Shimano Ultegra 6800 Front Derailleur
 

Hi,

I have been trying to service and adjust my front derailleur. When I set the lower limit on the derailleur, the gap is approx. 1mm from chain. However when I adjust the cable tension to make sure the derailleur lifts the chain to the larger sprocket, the derailleur does not reach the lower limit when shifting down again and rubs on the chain. I can push the derailleur in by hand to reach the limit, but it will not go on its own. I cleaned and lubricated all moving parts of the derailleur and there seems to be plenty of movement on the cable without sticking. Can anyone offer any advice on what I can try next? The bike did not come with a barrel adjuster on the shift cable and I have to adjust tension at the derailleur.

Many Thanks

Im betting you didn't anchor the cable right or the little pin isnt in the right position. Refer to the manual. That generation of FDs are a bit tricky.

https://si.shimano.com/pdfs/dm/DM-FD0002-05-ENG.pdf

First off, make your life much easier and install an inline cable tension adjuster.
Check the cable routing. Also, if the bike has a braze-on type front derailleur, is the support bolt contacting the frame by a support plate? Doing so makes it easier to microadjust the yaw of the derailleur and also greatly stiffens the derailleur for shifts onto the big ring.

Thanks for the info Dan, I'll check it out. Do you think there is a chance that the spring has lost enough power to pull the FD back into position? I have only made tiny adjustments to how it came on the bike when I got it, maybe it was never right from the start

[QUOTE=cpach;21632630
First off, make your life much easier and install an inline cable tension adjuster.
Check the cable routing. Also, if the bike has a braze-on type front derailleur, is the support bolt contacting the frame by a support plate? Doing so makes it easier to microadjust the yaw of the derailleur and also greatly stiffens the derailleur for shifts onto the big ring.[/QUOTE]

Thanks, it looks like the FD was incorrectly fitted in the first place, I think I may have to strip it out and start again to get it right. I tried to adjust what was there already but a quick look at the manual, it looks like the cable is in the wrong position to start with

You may be aware of this but with 11 speed when you initially shift down from the big ring the FD is supposed to land in a trim position. There should be one more click to drop the FD all the way in.

Thanks, the problem exisits in the trim position, the FD just wont move the last couple of mm into the limit position