haeason50

Hi, noob here. I’ve been riding/commuting a long time but have recently taken it on my self to do my own maintenance. Things are going pretty well, but I can’t get my front derailleur tuned just the way I like.

Don’t laugh. I ride a Nishiki Anasazi (my last bike, a Trek DS 8.3, was recently stolen and I got the Nishiki for $175 down from $500). It’s an 8 speed with a three cog crankset. The front derailleur is a Shimano Tourney (entry level, I’m assuming).

I’m able to get about two out of the three crank cogs tuned the way I like, but not all three. One or the other outer- or innermost speeds rubs. There’s also some rubbing in the highest gear of the second cog. The derailleur height looks good; the alignment looks good. Any tips? Should I just upgrade?

MarcusT

If the FD came with the bike: Go back to the basics. Loosen the cable and adjust your high/low. Re-adjust your height and alignment (google, just to make sure, you're doing it right). Not all FDs are the same, it might take some experimentation.
Also remember that you should not use opposing cogs/chainrings. Meaning never biggest with smallest.
For beginners it is a hit or miss job, but with experience it gets easier

FlMTNdude

Go to park tools.com or the Park Tools YouTube channel. They have videos for derailleur adjustments and a lot of other cool stuff. Easy to follow and pretty spot on. Being a newbie, don’t get sucked in thinking you need every tool they use, they are one of the major bike tool manufacturers. What you will need is a screwdriver, metric hex wrench and maybe a needle nose pliers. While not great quality, you can find them all for under $10 combined at Harbor Freight.

andrewclaus

While theoretically you should be able to use every rear cog with every front chain ring, in practice that's not always possible with a cheaper bike (and not to mention a beginner mechanic). As mentioned above, with proper shifting you should be able to get it to work for the gears you should be using in the real world. And don't let perfect get in the way of good enough.

It does sound like a derailleur mounting issue, or even a bent derailleur. Fixing those require a good eye and good technique.

hokiefyd 

With most mountain type front derailleurs like that, you should be able to adjust it so that you have the chain in the middle chainring up front and you can work the entire cassette or freewheel on the back without rubbing. Most have cages just barely wide enough for that to work, but you sometimes do have to tolerate slight rubbing on either side of the cage at the extremes. This is especially true if your chainrings are not perfectly aligned on the crank axle (and have a slight wobble to them). Upgrading may not help, either. Mountain style derailleurs all have pretty similar cage shapes and sizes. In fact, I'd wager that a Tourney probably has a larger cage if anything -- higher spec derailleurs may have slightly tighter cages for quicker shifting.

If you do loosen the cable clamp and go back to basics with the limit screws, take that time to turn the barrel adjuster at the shifter to about its middle position (not threaded all the way in or out). Once you get the cable done back up at the derailleur and verify your limit stops are set correctly, you can put the chain on the middle ring and play with the barrel adjuster to try to get the adjustment so you don't rub. I usually try to set mine so I have full range without rubbing when in the middle ring. That sometimes means tolerating a rub when on the small chainring and the large sprocket, or when on the large chainring and the small sprocket, which means the chain is as far to the left or right as possible. I accept that because I'm very rarely in the lowest or highest ratio, and I prefer to be in the middle ring most of the time. Sometimes, you have to live with "good enough".

Another option, if you just don't like how it works, is to change your front shifter to a non-indexed one. That way, you can "trim" the derailleur left or right to move the cage slightly to prevent rubbing.

JonathanGennick 

Back in the day I would often live with rub in the extreme cross-chain positions. Because I never rode for long in those positions anyway.

haeason50

Thanks Marcus! Yes, the derailleur came with the bike. So, I'll keep trying. Can you elaborate on "you should not use opposing cogs/chainrings"? Like never ride in those combinations or never tune with the gears set in those positions?

F|MTNdude, Love that YouTube channel. Calvin Jones is the man. Got the basic tools, too (and then some! ). I think I gotta just keep after it and keep learning...

andrewclaus, I did wonder about the pricing and the components... That's why I'm curious about upgrading. The bike itself is good--good design/angles. I've upgraded the BB with good results. Might do the brake calipers. Definitely considering the crankset since it has some wobble. The new BB is a nice, middle-grade Shimano, so maybe an upgraded crankset will make for less wobble. Who knows.

hokiefyd: thanks for the detail--really sound advice. I'm going to try tuning to the middle crank cog. Re: "Another option, if you just don't like how it works, is to change your front shifter to a non-indexed one. That way, you can "trim" the derailleur left or right to move the cage slightly to prevent rubbing." Can you explain further? I'm a fellow Virginian, btw

JonathanGennick, yep, it's sounding like that's front derailleur life

hokiefyd 

It sounds like your left/front shifter is an indexed shifter. That is, you click it into "2" and it moves a fixed amount into that position. You click it into "3" and it moves a fixed amount into that position. With this type of shifter, you're generally limited to those fixed positions, and you have to fine-tune cable adjustment to get those fixed positions at the derailleur to be where you want them. Index shifters can be thumb-style shifters (looks like a lever on top of the handlebars), trigger-style shifters (where you push one trigger lever to shift up, and another trigger lever to shift down), or grip/twist shifters (like Shimano's Revoshift or SRAM's Gripshift).

You can also get non-index shifters, also called friction shifters. These are also available in multiple styles, like thumb-style or grip/twist shifters. With these, you don't move the shifter between three distinct positions, but you have a full range of motion without fixed stops. So you can move the derailleur over just a little bit. You can move it more to effect a shift. Then you can move it just slightly more to get rid of a chain rub.

There is no right or wrong style or type of shifter -- just whatever you prefer. There are pros and cons to everything, and some people love friction shifting and won't consider index shifting, and some people are the other way around. You can potentially experiment with this inexpensively -- you can buy a cheap Sunrace friction thumb shifter for the front derailleur for between 5 and 10 bucks depending on where you find it -- and you can use this to see if you want to investigate that type of shifting further. If you like the grip/twist shift style, you can get non-indexed Revoshift or Gripshift units, which allow you to twist the shifter to move the derailleur as little or as much as you want. Those are typically inexpensive as well.

Retro Grouch 

I don't know if this applies to your problem or not but it's common enough to mention.

Many Shimano front derailleurs have a little finger where the shift cable attaches to the derailleur. While it looks intuitively like the cable should pass under that finger, it's important that the shift cable be router OVER that finger. That changes the angle of the shift cable and significantly affects the operation of the derailleur.

dsbrantjr

When you set up your lower limit stop, do not leave more than a millimeter or so of clearance between the cage and chain; too much clearance may leave you too far outboard on the big ring causing rubbing on the inner plate. I prefer written instructions to videos, here are some good ones from Park Tool:
https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair...eur-adjustment
https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair...eur-adjustment
Make certain that the front derailleur is properly parallel to the chain rings or it will be hard/impossible to avoid rubbing; it may not be possible to avoid it in some extreme combinations a mentioned. Make your adjustments gradually; when you get close 1/4 turn of the adjuster may be too much.