Bicycle Mechanics - Will a shimano 600 arabesque FDER work with a triple?

Hi guys,

Am tinkering with something I haven't done much of, double-to-triple conversions, and is having a bit of trouble. Haven't been able to determine if it's due to wrong BB or wrong front derailer though.

Bike is a bit of a frankenbike, old lugged steel road frame respaced to 135 mm. 68 mm BB shell. If I use a 127 mm BB and a MTB triple I don't get enough FDER throw to get the chain to engage the biggest ring.
So what's the next point on the checklist? Another FDER or a 121 mm BB?

The cage sizes are completely different from road to mountain chainrings. First a road bike cage will be quite a bit longer/wider than the MTB cage. Secondly, a double derailleur is a fair amount different than a triple derailleur. The triple derailleurs have a somewhat more complex cage design to assist in shifting of the chain from the different rings.

First question, are you doing friction or index shifting in particular with the front derailleur?

If you are doing friction shifting then the difference in cable pull from mtb to road isn't that critical, so you just need to use pretty much any MTB front derailleur when using a MTB crankset. If you are using a road crankset, use a road bike derailleur.

If you are doing indexing, the next question is are you converting to a flat bar or keeping the drops? If you are doiing index shifting with a flat bar/mtb index shifter and a road bike chain ring (50t or larger) you will need to use a special derailleur like the FD-R443. If you are doing index shifting with road bike shifters, then stick with a road bike front derailleur of some sort.

And yes, you should use a triple compatible front derailleur when shifting triple chain rings.

First question, are you doing friction or index shifting in particular with the front derailleur?

I'm using a non-QS Campy shifter, which I believe should have enough resolution in its indents to deal with pretty much anything.


... you just need to use pretty much any MTB front derailleur when using a MTB crankset. If you are using a road crankset, use a road bike derailleur.

I'm open to either, but I do want to stay away from "pointless" gears. The road cranks I have in my parts bin all have too many teeth on their big rings to look particularly tempting. If I could get a hybrid/MTB 46/36 to line up as a road double it'd probably give me the range/ratios that I want.


.. the next question is are you converting to a flat bar or keeping the drops?

It's more a question of "building up" rather than "keeping", but yeah, there will be drops. Had a bullhorn idea brewing, but couldn't get it to work.


If you are doing index shifting with a flat bar/mtb index shifter and a road bike chain ring (50t or larger) you will need to use a special derailleur.

Wasn't planning on going that route, would probably need a seriously strange type of corncob cassette before that'd result in the range & ratios I'm after.


...If you are doing index shifting with road bike shifters, then stick with a road bike front derailleur of some sort... you should use a triple compatible front derailleur when shifting triple chain rings.

OK. Inexpensive MTB front triples I know where to find, inexpensive road triples will be a new target to hunt for.

Now, if the frankenbike works out well, I have no objections about tidying up my work later, but initially it'd be nice to pull it off on a small budget.