Well, that was an exercise in patience and fruitlessness. The gracious pair of REI mechanics took me right in. They probably rolled their eyes when they saw me for the 2nd time in 3 days, but it couldn’t be helped. I told them the situation, reiterated some of what you guys told me, and one mechanic took the bike out for a spin. Meanwhile, I prayed he’d have the worst time out there so I wouldn’t I look like a fool who can’t operate friction shifters.
The mechanic came back and said, “I had all kinds of problems!” The worst of all of them, he had decided, was that the chain was slapping into the fender, and obnoxiously. He decided they’d go over the shifting once again and shave the fender away from the chain. They told me to run my errands and return. I did, and they said it was working better, and I marveled at the mechanic’s good, clean work of the shaved fender, and then we talked about Rivendell. They have had some customers come in needing bar end shifters and have been at a loss. I pointed them to the silver shifters on Riv’s site on their shop computer and then left the page open so they can look at the rest of Rivendell’s offerings later, ha. I went to pay my bill and they wouldn’t allow it and after a short argument, we decided I would find the Microshifter thumbies online and bring them for installation later. And then we happily parted ways. I got to the parking lot and noticed the slightest of inclines. Ah, I thought, I’ll just make a lap or two. I was excited to try out the bike with the fender no longer interfering. I tried the shifters every which way... It was as bad as it’s ever been. I just didn’t have the heart to go back in there and disrupt the mechanics’ work day again. Didn’t feel like dragging them out into 107 degree heat so they could be as frustrated as me. I put the Clementine back on the rack and pointed the van toward home. Something else must be going on with the front derailleur, though it shifts like a dream on the bike stand. Go figure! Sent from my iPad > On Aug 13, 2019, at 1:01 PM, Patrick Moore <bertin...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Front derailleur adjustment is not rocket science, and unless there is some > fundamental incompatibility between derailleur and crankset,* or between > derailleur and bottom bracket assembly spindle length*, or between derailleur > and shifter*, fixing a shifting problem is simply a matter of proper > adjustment, which any competent mechanic ought to be able to accomplish. > > The variables are throw (how far out and in the cage moves); height (the cage > has to clear the big chainring but not by too much), and angle (the cage has > to be aligned fore/aft with respect to the chainrings in such a way as to > move the chain on and off the chainrings efficiently; this sometimes means > that the cage should be very slightly offset to the chainrings). > > Can you post photos taken from directly above the front derailleur and > showing (1) the cage centered on the big chainring, (2) the cage at maximum > outward extension, and (3) the cage furthest inward position? The problem > might be that the throw to the outside is inadequate -- ie, that the outer > limit screw is screwed down too much; or that the cage is mis-aligned with > the chainrings; or it could be that the cable is too loose, tho' your > mechanic should have fixed that. > > * I recall long ago installing a Grafton triple (uber cool at the time) on my > 1992 XO-1, but having no clue whatsoever that I needed to replace the 122.5 > mm spindle that came with the stock Specialized S-1 crankset with something > shorter. The Grafton crank sat way out there on that long spindle, and I > unscrewed and unscrewed and unscrewed that outer limit bolt, and still, the > front derailleur just would not shift to the big ring! > > So I took it in to a shop, and I still cringe some 25 years later when I > recall the contempt in the shop rat's eyes as he explained in simple terms of > 1 syllable that the effing spindle was too effing long! > > Patrick Moore, who did redeem himself in his own eyes by getting early Dura > Ace 74?? fds to work with a 9-speed-era, external bb Bontrager Race Lite > triple (3 gold stars if you correctly explain how). > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google > Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this topic, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rbw-owners-bunch/u7gCESlCbQY/unsubscribe. > To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to > rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CALuTfgtVEU-fWrXy6nd71gL3bkQb7nFB57N2_u_asxT6a%2BC0Nw%40mail.gmail.com. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/47AD6175-C154-4E76-88D5-25B46BA5D98D%40gmail.com.
