Old 01-27-23, 09:35 AM
  #70  
smd4
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2020
Location: Wake Forest, NC
Posts: 5,642

Bikes: 1989 Cinelli Supercorsa

Mentioned: 11 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3431 Post(s)
Liked 2,827 Times in 1,723 Posts
Originally Posted by livedarklions
It's a word quibble that really is a red herring and I wasn't going to waste any more time on it, but since you have this little class, I'll go ahead.
It's certainly not a "word quibble." It's a complete misunderstanding about how a front derailleur works on your part. Which you fail to acknowledge.

Originally Posted by livedarklions
At best, your statement that all that the derailleur is doing is pushing the chain back and forth is grossly over-simplified.
It's a simple mechanism, and my description is absolutely accurate. Didn't you read Sheldon's article?

Originally Posted by livedarklions
It's accomplishing the lift by precisely squeezing the chain against the chain ring such that the lift is caused.
Exactly. If by "squeezing" you also mean "pushing." Exactly as I described. Didn't you give me a lesson on synonyms earlier?

Originally Posted by livedarklions
FDs' role in this is not passive. You want to say the ring is causing the lift, and I want to say that it's the coordination between the derailleur and the ring that's causing the lift. Either way, the way you described it is grossly incomplete if you don't note that there has to be fairly precise coordination between the FD and the chain ring, and that switching to a much larger chain ring makes that more complicated.
What the front derailleur does is not complicated in the slightest. Though they do have their limits. A 70 tooth chainring will certainly push them.

Originally Posted by livedarklions
I get that your justification for making a sarcastic comment to the OP is that you think you're the smartest guy in the room, but again my main point was that you were acting like a jerk when you said it to him. If it makes you feel better if I say that technically, at an absurd level of abstraction, you were not "wrong", fine. I apologize for not recognizing your complete mechanical genius. You still were acting like a jerk and you should apologize to the OP.
Again--I wasn't being "sarcastic." The OP said he wanted to understand how a FD operated. I explained it to him in not only the simplest terms, but also the most accurate. To suggest it as "sarcasm" again shows that you simply do not grasp how one of the simplest components on a bike operates. But thanks for recognizing my mechanical genius. Though a hollow compliment from someone who doesn't understand how a front derailleur works.

Last edited by smd4; 01-27-23 at 09:46 AM.
smd4 is offline