I am trying to tune up a relative's bike, which is a ten year old hybrid with a triple. I swear that the front derailleur barrel adjuster (up by the shifting lever) does nothing. I can turn it and turn it counter clockwise and nothing seems to happen. It barely turns clockwise. How do I know if it is broken? What would be used to replace it?

If it goes in and out, it's basically working - it's job is to very slightly loosen/tighten the cable. Does it show more/less thread as you wind it out/in?

Often, on some models, you have to pull the adjuster out to disengage some plastic teeth before adjusting it.

You may have unscrewed it entirely. When you try to turn it back in, you are likely cross threading it which is why it won't turn in that direction. You need to pull the tension off the spring that pushes on the plastic housing on the adjuster out and carefully screw it back in. If you've buggered the threads, you may need to get a tap and chase them to get the adjuster to thread back in.

Don't just let this go either. A loose adjuster will let the cable tension vary and make your derailer malfunction.

How do I pull the tension off the spring?

You need to push the metal part of the barrel into the plastic part of the barrel. Then you have to screw the barrel back into the shifter. It helps if you have 3 hands

OK, I did that.

I am not sure that it works. Maybe it is just a tough bike to get the cable tension correct.

This is frustrating. She was not able to shift on to the big ring. I can shift it there if I push the shifter really, really hard. At first it dropped off the outside of the big ring so I adjusted the limit screw per Park Tool instructions. I also replaced the cable and housing as that is what you guys always advise. The rear shifts beautifully with new cable but the front is no better. If I push the shift lever really hard I can get it on the big ring. But if I then click to shift down from the big ring it will not drop down a ring unless I push the shifter twice. It has cheap Shimano trigger shifters and a cheap Shimano derailleur.

I did go through and check the height and orientation of the front derailleur. It seems pretty good. As I mentioned, I also checked the limit screws and made minor adjustments to keep the chain from falling off.

I did "start over" with cable tension and shifted the derailleur all the way down to the easiest gear and so there were no more "clicks." I loosened the cable and pulled it tight by hand. No real difference in performance. This brought me to the question of whether the barrel adjuster was working. I used the Park Tool manual for instructions on setting the cable tension with the front in the middle chain ring. I turned the barrel adjuster and nothing would change. The Park Tool manual says that the front derailleur will move when adjusting the tension and that has been my experience with other bikes. I followed cyco's instructions for the barrel adjuster but there still is no movement in the front derailleur.

Suggestions? Front derailleurs are hard.

I would re-check the rotational adjustment of the front derailleur's cage. I think that the upper limit screw's adjustment is too tight since the barrel adjuster isn't having any effect, plus the cage isn't angled correctly since it was tossing the chain initially. I think you need to change the angle of cage so its tail is farther inboard, then loosen the upper limit adjustment so the shift is made without binding against the limit screw.

When you turn the adjuster does it screw in and out like a bolt? or does it just turn with no affect like the threads are stripped (these cheap aluminum adjusters with a slice down the side strip easily)? The purpose of the derailleur front derailleur adjuster with a triple is to fine tune the cage over the middle chainring (as you unscrew-counter clockwise-the adjuster it should move the front derailleur farther outboard); it will have no affect on any other adjustment. To see if the adjuster is working you can shift to the center chainring. Now pull the front derailleur away from the bike; this should make it easy to unscrew the adjuster. If the shifter won't shift easily to the big chainring, then the outside stop it too tight.

Since you can move the derailer over by pushing hard on the shifter, it's likely that your cable isn't tight enough. I doubt that you have limit screw issues. Shift the bike to the lowest gear and see if the cable is slack or slightly taught. It should be taught. You can get it tight enough by loosening the fixing bolt, grasping the cable with a third hand tool or a pair of pliers, and pull out the slack. Don't grab the end of the cable so that you don't fray it. The third hand tool is handy because it has a lock to keep it in place while you fasten the fixing bolt.

Please be aware that what I am about to say is rare: Generally speaking you should never mess with the limit screws but in this case you can mess with the inner limit screw a little. Shift into the big rear/little front combination and adjust the limit screw so that the derailer just clears the chain and doesn't rub. This may gain you a little bit of cable for shifting to the large ring. You may also have to adjust the cable tension again. However, now that you have adjusted the limit screw, you have it out of your system and you'll likely not have to adjust one again in your life. I hope you enjoyed the moment

Another way to take tension off the cable is to shift it to the highest gear possible for the front, then operate the front shifter without pedaling. This puts all kinds of slack on the cables.

Do this step by step,

https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-...ur-adjustments

FD is not hard to adjust.

If you can't get tension with the adjuster, pull (or push if its that type) the derailleur a bit to create tension, clamp the cable and let off.

I did pull slack out of the cable and it isn't loose. I tried that early on.

I am looking carefully at the derailleur as it shifts and as it sits on the big ring in front and small on the rear and I am thinking you might be right and the rotation may not be quite right. And, that limit screw is turned in all the way. I think the front of the derailleur cage is slightly inboard. I have never tampered with rotation and I am a bit nervous about it. Tips? I understand that you line up with the chain. What gear is best to be in when you do this? I know I should take the tension out of the cable when doing this. Is shifting to the smallest cog good enough (what Park suggests) or should I take the cable out of the bolt? Or, can I do as Cyclo suggests and shift down without pedaling? If you shift to the smallest cog how do you know you got the rotation correct?

