joneill1975

My Shimano 4400 front derailleur appears to be broken. The spring has lost tension and from what I have read, the tab holding the spring broke off (I am reading this is common on Tiagra and Sora FDs). So I am now looking to replace it and I am quite confused what can work with my setup. Below are my component specs.

Crankset: FSA Aluminum Triple Crankset) 52/42/30T
Shifters: Tiagra 4400 Integrated STI 27 speed, Flight Deck compatible
FD: Tiagra 4400
RD: 105
Cassette: Shimano 9 speed cassette 12-25T (27 total gears)
Chain: KMC Z9000 Super Narrow 9 speed

I am trying to figure out what FD's are compatible with this older setup;

• Can I upgrade to 105 and is it worth it?
• I read that 105's are limited to double crankset setups and not triple. Is this true? I see some 105's (5500 and 5700 series) are showing to have a triple ring option.
• For a straight Tiagra replacement, will any of the newer series work as long as they are triple ring?

Any guidance is appreciated.

Thanks

Chris_W

You're better off sticking with a 9-speed FD because the cage width is made for that width of chain - the 10-speed versions were slightly narrower and so have more chain rub when cross-chaining.
You're options are therefore Tiagra 4403, 105 5503, Ultegra 6503. All of those are out of date models, so probably hard to find. Your best bet in newer stuff is probably the Sora R3030. Don't worry too much about Sora being one step below Tiagra - Shimano technology triples down over time so modern Sora should be just as good as the 2 generation old Tiagra that it's replacing.

joneill1975

Well, I am back on this project and I learned that the FD is actually a Tiagra 4503. What are my options for replacement since I can't find any 4503's? Also, my max chain ring is 50. I saw somewhere that the FD 5703 is compatible.

delbiker1 

I have a Tiagra 4403 FD that is in good shape. It came off a project bike I rebuilt. I do not have the correct mounting bolt, but I do have one that works fine. i will pm you. Make it $10 even shipped. It is a clamp on 31.8.

70sSanO

If the 4503 doesn’t work out, you can use a 4603. A lot of people have used lower speed group with a higher speed group crank or derailleur. I’ve used a 4603 with 8 speed cassettes.

As has been said here, the FD is not 8, 9, 10 speed. In all honesty, I have never put digital calipers on a FD cage to compare the widths, at different points, between the different associated groups.

I would think that a FD sold with 6/7 speed systems would be wider than a 10/11 group due to chain width. But it would be interesting to get actual measurements on “triple” FD’s.

But is It only chain width or does cassette width come into play? On a “triple” that middle ring has to trim to accommodate the entire cassette range, or nearly all, without the the friction shifter range.

That said, you can use a 4603.

John

davidad

I would go for the 105 version.