Originally Posted by
400trix
You sound like someone who doesn't have to work on a lot of bikes
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I can see why they were invented, and in some applications they are a good idea, but they have a lot of problems, especially when your FD gets trashed and you have to find a replacement.
Now, what I would love to see are more Schlumpfs, Hammerschmidts, and Pattersons: planetary gear boxes in the BB, although they have their own issues. At least there's no more FD nonsense!
Hmmm, I've worked on thousands of bikes. Will be working on a couple today. I guess replacement is a bit of a bear, what with the crank removal required, so I guess that's a negative. I think I'd gladly take that negative for the built-in chain-watcher positive, as I've only trashed a couple or 3 FDs in my 37 years of cycling.
Another negative would be similar to the direct mount FDs - they're only good for a limited number of chainrings, probably a 4T range in big rings or so.