blujosh

hello all,
i apologize ahead of time if this is in the wrong subforum. if that's the case, please let me know where i should move/repost this.

my girlfriend recently purchased a complete (stock) 2016 50cm Long Haul Trucker (26" wheels).
it's been having problems shifting up front since the moment she received it. either it won't shift into the big ring, and in the rare occasions that it does, the chain often falls off to the outside. we've had a number of mechanics attempt to adjust it, and while it ends up working for a mile or so after adjustments, these problems quickly return.

the last time we brought back the bike to the shop she bought it from, they discovered that the stock 2016 LHT's are built with a 10-speed cassette out back w/ an XT 10-speed RD, but the front is an Andel triple crankset (48-36-26) paired with a Sora 9-speed triple FD. the bar end shifters are also a 3x10 set by microshift. here's a link to the parts list.

anyhow, the bike shop found the choice of FD odd (as do I) and think that this is potentially the root of the problem. with that in mind they have offered to replace the FD with a more compatible one for free.

my question for y'all is, which currently available FD would you choose as a replacement for that Sora 9-speed triple FD? my instinct is a Shimano triple 10-speed mountain FD since some of them are actually designed for 48-36-26t cranksets and those Microshift bar ends are described as being "Shimano 10 Speed MTB Shifters Compatible", but I am open to suggestions.

jonc123

The first thing I would do is call Surly. My LHT had the same exact problem (mostly not shifting to the big ring) and the shop fixed it by replacing the KMC chain with a Shimano. My Wife's LHT did not have this problem. Both these bikes are 26", 50 & 54.

One more thing on both bikes, the Microshift barend shifters bit the dust within 2,000 miles. They developed so much play in them (on the indexed side), they wouldn't shift properly. This was solved by replacing them with Shimano barends. Along with this, they changed out the RD as it would not work with the Shimano barends. I don't know the exact model of the Shimano RD.

This combination of parts worked well (perfectly) until my Wife was stranded when the Shimano rear indexed shifter broke. I was out of town when this happened and never got the full story on it. They had the shifters in stock and replaced it right away.

I have read that people have had problems with the Shimano barends.

Call Surly first and get an answer out of them. You and me are not the only ones, I am sure.

I have already decided my next bike will have a Rohloff IGH with belt drive.

fietsbob

sora ,modestly priced is part of the affordable pick... it does the chain shoving job .

want a fancier one spend up.

yes, most complaints I've heard about are the right indexed one not the left friction one..

dialing the parts back to 8 speeds will make finding 1 of 8 easier to find without the klicks

Reliable for me was 2, both friction ..




'/,

djb

this is the internet, and not seeing your bike in front of me makes it impossible to really see what is up, but a fd doing what you are describing doesn't make sense. Falling off the edge of the big ring means its the limit adjustment, not shifting onto the big ring is usually limit screw again or user error.

basically a fd is pretty simple in what it does and even I have set up new fd's on my bikes with no issues, with triples, and its pretty simple.
Either the bike has been dropped onto something and the fd has been bent or there are/is adjustment issues.
Any bike mechanic would see and fix the adjustment issues in a minute, so there are things here that don't make sense.

also, the fact that its a sora fd and the bike is 10 speed is of no consequence, all the fd does is to push the chain here or there, it needs to positioned on the frame properly and told where to "limit" its movement by the limit screws, the rest is pretty straightforward, especially with a simple friction setup like this bike has.

mstateglfr 

Yeah, as others have mentioned- a Sora triple FD should shift just fine. I have a Sora triple FD on a steel frame triple with a square taper crank(all the same as yours) and it shifts fine.
Friction shifting means it doesnt need to match the number of cogs in back in terms of 'speeds'.


If the chain falls off to the outside, then the limit screw needs to be adjusted to limit how far the derailleur can move. This is a simple adjustment if you read ParkTool's website or watch a couple youtube videos. A bike shop should have been able to correct this.

As for not being able to shift into the big ring at all, a couple of blind suggestions are-
- to make sure shifting isnt happening when the chain is on a large cog. Shifting into the large chainring should only happen if you are in the smallest 5 cogs or so. Thats a general guideline, but if its on the largest 3 cogs, then instead of shifting to the larger chainring, just shift to a smaller cog for more speed. When the chain is on a large cog, its more difficult to then pull the chain up to the largest chainring.
- Perhaps the cable is too slack. I would hope a bike shop would notice this, but if the front derailleur cable is too loose, then part of the shifter's movement is wasted with tightening the cable. Once its tight enough, then the shifter starts pulling the cable and therefore the derailleur. The problem is the shifter runs out of room for movement and the derailleur is only halfway or 3/4 of the way to fulling shifting. Hope that explanation makes sense. Basically, you want the cable as tight as possible when the shifter is relaxed(pointing down) and the derailleur is relaxed(closest to the seat tube). This will ensure full possible movement.

fietsbob

my touring bike got a chain-minder to catch the chain on the inside, & a disc chainguard just slightly larger than the big chainring.

So the FD clears the edge of the disc, to shift up to the big ring....

fietsbob

Now 48-36-26t cranksets , are called Trekking .. the MTBs now having gone more compact to 42,32,22..


11: 44 high enough? fitting a MTB crankset, is done on touring bikes , to get that 22t granny gear, then you can use the matching FD.




'/,

cyccommute 

99.9999% of shifting problems are related to the cable. I don't see your case as being any different. The friction front should make the use an any front derailer of any flavor simple. Using a 9 speed front or a 10 speed front derailer shouldn't make a lick of difference.

From what you describe, the cable doesn't have enough movement to pulling the derailer far enough outboard. This could be due to the inner cable being too slack (possible but not likely since it's been adjusted) or something it catching the inner cable and preventing it from moving far enough. I would suspect the latter.

SIS outer cable can break down and the rods that make up the cable can come loose. Shift the bike into as high a gear on the front as you can then downshift without pedaling. This will release tension on the inner cable and give you some slack. Pull the cable housing out of the stops and take a look at the ends. Perhaps even slide the ferrules off if you can. What you are looking for is this



Little bits of wire sticking out where they shouldn't be. Without the ferrule, it might look like this



Another possibility is that the cable housing has been trimmed like this



This is something that manufacturers do all the time and I can't understand why. When you pull on the shifter, the rods in the cable housing bend inward and clamp around the inner cable. Since shifting to the largest ring requires the most tension, the clamping around the inner cable is worst for those shifts.