22 teeth.

An un broken 4033 will be an improvement, the rivets and bushing fit
and polish goes with the pricier models, but really,
front derailleurs are pretty basic. [paralelogram shoves a moving chain sideways ]

Make sure the der you plan on getting will handle a 22t range of gear changes. Lots of them won't. bk

While they may only specify 20 teeth, that's mainly because the cranksets in that group only have a 20 tooth spread. I'm using a 5603 FD with a 52/42/30 crank and it works great.

My 4403 broke.
How did you break it?


I have never liked how it shifted and how many adjustments I had to make.
I wonder what this means.

How did you break it?

Beat it with a hammer till it changed its shape. :) I have no idea how it broke. It guess it was a tab or something that held one end of the spring. I never knew what it looked like before it broke, but clearly it sheared off and the derailleur doesn't work.


I wonder what this means.?

Don't go too deep here. I was simply wondering if a higher grade component would provide better shifting with less need for the seemingly constant tuning I had to do with the 4403. What I read from the helpful replies was no, it doesn't really matter. Chalk it up to operator error and I will replace with a similar component.

Thanks for the advice and links.

Don't go too deep here. I was simply wondering if a higher grade component would provide better shifting with less need for the seemingly constant tuning I had to do with the 4403.
Since you aren't being clear, it's just hard to tell what your problem is.

By "tuning", do you mean "trimming" (moving the derailler to avoid chain rub)?

My Tiagra brifter for the front derailler has half-stops that allow small adjustments in the derailler to keep the chain from rubbing.

If you are having "excessive" chain rubbing problems, you may be "cross chaining" too much. That is, you may be using the large (front) chain ring with the largest rear sprocket and the smallest chain ring with the smallest sprocket. It isn't unexpected that there would be "uncorrectable" chain rubbing in these cases. And needing to trim front deraillers is typical for triples.

If this is your problem, the solution is not cross chaining. It generally is unnecessary to cross-chain because these gears are often duplicated elsewhere.

A gear chart might be helpful.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/