Daily Commute

My front chain rings are dying. I currently have 36/48 chain rings and a Tiagra front derailleur on my Surly Cross Check commuter. There are some good deals on 39/52-53 Ultegra and 105 chain rings on Nashbar and Performance. But the Ultegra ring says it works with "105, Ultegra and Dura-Ace." It does not mention Tiagra. My Tiagra front derailleur w/ bar-end shifters is doing just fine, so I see no need to replace it.

I put 4K+ miles a year on this bike in all weather conditions, oven carrying a load.

Other than having to clamp the derailleur a little higher, is there any reason it could not accomodate the Ultegra or 105 part?

I could also upgrade to a 105 or Ultegra front derailleur for $20 or $30, but would those work with my bar-end shifters? I also see no reason to upgrade when what I have works just fine. I am not prepared to spend the $$$ to upgrade to brake-lever shifters.

Edit: Thanks for the answers.

phillybill

It should work fine with the Tiagra front dr. I run a Tiagra fron on my lemond cross and am using some the Nashbar stronglite chainrings 46/36 with no problems shifting. Before this I was running an Ultegra 52/39 on the bike and had no problems at all. Where you occasionally get into trouble is with the chain/rear dr. combination and non 9/8 speed chain rings.

sydney

Tiagra FD works. 105 and ultegra FD works with barends.

53-11 alltheway

You sure it's not a 38/48....cuz if it really is 36/48 you most likely have a 110 bcd crank and those rings won't fit (130 bcd)