Those are the directions I follow when doing the front. I think that I my initial eyeballing of the rotational adjustment was not accurate.

OK, I did the rotational adjustment. It didn't need but a touch. No difference. It was probably good enough in the first place.

The high limit screw is all the way in. It was close to being all the way in when I tampered with it. When you push the trigger shifter hard to get it on the big ring without rubbing it is close to throwing off the chain and rubbing the chain ring with the inside of the derailleur cage. The same happens if you pull the cable manually. It comes close to throwing off the chain. It takes two clicks to shift it down to a smaller ring and then it jumps the middle ring.

So, is the best thing to do is start over yet again with tensioning the cable? I have done that twice now. My competence, as it were, is questionable.

When you shift to the large ring, does the derailer seem to go out far enough and then settle back? If this is the case, the cable isn't tight enough to hold the derailer where it need to be. The derailer should move outboard far enough to get the chain to shift and then stay there.

You might also look at the derailer alignment. Is the outer plate parallel with the chainrings? Do you have about 3mm of gap between the bottom of the derailer's outer plate and the chainrings? Both of these can cause rubbing issues.

OK, I did the rotational adjustment. It didn't need but a touch. No difference. It was probably good enough in the first place.

The high limit screw is all the way in. It was close to being all the way in when I tampered with it. When you push the trigger shifter hard to get it on the big ring without rubbing it is close to throwing off the chain and rubbing the chain ring with the inside of the derailleur cage. The same happens if you pull the cable manually. It comes close to throwing off the chain. It takes two clicks to shift it down to a smaller ring and then it jumps the middle ring.

So, is the best thing to do is start over yet again with tensioning the cable? I have done that twice now. My competence, as it were, is questionable.

EDIT: OK, my spouse is home so I had him pull on the cable while I tightened it. It shifts up better but it still will not go down one ring with one click from the big ring. Two clicks makes it drop all the way down to the small ring.

In honor of my frustration I am going for a bike ride.

I would suggest you wiggle the cage of the front derailleur and see if there is any play in the linkage. Also, have you tried pulling the front derailleur out by hand? I would disconnect the cable and pull on the derailleur plate; it should have a strong spring but it freely swing out without any issues. Perhaps the linkage pivots are worn out or seizing up.

The alignment is fine. I checked that.

EDIT: The derailleur goes out and then settles back unless I push it fairly hard. Then it sits in place. The cable is really tight. Much tighter than any other bike in the house.

There is a wee bit of play. EDIT: no more than some other bikes in the house, not enough to be meaningful. Yes, I've pulled it by hand. It has a very strong spring but it does swing out.

I agree -- FD are surprisingly tough to fine-tune, even though they look simple compared to RD.

You say it is hard to push the shifter -- is it hard even when the cable is slack? Maybe there's gunk in the shifter mechanism that needs to be cleaned out, or at least lubed. You could try squirting a bunch of wd-40 in there to clean it out, possibly followed by chain lube. Can't see, did you mention what kind of shifters? "Hybrid" makes me think twist, but when you say "push" I think triggers.

Also, does the FD swing easily? When it is in the slack (small ring) position, you should be able to pull the bare cable away from the downtube with your hand and watch it easily move (much easier than trying to work against the spring just by grabbing the FD cage -- not much leverage that way). The FD pivot points may also need some chain lube (lube with the long skinny applicator straw is helpful here, to drop it in just the right spot)

I'd like to try a third hand tool some day, but meanwhile I make do with vise-grips. Especially good when a cable is a little too tight and I want to let it out some; clamp the vise-grips the desired number of mm from the fixing bolt, loosen it and let the cable slip in, tighten it back up.

Current status:

Cable is really tight on the lowest gear (small ring in front, large in rear). Tighter than on any other bike in the house. Too tight?

Height and rotation of front derailleur seems fine.

It shifts to each larger ring on the front OK. No rubbing on any rings unless cross chaining. But it is borderline close to throwing off the chain on the big ring if I pull the cable by hand. High limit screw is all the way in.

Down shifting is problematic. Two clicks required to get it off the big ring and it skips the middle ring. First click moves the derailleur just enough to rub the chain but not move the chain down.

I did clean out the front derailleur early on and it made no difference. Yes, it has trigger shifters. Low end Shimano.

I did oil the pivots on the derailleur early on too.

It does shift easily by pulling on the cable.

Check your cable housing. Shift the bike into the highest gear and then downshift without pedaling like I said before. This will give you enough slack on the cables to pull them out of the stops. Pull the ferrules off and look at the housing cable ends. They should be parallel all the way around the housing. If they aren't or if there are stray strands sticking out of the housing, you'll need to replace them. While you have the cable off the frame stops, put a little grease on your thumb and forefinger and slide the inner cable between your fingers. This will lube the inner cable and may help your problem.

I replaced the cable housing when I started this project as that seems to be always what you guys recommend. The cable moved nicely in the housing when I put it on. However, I thought I would check in case something went wrong in that process. I can't get enough slack to pull the cable out of the stop, using your method. So, I thought the tension might be too tight. I let out a little. Nope, made things worse. I pulled the cable taut again. The cable does move fine in the housing.

A cyclist friend stopped by. He agreed that the rotation and height of the cage seemed fine. He also thought the tension sure was tight. He wondered if the chain line was somehow goofed up, maybe from a bent chain ring. So, we pedaled and watched but nothing seemed to wobble.

Too bad my friends don't know more than I do!