restlessswind

Just thought I'd see if there is a special derailleur to meet my needs. I have a new Surly Cross-check that came with a 1x9 configuration and flat bar setup. I added a 28-38-48 triple MTB crank, matching left trigger shifter and a Shimano 590 front triple derailleur. Everything works perfectly. Shifts are smooth and precise. There is just one semi-major issue. The derailleur doesn't offer enough clearance for wheel removal without deflating the rear tire completely (long forward facing dropouts.) I have searched up and down, left and right. I can't find an available MTB style derailleur with road bike type clearance. Can anyone else?

My only other known option is to replace with road derailleur, but because of the pull ratio, this requires replacing my trigger shifters with friction/thumb shifters.

Eggman84

I am thoroughly confused. The M590 FD is for a 42T large chainring, so how can you have it set up properly for a 48T large chainring. Must be set way high so that the back of the cage doesn't contact the large chainring. When removing the wheel, do you have the FD shifted to the smallest chainring? And if so, is the smallest chainring so far inboard that the wheel hits the FD when removing it. If so, it seems a simple fix is to have the FD in a different position when removing the wheel, Or increase the chainline. Final dumb question, why convert what was a 1 x 11 to a 3 x 11 in the first place? You may just have incompatible geometry/components.

Andrew R Stewart 

How often do you remove the rear wheel when fully inflated? Welcome to the new world of limited bike options. I hear that the marketing dept calls this progress. Andy

maddog34

fd-m590 is a low mount... i'd find an old school high mount MTB derailleur.

altus, xt, xtr, alivio... and any number of old Suntours..... might not be available new though... hit your local community bike shop up for a selection of used ones.. find one that works.

Question... just how greedy did you get on tire width, anyways? i'm suspecting a narrower/smaller tire would not be a problem........

restlessswind

1. Max ring teeth: 48
2. I never said 11. I said 9
404 | Jenson USA

maddog34

Cross-Check | Bikes | Surly Bikes

horizontal dropouts... this increases versatility of the frame, allowing single speed use....

they also have several versions showing use as double or even triple fronts, but those mostly have drop bars , and road brifters...

as i said above... go hunt up an old high mount triple for a larger big ring... fit it up... and learn to deal with deflating if the clearance isn't there.

i first ran into this clearance issue when i built up my trek 930 in 1983... i had 27" wheels with 1.375" tires from my Puch tourer... yah, they didn't fit up well! Trek 930 wants skinny 700c's.... i built up new wheels, and mounted skinny Specialized turbos...

"Gnot-rite" rear dropout spacing... "Mule Mug" brown paint... gotta luv it! Surly you jest!

restlessswind

I have a 35 now. Original tire was a 41
Bike is new. I want a "presentable" derailleur. I continue to look for a nice old one, but the old 7 speed ones don't really work with the 48 tooth chainwheel.

maddog34

stock for two ring is a tiagra 4600.... they look almost identical to the "old 7 speed ones"... and those old ones were very often sized/arced for larger rings.

hit the local co-op.... even if you don't find the exact color you want, you will know what to search for.... 28.6 clamp size, btw... that FD(cage, clamp, swing range) is a VERY common older part.

darkhorse75

^ This. Why not just shift to the big ring when you want to remove the wheel?

Eggman84

Go with an XT FD-M735 or LX FD-M650, from 1990 to 1993 (7 speed days), and designed for 48T large chainrings. These FDs were the last 110/74 BCD mountain cranksets before Suntour and Shimano created the original "compact" crankset. E-bay has some M735 currently listed that are in good shape. Occasionally one NOS will come up but tend to be a little pricey.

restlessswind

Thank you!

restlessswind

I hope the visuals I added to OP shed some light to my description

restlessswind

Thanks again. btw, our co-op is geared to to virtually scrap metal and Franken bikes. The occasional clean parts are either used on donor builds or sold at overly inflated prices

maddog34

that sounds eerily familiar... i recall going shopping for some front hub ball bearings once.... the "mechanic" at the shop insisted there was no need to replace the pitted out balls... and trashed cone... the other cone was still good... besides, he only had 5 in stock... 3/16" G25 balls... available for about $10 bucks or less, in 1000 count lots.... wholesale.

i have never done any more business with that man's shop... and i now have a far better shop.... and plenty of fresh bearings of several sizes......

Eggman84

I apologize to the OP but I didn't see the photos when I first replied. Your photos clearly show the problem, whch would not be solved by just shifting to the large ring when removing the tire. To be honest, I have never had a bike with the bottom swing MTB FDs, mainly because I only have touring bikes, not full suspension MTB bikes where the bottom swing is needed. I should add that one thing I like about the old FDs is that they do not have the deep inside plate, and thus are more forgiving in selecting your chainring combination.

restlessswind

This is the only available new FD /MTB/48 Tooth I can find. Like I said, it works great, just creates other problems. If I get tired of the situation, I'll look for a cheap M735 in the meantime.

Retro Grouch 

Are you lucky!

I've got an ancient, NIB XTR front derailleur (FD-M900N). Bottom swing, bottom pull, 31.8 clamp. It will definitely fit a 48t chainring.

Figure out what you have in your excess stash that's worth about the same money and we'll trade. The worst that can happen is you'll be out one-way shipping cost and have a different part in your excess bike parts stash.

restlessswind

Thank you! Do you happen to have a shim for 28.6 to fit it? I'll pm you later this morning as I'm about to commence a staff meeting...THANK YOU!

Retro Grouch 

Unfortunately I don't have a shim. It's a pure clamp on too. It's too old to have the separate clamp that mimics a braze on mount. On the other hand, it's shiny new in the box. Never been on a bike.