Originally Posted by
Eggman84
You haven't said what shifters you are using. On Shimano road shifters, you have to peel back the rubber hood to find the number. On MTB shifters, I don't know where the number is. Barends, its on the right rubber shift lever. If we knew that I, or others, might be able to tell you what FD would work with a MTB triple crankset and your shifters. Really need both bits of info.
Something that just occurred to me is that the shape of the Tiagra FD-4503 is designed for road rings (its matching crankset the FC-4503 has 30-39-50T rings). Not a huge difference from the rings you are using but the "tail" of the derailleur is further away from the large chainring than intended, and would more likely lead to chain rub.
I have currently have Shimano 600 Ultegra downtube shifters on it. Both sides are being used as friction shifters. I believe these shifters are only compatible with 6-7-8 speed indexing, so I just use them in friction mode (front is friction only). I might eventually switch to bar ends but I'm in no rush. I also have Shimano 105 ST-5510 9-speed road shifters I could use if there was any major reason. I prefer the downtube ones as they're reliable and easy to maintain.
I would be happy to hear any recommendations for a replacement FD. I'm also planning on swapping my granny with a Shimano Deore M532 22t 64mm 9-Speed Chainring. That'll make my gearing 48-36-22t in the front and 11-34 in the back.