Bicycle Mechanics - "It will work" doesn't mean "It will work well"

So, after Frankensteining my triple to a double part by part, I'm finally down to all double specific parts, and even though for my Rear der (went from a dura ace to an ultegra) it meant "downgrading" it's working perfectly now.

What I learned? Just because something will "work" doesn't mean it will work "right". I had a triple, and went to a double, adjusted my triple fd to match the settings for the double, switched out my front shifters to a double set, and figured that would be it. Nope, chain dropping off in the front, rear shifting less the ideal, replaced the FD, with a double specific one, fixed all the issues on the front, the rear shifting was still far from as crisp as it had been. Switched the Rear to a short cage, now it's shifting nearly perfect.

It's amazing with bikes how much different "almost right" and "right" feel. I'm a do it yourself guy, and I fiddled with the adjuster on that RD for about a week, every ride it would feel ok for a while, but on the lower end of the shifting it would hesitate to go down AND up in those gears. I just couldn't figure it, now with the short cage, it's hopping down and up as soon as I hit the lever.

Just a quick thanks to all here who gave me the tips to get it running.

Joe

heh, heh... yeah as you've learned, swapping parts is the easy part. It's the alignment and adjustments of those parts that's 95% of the difference between working telepathically and not working at all. If I was to start with a project like yours, I would've stripped the bike completely bare and checked the facing of the headtube & BB as well as the alignment of all the dropouts and derailleur-hanger. That's like 50% of getting a working configuration right there.

Good luck!

Yeah, I was hoping to just swap out a few parts, as I had done in the past, but turns out when you switch from a triple to a double, there are chainline issues (if you don't put the cranks on to spec at least, which I didn't at first, and ended up getting a torque wrench for the rest of the project after doing that right). Along with other things, I have had the chain hop off the front one time since getting it all set up, but I'm pretty sure that was due to overshifting and frame flex, I'm going to tweak down the outer limit screw 1/4 turn tonight just to be safe though. :) It's fun to be able to say you did all the work yourself, as well as empowering, but everyone here deserves a pat on the back as well, some of the finer points I picked up from those much more knowledgeable than myself here.

If I choose to do any other major upgrades, I think I'll take your advice and strip it down just to get a look at it.

Joe

Congrats on getting it 'just right'! Feels good, doesn't it? I can relate--I built up a touring bike with drop bars, V brake rear, disc front, triple crank and 11-34 9spd rear. Lots of trial and error, but when it was finally 'right' I was glad to have learned to do it myself.:thumb: