Awesomeguy has to start somewhere. Considering that the problem is likely cable length, that’s the place to start. It’s simple and easy to fix if that isn’t the problem. I agree that tuning the limit screws probably isn’t necessary which is why I suggested doing that only after trying to adjust the cable.

You don’t need a stand. The likely problem…cable tension…is something that you can check with the bike sitting on the ground. Assuming that you have Acera shifters, shift into the large chainwheel and let go of the shifter. Then, without pedaling, push on the same lever you used to shift into the large chainring. If the cable is properly adjusted, the derailer should be up against the stop and won’t move. Dollars to donuts, I would bet that your front derailer will move outboard just a little bit when you push on that shift lever.

An alternative would be to shift to the inner ring so that all tension is relaxed on the front shift cable. Pull on the cable (gently) to see if there is any slack in the cable. Front derailer cables need to be a little tighter than rear ones. If there is slack, use the barrel adjuster to take up the slack.

If the derailer moves, tighten the cable with the barrel adjuster by turning it away from you as you sit on the bike. You probably won’t need more than a quarter of a turn.

If you don’t what to hold the bike up while you do this, get a toe strap or belt or some other strap. Find a pole and wrap the strap around the pole and the stem. You can do a lot to a bike with strapped to a pole. I often do work to my tandem this way because getting it up on the rack is a bit of a chore. Since this is a static job…you don’t need to spin the crank nor spin the wheels…strapping it to a post works really well.

I even have a nail hammered into a post for my porch for this purpose.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b2303b055.jpeg

Lean the bike against the post

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...f6eb54904.jpeg

Strapped down. The bike won’t fall over and you’ll have your hands free to make adjustments.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...37ccf466a.jpeg

Something like this: https://www.merlincycles.com/road-bike-groupsets-75294/
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...bedca57eb2.jpg

Cyccommute is mostly right. If i were in your situation, I would adjust the front cable tension as I suggested above---I wuold actuyally start from scratch, but you probably---Probably---just need to turn the front barrel adjuster and eighth or a quarter turn.

As he suggests, shift into high and yank the cable and see if the derailleur swings further outward. if it does the cable is loose and the limit screw is probably fine--and if the screw also needs adjustment, you can't do it properly without adjusting the cable tension anyway.

I am completely serious here---having been in many situations just like this. Stand the bike up somewhere, shift the front derailleur into high, and yank the cable---see if the derailleur moves. This is the first test I would perform if it were my bike--or if it were yours and you were a friend.

As the resident 'whisperer' you may want to research how to spell 'derailleur' correctly. That might help with your street cred. ;)

What he ^^^ said ^^^

When someone calls you a "whisperer" it's a compliment. When someone calls you a "whisper" it's not.

So what have either of you contributed to the conversation? Any suggestions or are you just here to play unfunny versions of Statler and Waldorf? At this point, I’d say ya got nothin’.

The Statler and the Waldorf are both hotels, aren't they? I've never seen a funny hotel.

Whoosh! Not “the”.

I ended up taking it to bike shop , he also lubed the chain and it made a world of difference .. rides like new :)

im getting the run again lol, so how is cable tension related to high and low limit screws?
If I bring the derailleur outward do I have to slacken the cable first ?

Cable tension really isn’t related to the limit screws. The limit screws only set the travel distance. The low limit screw prevents the derailer from moving too far inboard while knocking the chain off the inner chainwheel. The high limit screw limits how far outboard the derailer can move and prevents the chain from falling off the outside.

The cable, on the other hand, is what moves the derailer between those two limits. If the cable is too slack, the derailer can’t move far enough outboard so that the chain jumps up to the largest cog. If it is too tight, it won’t allow the chain to move to the inner chainwheel. The former…i.e. cable too tight… is by far the most common problem.

Understanding the relationship between the cable tension and how the derailer (front or rear) moves is the key to understanding derailers and keeping them working properly. Far too often people think the limit screws are the key. They are not.

Awesomeguy The word "tension" in cable tension might cause you to imagine mysterious things that have no impact on setting your DR's up correctly. Think of it as cable "length". What you are doing when you attach the cable to the pinch bolt or turn a barrel or inline adjuster is setting the length of the cable. Not it's tension. If you are in fact changing the cable tension when you adjust the barrel or inline adjusters, then you might be against the stop and not doing anything or something else is wrong.

so my issue is that the shifts are perfectly fine, it’s just in the bigger ring (2x) up front , and biggest three gears in the back , chain rubs the outer plate. If I just loosen the h screw , to bring derailleur outward , with that work? Also if I listen or tighten the high or low screws does that man I need to adjust barrel adjuster ?

