ilovecycling

Oh the joy of buying component groups on eBay...

I'm almost done with my current bike build and I'm just waiting on a stem now. I already have the brifters mounted on the handlebar, so today when I was playing around with the levers to get a feel for them I noticed the left brake lever clicked inwards 2 times as if it were trying to move up two chainrings.

I really can't tell if it's supposed to work like this or not. I don't have the bars mounted so I can't test for correct operation (cables aren't installed). I'm thinking it could possibly be clicking through the trim function internally and it just sounds bad. It's not likely, but you never know. The right lever should be the same either way, right?

svtmike

Does it say "Triple" on the front of the left shifter? You're probably just feeling the trim function.

ilovecycling

While I already have everyone's attention...

How can I tell if I have a short or medium cage rear derailleur? I specified a 12-25 cassette, but it could have easily been matched up with the wrong RD. Finally, I looked at Shimano's website and as far as I can tell they only offer a double/compact and a triple front derailleur, but then there's multiple model numbers. I'm guessing these are for clamp-on and braze-on, but I'm still not sure. How can I be sure I have the right FD as well?

Thanks.

ilovecycling

Nope.

rpeterson

The triple FD is huge, like 6 inches long, the double is not so huge. As for short or medium cage, the medium is also huge, like 3 or 4 inches inbetween the jockey wheels, the short has them like an inch away.

55/Rad

Peel back the hood to reveal the model number. Even it is a triple, you can easily adjust it to work with your double.

redtires

^^this. I've been doing it for years.