Originally Posted by
damocles1
Not the intended design/use of the compact F/D. The compact F/D has a cage that follows the curve of the smaller chainrings more closely. Therefore making it easier to throw the chain up onto the big ring.
It's not designed to reach further down from abraze-on.
The problem some folks are having is the fact that older frames have the braze-on welded too high for the current crop of compact cranksets. I just ran into this problem with a 10 year old Litespeed frame and Ultegra SL compact cranks. It shifts with the almost 1cm gap, but not well. Because the F/D is too high, it wants to throw the chain off the outside of the big ring.
The easier answer? Get a 52 big ring and run 52/36 and a 12/25 cassette...
Ah, I see. I was thinking about the current crop of Campy derailleurs, but I realize that doesn't apply here. And, for 2008, Campy went to a single FD for both compact and standard cranks.
I guess one other choice for the OP is to use a clamp on FD if he can get it in the correct position.
What bike are we talking about, anyway?