Originally Posted by
gramphighgate
"Mountech front derailleur" can you tell me more about the FD? i had no idea!
the shimano RD is ****, i'm pretty sure. it's heavy and rusting, which can't be a good sign!
EDIT: the RD is an rd l541. some sport replacement for whatever was on there originally, i'm sure.
http://velobase.com/ViewComponent.aspx?ID=55bf0334-f0fb-4472-b0a1-b92e43abaadd&Enum=108
No one gives a good FD a lot of thought. It moves the chain when you want the chain moved. If it doesn't do something bad, you don't think of it.
The Mountech is great for a lot of reasons. It's a good looking unit. The limit screws are in a good place. It's capable of using a cable stop, if you need it. It's got a great amount of traverse available- it can go out far and come in really close. It's right around the same weight as a Superbe Pro FD and much lighter than Deore XT or Suntour XC Pro FDs. It's wide enough between the cages that you don't need to trim all the time, but narrow enough to do its job. It can pick up the chain from a 26 and still go out to a reasonably small cog without rubbing on the trail end of the cage (I consciously don't go to a 'small-small' combo). It can handle at least a 52T big ring.
Now the Mountech rear derailleur is a different story. Although there's two versions of the Mountech RD- the first (with the font style like on your FD) is the dog- and may have come on your bike and died- hence the Light Action RD) The second version with the black stripe is pretty decent.
The word "Mountech" has become synonymous with failure because of the historical problems of the RD. But the Mountech FD is a near perfect synthesis of "business" and beauty.