Front derailleur tech

I'm still fine tuning my hotrod hybrid. I installed an FSA Energy road
compact on the mountain bike frame by using a 118mm bottom bracket. The
big ring clears the chainstay by only a few mm. But clear is clear, and
that gives me the best q-factor I can get.

I'm using the stock Sram x.7 shifter and Deore front derailleur. With
some judicious tweaking, it now works reasonably well, but overshifting
is still a problem. I'd like to go to a proper road FD, but there are
'issues'.

I can't use the Sram x.7 shifter with a road FD. Shimano makes flat bar
shifters and a FD to go with them, but then I would need to change my
Sram rear derailleur. And that assumes I can find the Shimano shifters
in black, which is mandatory for this bike.

Speedgoat suggested using Sram grip shifters. The person I talked to
gave the impression that the shifter for the FD could be tweaked to
accommodate just about anything. That way I could keep my Sram RD, and
buy just about any FD I wanted. Is that true?

Barnard Frederick wrote:
I can't use the Sram x.7 shifter with a road FD. Shimano makes flat bar
shifters and a FD to go with them, but then I would need to change my
Sram rear derailleur. And that assumes I can find the Shimano shifters
in black, which is mandatory for this bike.

Speedgoat suggested using Sram grip shifters. The person I talked to
gave the impression that the shifter for the FD could be tweaked to
accommodate just about anything. That way I could keep my Sram RD, and
buy just about any FD I wanted. Is that true?

You're kind of rambling around, but I guess your question is "what
front derailleur works with larger chainrings and mountain-bike index
shifters?"

You need a Shimano FD-R443:
http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/derailers-front.html#352
*presuming* the indexing for the SRAM front shifter matches Shimano's.
I haven't tried it, so I can't say for sure.

The SRAM x.7 grip shifters would alow you to keep your existing rear
derailleur and use any front derailleur you like.

Jeff

JeffWills says...

You're kind of rambling around, but I guess your question is "what
front derailleur works with larger chainrings and mountain-bike index
shifters?"

Rambling? Moi? Did I ever tell you about my Uncle Sven, the Fuller Brush
salesman? Well, he had this old '65 Ford Fairlane...

You need a Shimano FD-R443:
http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/derailers-front.html#352
*presuming* the indexing for the SRAM front shifter matches Shimano's.
I haven't tried it, so I can't say for sure.

Yes, front indexing is the same. I'm not sure why anyone would need
front indexing for a double, but that's a different philosophical
debate.

The SRAM x.7 grip shifters would alow you to keep your existing rear
derailleur and use any front derailleur you like.

That's interesting. So the grip shifter somehow has adjustable
indexing? Or is it really just a friction shifter?

"Barnard Frederick" wrote in message
.net...
I'm still fine tuning my hotrod hybrid. I installed an FSA Energy road
compact on the mountain bike frame by using a 118mm bottom bracket. The
big ring clears the chainstay by only a few mm. But clear is clear, and
that gives me the best q-factor I can get.

I'm using the stock Sram x.7 shifter and Deore front derailleur. With
some judicious tweaking, it now works reasonably well, but overshifting
is still a problem.

Overshifting as in dropping off onto the crankarms? Check to see if your FD
isn't too high... chain drop is a common problem with too-high front
derailleurs.

I'd like to go to a proper road FD, but there are
'issues'.

I can't use the Sram x.7 shifter with a road FD. Shimano makes flat bar
shifters and a FD to go with them, but then I would need to change my
Sram rear derailleur. And that assumes I can find the Shimano shifters
in black, which is mandatory for this bike.

Speedgoat suggested using Sram grip shifters. The person I talked to
gave the impression that the shifter for the FD could be tweaked to
accommodate just about anything. That way I could keep my Sram RD, and
buy just about any FD I wanted. Is that true?

SRAM and Shimano MTB front shifting actuation ratios should be the same, but
it appears that this might not be the case. The Giant FCR4 uses SRAM 4.0
trigger shifters and a Shimano Tiagra front derailleur.

I would try routing the cable different, either behind or ahead of the cable
anchor bolt. This might give you a better actuation ratio.

The gripshifters have clicky-friction function, identical in feel to Campy
Ergo front derailleur shifting or regular thumbshifters.



--
Phil

Barnard Frederick wrote:

The SRAM x.7 grip shifters would alow you to keep your existing rear
derailleur and use any front derailleur you like.

That's interesting. So the grip shifter somehow has adjustable
indexing? Or is it really just a friction shifter?

Not "friction", strictly speaking, but a very fine ratchet. My wife's
bike has Grip Shifts and a Shimano 105 triple front derailleur. It
works fine and allows a good degree of trimming.

Jeff

JeffWills says...

Not "friction", strictly speaking, but a very fine ratchet. My wife's
bike has Grip Shifts and a Shimano 105 triple front derailleur. It
works fine and allows a good degree of trimming.

Thanks to you and Phil for the info. I ordered a set of X.0 grip
shifters and and FSA compact front derailleur. The top of the line grip
shifters are surprisingly affordable if you look for bargains. It looks
like grip shifters and flat bar road bikes are an excellent match, with
the only problem being you have to use Sram MTB derailluers.