Again, the limit screws only limit how far the derailer moves but not how it moves. Chain rubbing in extreme gears…like the biggest cog on the rear with the large chainring…is somewhat normal. It can be a function of the derailer or the derailer alignment but even then, you are more likely to experience chain rub in those combinations. If you are using Shimano front derailers, the more expensive ones tend to rub more in my experience. Those tend to be narrower than cheaper versions (Tiagra and lower).

Your shifters should also have a “trim” feature which is a soft click (like about a half shift) in the shifter. This will move the front derailer just a little bit in those more extreme gears and reduce rub. I use triples exclusively and the trim is in the middle ring. I don’t recall if it is on the inner ring or outer ring on doubles.

Finally, you don’t need to use the large ring/large(r) cog combinations. Use a gear calculator and see where those gears are duplicated. Shift before you get to the gears that tend to rub.

when I say big gear in the back, I man the smallest cog in the back and largest upfront

Okay. Got ya now. Most people talk about the “big gear” in back as the largest cog. You’ve got it the right way around because the smallest cogs are the highest gears. Now that I have it straight and we’re on the same page, we can proceed with looking at solutions. There’s a couple of things to check. First look at the derailer alignment. The picture below shows what your problem could be. “C” is the proper alignment. The outer plate should be parallel with the chainwheels. Either A or B could result in chain rub over multiple gears in the back.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/pq...4ArpciV4=s1600

Your issue could still be a cable issue or may also be a cable issue. Both could happen simultaneously. Shift down to the lowest gear in the front and see if your cable is tight. If it is loose, the derailer won’t move out far enough. The cable should be fairly tight.

Another, more complicated, possibility could be the chain line isn’t right. After you’ve checked everything else first, see if you can move the front derailer outboard by hand. You might have to loosen the height limit screw to see if you can move it out any more…again by hand. If you can’t move it out any further and it is still rubbing, you might need to move the drive side inboard. It’s fairly easy with the crank you have. You will just need to move spacers from the drive side to the nondrive side. It’s a little complicated but not too difficult to do. The crank is easy to remove and you just need a tool to remove the bottom bracket cups. Move the driveside spacer to the nondriveside.

You might not need to move all 2.5mm from the drive side depending on how much you need to move the chainline. You can get spacers in different thicknesses to tune the amount you need to move the crank if you don’t need the full 2.5mm.

Try the other fixes…they are easier…first.

so if i undo the h screw, to move the outer plate outward, do i need to losen the cable before hand?

You will probably need to release tension on the cable but you can do that by shifting to the large chainwheel then downshifting without pedaling. That releases tension on the cable and lets you work the derailer. The chain will be on the large chainwheel and you’ll be able to see if you can move the derailer out anymore to get the clearance you need.

One note: Try this before doing anything to the limit screw. Adjusting the limit screw should be the very last thing on the list of adjustments on a bike. I’d put it on the list below cleaning the garage, doing my taxes, and/or getting a root canal. That’s how important “adjusting the limit screw” is…i.e. not very.

Is this a fairly new model of Shimano? Go to the Shimano tech doc site https://si.shimano.com/#/

Search for your particular DR model and then read and follow the appropriate DM for it. That'll start you at square one and if you follow it correctly your DR will work as it's supposed too. You might have to pull the DM for the shifter to get the instructions for the cable attachment and adjustment.

If that doesn't work, or the DM and other manuals are not understandable to you, then you need the help of a bike shop mechanic.

However you might just be a little too picky about noise. Some bikes are going to rub some when in the Big/Big or Small/Small combo. Usually that is bikes with 10 and 11 speed rears which I don't think yours is.

As a rule the deal with limit screws is you set up the outer so the chain is on the big ring smallest cog and the inside of the outer plate is a millimeter or two off the chain, and set the high limit so the derailleur won't go any further. Then shift to the small ring and biggest cog and set the inside of the inner plate 1, or 2 from the chain, lock it in place with the low limit screw, and never touch them again.

Unless your bottom bracket housing gets physically smaller .....

As for noise ... I am very picky about noise because I Know that there is a way to set up almost every bike to be noise-free. If you have a cheap bike and drive train, maybe extreme cross-chaining won't work but otherwise .... it is a matter of fine-tuning via the barrel adjusters .... Not the limit screws.

Your best bet really start from scratch. If the derailleur is mounted a bit crooked or a little too high or low you can have all kinds of issues. I have seen where the front of the cage was perfect but the very back was hitting because of a half-a-degree of twist, and also where the derailleur was a little too high so it would pitch the chain off the outside, but if I dialed the derailleur back in, the back end inside of the cage hit the chain---it was supposed to be below the chain by a few mm but I had the derailleur just high enough that it hit.

Got to the Shimano site recommended above, or go to Park Tools ( )

Seriously, if you can count to three millimeters) you have everything needed to install and adjust a front derailleur. It comes down to precision, which means being careful and patient. Just do it. Once you see how easy it is .... after six tries, if you are thumb-fingered like me---you will be amazed at how simple it is ... and how satisfying.