rlong

Just looked at the new 10spd triple front derailer and realized the cage is HUGE compared to my 9spd triple front (Shimano). I've been having trouble with dropped chains on the granny (see other posting) and wonder if I could use the new 10spd. It looks like a real improvement in design. I looked at the Shimano site and it says they are designed for the narrower 10spd chain, but doesn't elaborate on that, or say anything about compatibility with 9spd.

Thanks

Matt Gaunt

Front mechs don't rely on 10s or 9s. They work on a spring which is controlled by a shifter, and therefore can only be two or three speed.

As long as you adjust it well, you can use the new front mech for your 9s setup.

cascade168

This topic was just covered, in detail, in another thread. The bottom line is that if you are using a front derailleur - that is designed for a 10 spd chain - with a nine speed chain then you are probably going to have problems. The 10spd chains are narrower on the outside than the 9spd chains. So, you are using a chain that is really too wide for that derailleur. If you are going to go with that derailleur than you need to do the complete 10spd upgrade - chains, cassettes, shifters(!!!), FD, and cranks. The rear cog thicknesses, spacer thicknesses, and cog-to-cog distances are all different between Shimano 9spd and 10spd (all narrower for 10spd). If you want to upgrade to 10spd, the well known method is to get the cassette, chain, and shifters and leave the rest alone. Once you change to the newer FDs designed for 10spd then you are openning a can of worms. This whole business of FD compatibility is not readily obvious and you need to do your homework before you start making changes. I was (previously) mistaken in my belief that "any ole FD" will work. It won't. Another way of looking at it is that if you use the designed_for_10spd_FD then you have got to use the 10spd chain and a 10 cog cassette.

Al1943

Stay with the 9-speed FD. Reports from other conversions have not been favorable when trying to use a 10-speed front derailleur with 9-speed cranksets. Althogh the other way around does work. In addition to the problem of chain width the 10-speed FD is designed to work with a 39t middle chainring.

Dropping your chain has more to do with limit screw adjustment and derailleur placement. Be sure the derailleur is low enough. It should clear the big ring by only 1 or 2 mm.

Al

rlong

Thanks guys, I believe I'll stick with my current setup and try to solve the problem.