Originally Posted by
atlantis
Hi!
I have a hybrid with a triple 48-38-28 crankset, 8 speed . This bicycle was working perfectly well and also well maintained. Suddenly the shifting of the front derailleur has gone bad. That is, it does not shift smoothly from the middle chain ring to the largest, there is a lot of noise and then it shifts with a lot of effort. If i increase the cable tension which makes the lever super hard, the drop to the middlechainring becomes an issue.
If I try it on a work stand it is super smooth. All the shifts are perfect .
Please let me know what is the solution, I have worked on bicycles , and can manage some what , but I am at my wits end here.
I had changed the crankset from 42-32-22 to this one, and the shifting was perfect for quite some time, until this happened.
Any help would be appreciated.
Barring a broken frame, your issue is a cable issue. You already know that but it may not be obvious what
kind of cabling issue it is. Since you've already checked the cable tension, you should inspect the cable housing to see if any of the cable strands that make up shifter cable have moved. The long strands in the cable housing can break loose from the plastic sheathing and squeeze between the ferrule and the cable. This cause binding which really messes with shifting in unpredictable ways.
To check the housing, shift into the outer ring on the front. Then down shift without pedaling. This will free up the cable and allow you to pull it out of the housing stops on the bike. Most ferrules on shifter cables are plastic and can be pulled off to inspect the ends. If you want to check the rear housing, downshift to the lowest gear and upshift without pedaling. The ends of the strands should be even and straight like the ones in this picture
If the cable housing looks like the above, I'd probably replace it anyway. For some reason known only to manufacturers, they like to trim the end of the plastic on the cable housing. This lets the strands squeeze down on the cable and cause it to bind. With a flush cut, there's less possibility of this happening.
As to a complete reset of your derailer, the Park Tool repair help is good but it won't help you with your problem. The instructions are for setting up a derailer which isn't the issue you are having.
And, no, you don't need to go to a 1x system. I've been running triples for 30+ years and they aren't nearly as finicky as people think.