Peterparis

Hi ,

I'm new here and cannot yet post photos, so here goes with just words:

1. Has anyone been able to remove or displace verticaly a FD and bend the cage back into vertical alignment? My recent Alivio FD seems bent (outwards at bottom). The cause may be when I fist put it on, it wasn't tight enough and spun loose under load from the cable and jammed up a bit.
   
2. Is it correct to assume that the derailleur cage's geometry (shape) is a true vertical plane? (i mean the side parts which arc down in profile? I ask because this is my only reference, I don't know "exactly" what the new cage looked like.
   
3. Afterwards, it was working with the original triple on this low end hybrid bike, but I just changed the crank (larger front chainring) and nothing is shifting anymore. this is where I'd obviously like to post photos, but I cannot do so under forum rules until I've posted 10 times. Hence restricting my question to the above about bending the cage 'back'.
   

Anyone whoo can adress 1 and 2? I d be very thankful


Best


Peter

Iride01 

Have you looked at Shimano's manuals? This is the newest on Alivio.... https://si.shimano.com/api/publish/s...002-00-ENG.pdf

Others are at https://si.shimano.com/ and if you prefer to read them in another language then there is a language selector at the top right of the page if it didn't already select that for you.

If you have the pic on imgur or another pic hosting site, then just write the URL in the plain text of your message and remove the https;// and put a space on both sides of any . and some of us will figure it out.

As a noob, you only get so many posts per day or something like that. So don't waste them.

Andrew R Stewart 

Peter- 1- Yes, I as well as perhaps thousands others have moved a ft der vertically and rotationally while setting it up. Many have also felt the need to tweak the cage's shape. Sometimes for the better and other times for the worse.

2- There's no constant spec or shape standard and companies routinely try different sculptings and contours to improve shifting or reduce chain rub.

It is the combination of both aspects as well as the rider's manor of pedaling when shifting that make setting up and using a ft der so much more involved then the rear der. Andy

Peterparis

Hi,

Thanks for that advice and link. It's clear from the images that my cage got bent. I'll try to bend it back to vertical.

Right, I forgot about pic hosting sites.. I'll use your workaround for that if needed.

Best-

Peter

Peterparis

Thank you Stewart, I feel like I'm in a bike garage just reading your post!

andrewclaus

Bending FD cages on low-end bikes is not uncommon for me. I see a lot of these donated at the non-profit shop where I volunteer and we try to get them working again and out to people who need them at minimal cost. Most have been neglected, but a few have been badly abused. A 6" or 8" adjustable wrench works fine.

It helps to understand what each plane on each side of the cage does. There's a reason for all the twists and turns. A bend to assist on an upshift may hurt the downshift, and it's good to know that in advance.

Peterparis

Thanks Andrew. confirming what I thought might work as a technique with the wrench providing a flat clamp like surface to guide the bend evenly. I read a bit on Sheldon brown also which helps. Tomorrow I will get to this.

Hondo6

FWIW: even as a "Newbie", I'm pretty sure you can create a personal album on Bike Forums in your user profile and post pics to it (subject to the site's size limitations) which will be accessible to all users. You just won't be able to show them in a post/comment or post links until you're no longer a "Newbie".

I also think the limitation on posting pix and links goes away after 10 comments, so that might not be worth your while. (smile)