stargazer48

I started a similar thread back in Jan 06 before I bought my steel Swift. I had Peter install a double front 54/39 ( without a front derrailleur) and rear 9 speed cassette 11-34. If I need to use the front 39 ring, I stop and move the chain down or back up. I have been traveling in SEA with my Swift for the last 8 months, mostly using buses for long very hilly long distances. I think I am a pretty strong rider but for these mountains, I just need much lower gearing to do the long rides. Outside of an internal hub solution, has anyone here successfully connected a front derrailleur and/or a triple crankset.

Thanks.

Vagabond

invisiblehand

Just for a frame of reference for the forum, the seat tube is more narrow on the steel swift. I believe that it has a 34.9 mm diameter.

From memory, I don't recall anyone here every successfully doing so. Although the clear majority of swiftfolders here are aluminum so find a clamp is a problem.

I would think that the solution would be to use an ordinary shimano clamp with a Ritchey Breakaway or S&S Coupler cable break.

https://gaerlan.com/bikeparts/parts/derail/shift.html

Loch

This is probably not a solution, just a thought, but would a compact double give you the gears you need? You could get a 34/54 combination with a compact double. I use a double without a derrailleur and it works great for me, but I probably don't shift as much as you so I can't offer much help in that regard.

jur

I am actively pursuing this issue, but haven't arrived there yet. I now what my next trial clamp thingie must look like, it's just a question of finding time to make one and try it. I have already tried 2 previous clamp thingies and figured out exactly what is needed. Suffice to say at this stage, I am using a bolt-on 105 derailer as my test bed, and making a braze-on/clamp-on arrangement to accept the derailer. It is tricky because the derailer's front bolt-on bit mut be just about flush with the seat tube due to the latter's large diameter, forcing the derailer to be just aft of the tube. Which in turn tends to obscure the bolt. Quite tricky and I'm not yet sure a solution actually exists.

In addition to this, I must bring the gear cable from the top and bring it around a pulley to access the bottom-pull 105 derailer.