phrygian

HI all,

this is my first post here. I would like to replace the suntour front derailleur on my old dodsun bike but all the modern front derailleurs I've seen don't fit since the cage tail gets in the way of the rear derailleur cable which is routed above the bottom bracket and chain stay.
The suntour derailleur's cage is smaller at the tail to leave room for the rear derailleur cable.
Does anyone know a modern front derailleur (for 3 chainrings) I could use?

Thanks in advance for your help!

phrygian

jsmithepa

Got a pix so we know what yer talking about?

phrygian

Hi jsmithepa,

thanks for your answer. I took some pictures to clarify the problem I have.
The first one shows the old derailleur, the other two show the new derailleur that doesn't "fit" since it touches the rear derailleur cable.
I hope you understand now what I'm talking about.

Does anyone know a modern derailleur that has a cage shape similar to my old derailleur?

bikeman715

can you raise the dérailleur up the the seat tube a few mm to clear the cable ?

phrygian

Hi bikeman

I'd have to raise it for about 7 or 8 mm and I'm afraid the shifting won't be good if I do so.

bikeman715

does the chain rubs on the tail of the dérailleur ? from what i see in your photos it shouldn't . if it work in the repair stand it should work on the road too .

bikeman715

i' m not sure if a double dérailleur would work . it has a shorter cage but also a narrower cage witch would cost more chain rub in certain gears set up . it mayn't have the range for a triple . I'm just brainstorming here .

phrygian

the cable is pushed down by the derailleur in the "small chain ring position".

bikeman715

you need a short cage and with the new ones out there that will be hard to do . what wrong with the old one ? maybe you can go to your lbs and they can help you find a dérailleur than will work for you .

phrygian

I overtightened the pinch bolt

I guess that's my last resort...

Thanks anyway!

bikeman715

you can get a new pinch bolt for your " old dérailleur " at your lbs for few dollars . old bikes never die they just keeps rolling .

phrygian

bikeman, the bolt is not the problem. the thread of the hole in which the bolt goes (don't know the technical term) is wasted, therefore I have to replace the whole dérailleur.
old bikes may never die but their components do, unfortunately.

bigbossman 

I've put plenty of mtb triple FD's/cranks on vintage 10 speeds with the RD cable routed over the top as you show. I've yet to have a problem.

If the bottom cable guide is a clamp-on, move it as far down the down tube as possible towards the BB, and then move the FD up until it just clears the cable as it sweeps in. Technically, the gap at the top of the arc will be too great (when the FD is over the big chain ring). It will not be "in spec", but it will work just fine.

phrygian

Thanks, bigbossman, I'll try that. I haven't tried it before because the recommended distance between the top arc of the FD and the biggest chain ring is 1-2 mm, and the gap I would get would be about 7-8 mm wide, but if you haven't had any problems I'll give it a try!

bikeman715

you can drill out the hole where the bolt goes into ,then use a bolt and nut to hold the cable and everything will work again . i do feel your pain i hope i been a help .

buddyp

you might be able to convert to under BB cable routing too. The under BB cable guides are inexpensive and all you need to do to mount one is drill and tap a small hole in the bottom of the BB

phrygian

Thanks for your good tip, bikeman. But unfortunately, it wouldn't have worked because the nut would have gotten in the way of other parts when shifting to the biggest chainring :-(

Also thanks to you, Buddyp, but your solution would have been a bit too laborious for me, especially since I found an old shimano lx FD that fits to my bike.

Thanks for all your help and suggestions!