Old 09-14-20, 03:46 PM
  #7  
Eggman84
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Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: SoCal
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Bikes: 2014 Bruce Gordon Rock&Road, 1995 Santana Visa Tandem, 1990 Trek 520, 2012 Surly LHT

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Your main problem I believe is the front derailleur. The Shimano FD-5504 was designed for
  • 9 speed drive trains (should work fine with 10 speed because spacing and width of chainrings [not cogs] are essentially the same - sure others will say that you will die if you don't adhere strictly to spec)
  • Shimano road shift levers (wont work with MTB shifters)
  • 52-42-30 front chain ring set. (road not MTB sizing)

Looking at the inner cage plate, you will notice that it is very large (about twice the height of a FD designed for a double) and is shaped, not flat. This shaping is designed to work with indexed shifters and helps lift the chain to the next ring. If you pair it with "non-spec" sized chainrings, this shaping can actually degrade the shifting. Also, because you are using smaller rings than designed, the FD has to be set higher than normal; often so the "bottom" of the cage misses the chainstay, I recommend that if you are going to use "MTB sized" chainrings, then it is better to use a front derailleur designed for a double crankset. Jan Heinne does a better job explaining this; see https://www.renehersecycles.com/trou...h-sti-triples/


I had this very problem with an Ultegra triple FD-6503 shifting non-spec sized triple chanrings. Changed to the double Ultegra FD-6500 and it works much better.
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