A Friend asked me to help her with her front shifting. She could not shift into her middle and large chainrings (it was a triple, obvs.) I am not knowledgeable about the Shimano iterations but the derailleur cables exited the brifters on the inside of the bars.

I first tried shifting the FD and found that it worked both up and down. But it was very stiff. My friend, who has arthritic hands, said that it had worked much more easily, but then changed between one ride and the next.

After she told me that it had been easier before, I undid the cable from the derailleur and checked the cable and housing for free morion. All good (and it was very clean. The brifter also moved freely and easily when I held the cable end. So I figured it might be an issue with the front derailleur itself. Now, the bike may be a few years old but it is pristine. My friend keeps her bike in the house and is generally a careful person. I tried moving the dérailler by hand and it was indeed hard. We added a bit of oil to the pivot points, but it was still hard. I did not see any way in which the derailleur's return spring could have gotten out of place. So I am at a loss. It is definitely a very stiff derailleur and pretty much unusable for my friend. Can anyone suggest a way to get it to relax?

Try replacing the cable housing. Often the wires in the housing get pinched by the cable stop. It feels okay when slack, very tight under tension.

Is the cable routed on the correct side of the derailleur mounting bolt? #2 in the instructions. SI-5LX0B-001-ENG.pdf

that can't suddenly CHANGE during a ride.
but a cable can begin to fray inside the brifter... we all know this happens...
another possibility is the cable getting misrouted or fraying where it passes under the bottom bracket...

No, there is really no way to reduce the spring tension on these. Spring adjusters were included on some FDs back in 1990. These were for a few FDs in the early road brifter days (2x), and some MTB FDs also.

Best you can do is clean/lube the pivots.

The other causes would be in the shifter, or cable/housing condition/routing.

ID the 105 group so others may know of possible issues with specific groups. If you are unable to determine the group, post pics, or send the bike to a qualified mechanic.

You sais the FD was still stiff and difficult to move after you removed the cable? I mean they are anyway because the lever is so short but I had an Ultegra 6700 FD that got like this. Had to replace it in the end, but mine had been out in all weathers. Hers must be pretty old if it’s 105 and the cables exit the shifters at 90° - at least 15 years?

penetrating oil on the pivots maybe? Can’t see how the spring is relevant unless it’s somehow got stronger.

There are some road front ders from Shimano that can have their return spring crack off, or the tab the spring's end seats against can crack off. But when this happens the der pivots are still freely moving for the range, only the spring's influence on the parallelogram changes. Generally the spring "strength" lessens, not increases...This failure can happen quite suddenly as Al crack growth is fast.

I have seen ft ders frozen by corrosion due to a wet put away and weeks later the next rude. Especially at the end of the season when the winter's first use of road salt was done but the weather turned warm enough for that last ride...

Many frozen ft ders can be made to work by simple hand manipulation. I like to unscrew the limit screws a tad so the parallelogram has more travel range than when in actual use. Then just push and pull the der/cage through that range, over and over and I'll slightly add some off angle force (twist/pry) to get the pivots to have all their surfaces get moving contact to better clean out the corrosion/grime that is in them. I actually find doing this with the der being dry of lube can be quicker than when soaking with oil. Compressed air every so often helps with the cleanup and forcing the following lube into the pivots.

BTW some Shimano ft ders have used a threaded bolt to contain one or more pivots. These can come loose over time and then need retightening. If the pivot is a bolt (shoulder bolt) and if that bolt can be completely unthreaded that would open up the parallelogram/links for even better range and cleaning. Andy.

Thanks everyone. I really do appreciate all the tips and suggestions. I know my vintage and semi-modern Campagnolo but am woefully uneducated about Shimano indexing stuff.

To confirm, I checked the cable and housing as best as I could. The housing and cable ran through the down tube and I chose to leave it alone, but I checked the cable in the brifter and moved it back and forth inside the housing (with some tension on it) and as best as I could tell it was in fine shape. Cable was attached correctly to the derailleur. We lubed the derailleur pivots and worked it back and forth. At no point did I feel any resistance or catches that would suggest a flaw as opposed to just a strong return spring on the FD. TBH I feared my friend's hand was letting her down. Our next step will be to have a LBS chef it out and if necessary replace the derailleur with one that has a lesser spring.

If you replace it, there's modern side swing derailleurs that are much easier to actuate. I wish I could use one myself, but my biggest chainwheel is 48t and I don't think they support that big.

Based on the info you provided, 3x front, this is probably 10 speed rear group, either 560? or 5703 version. 5703 had the shift cable running alongside the Hbar, 560? is as shown below.



Regardless, road 10 speed and lower used shorter cable pull for the FD. This meant that more force was needed to move the FD.

Not sure if there is any change to the FD that can really make shifting lighter, (assuming that the current FD is working properly). Not sure if any compatible FD would be much of a change from the 105.

If it is not a cable/housing issue, there is not much you can do. Check that the inner cable is not damaged and possible use a lower friction cable. The other item to verify is that the housing is in good shape and routed optimally.

Yes, it would be 5600 or earlier. If we can't find a replacement with a lighter spring I guess I'll just have to rebuild the bike with Campagnolo ten speed bits.

Does your friend need / insist on a 3x10 drivetrain? If not, a 2x11 Di2 maybe a better solution.

Not always that easy to retrofit Di2 to a bike that doesn’t have the right entry points in the frame around the seat tube/battery.

But otherwise I agree, would be perfect given the hand problem.

Not di2 but there are wireless options out there. I'm not sure if I would suggest something like that before knowing how often a person rides though.

Don't know if any if the FDs that would index properly would be much different in spring force. With 3x, springs must be strong enough to work for the small ring downshift, when spring tension is at its lowest.

With shifters with 'exposed' routing, at least the housing doesn't have bends that are too severe. If the housing runs completely to the BB area, then the addnl housing length can add more friction, but mostly noticed when downshifting the FD.

Another issue, though not 'new', is where the cable exits the BB area & go to the FD. An exit of the cable further to the drive side can create a poor angle and make shifting heavier. Part of the reason that some Shimano RDs (11 speed version) has a 'converter' to adjust the pull angle.

I appreciate all the comments. We went for a decent ride today and by the end, the derailleur was acceptable. I can't tell you if it had loosened up because it was being used (as Andrew Steward suggested) or that my friend simply got used to it again. Perhaps a bit of both. In any case all is well for now.

Good news.

As hinted at above, a SRAM AXS wireless electronic setup might be worth considering for her in the future if it gets worse. No triple option but a very wide gear range anyway. Not a cheap swap out.

unfortunately my friend would struggle to pay for a replacement FD. But given her hands and other issues, electronic shifting would be a great help.

"Stiff" front derailleurs are rarely the fault of the derailleur and invariably an issue with the shift cable.
Look for evidence of a kink in the cable housing or an issue with guides and/or stops.