Mine does have trimming. Tiagra 4600. I didn’t know anything about it then, it’s the mechanic who mentioned it and showed me how it works.

Yes, that’s the fix. Your cable isn’t tight enough. Be careful not to get the cable too tight or allow the derailer to move too far outboard. This can cause lag on downshifts. The outer plate should just clear the chain when in the large ring/small cog combination. Some adjustment with the barrel adjuster may be needed over time as the cable gets rid of the construction stretch. Eventually, the cable should bed in and stop stretching but it may take some time.

The trim feature should work on the middle ring. It’s not a feature for the outer ring.

My 6503 (9 speed triple) had trimming. There were 4 clicks for three rings. I can't remember if the trim was between the middle and small or middle and large (maybe both?). IIRC, my wife's Tiagra triple 9 speed also had 4 click trim.

I guess I always assumed that the 6500 double had trim (i.e. three clicks for two rings). and the 105 and Dura Ace of that era also had trim. I guess I'm wrong?

This article on FD trim involves Shimano 10 speed:
Can someone explain the trim operation on shimano 105 — BikeRadar

FWIW, Sram 10 speed double shifters had trim (3 clicks) until, I they came out with yaw FDs then I think they might have done away with the three click trim? Really have no idea on that because I have "original" 10 speed shifters with three clicks and they work with both the original FD I have on one bike and the newer Yaw FD on the other.

No much less useful. Rather than arguing why don't you just say, I know it doesn't at all help the OP with his issue, but I just thought I'd mention it in case he wasn't aware of these legacy options. FWIW, friction shifting - in my personal experience having friction shifted for the first 20 years of my cycling life - is very fussy with cassettes 9 speed and larger. Meaning difficult to do quickly and accurately without fussing with trimming the friction lever. Not talking about FD, it's as easy now as it was in the 5 speed era.

I have to eat crow on this one. Yes, older groups had trim, but older doubles had them in only one direction. It wasn't until 5800/6800/9000 that doubles had a trim point going down from the large to small ring. This is what virtually eliminted the problem of chain drop.

Yes, it's true that the SRAM yaw systems no longer have trim positions. In theory, you no longer need trim positions, but it's very tricky to set up.

When Calvin Jones did that fd indexing, the h-limit is set and there’s no more chain rub. Mine does, and there’s that small movement when you push the lever. Do i need to loosen the h-limit a bit to remove chain rub before fixing this movement with the barrel adjuster?

Not unless the chain is rubbing when the cable is tight. But be careful about the tightness of the cable. It can interfere with the action of the derailer on downshifts. It’s a bit of a Goldilocks situation. It really has to be “just right”.

Calvin Jones’ immortal words.

Anyway, thanks. Holy Thursday here tomorrow, long holiday. Got a lot of time to tinker with my bike.

I got a yaw FD for some reason (maybe when I was looking for parts for a new 10 speed build with shifters I had on hand?), but kept the old style shifters with the trim positions. I just use them that way and don't really know if the yaw works well without trim.

I installed Force 22 shifters and derailleurs on my road bike. It took awhile, but I finally got it silent on every combo except large-large which I never use anyway.

cyccommute Hey man. Came back here to say it worked. After tightening the barrel adjuster that fixed the fd movement, i did have to tighten the h-limit a bit to shorten the gap between outer fd plate chain to 1mm. Did not affect shifting at all, if anything, i think it shifts a little better. Again, thanks!

:thumb: