Here's a link:

http://www.interlocracing.com/cdfrtder.html

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

Howdy,

Just curious, why not use an older, non compact mountain bike deraileur? They were designed for 48 tooth bigrings and lots of tooth differential between chainrings?



Styrrell

is the other option just using a triple front deraileur?

That's the perfect solution to a problem that doesn't exist.

that's funny - i was just thinking about compacts (and, gasp, triples) on my ride this morning and am comparing gear inches with charts right now. (the mind during taper is a funny thing.)

i currently run 53/39 with a 12-25 cassette, and generally don't use the 25 (unless I'm dying) or the 12 (unless I'm doing big gear sets), so i really like what i see in the gear spread and weight savings of a 50/34 with an 11-23.

tom or other knowledgeables: do compact cranks need special front derailleur? When shifting chainrings on regular cranks I double shift in back which is a jump of about 15 gear inches (e.g., from 39x14 (75.2) to 53x16 (89.4)). With compacts the jump with a double shift would be about 20 gear inches. For those who are currently riding compacts: Is this do-able or do you need to triple shift when changing rings? If you have to triple shift, is this a hassle?

of course making the change will also require me to give up my "i want to be like bjorn" daydream once and for all. Helloooo reality.

My Ultegra fr. der. on my TCR works just as good with 50/34 as with 53/39. All I had to do was move it down a bit.

So what's the point here?

Same here, I lowered my Ultegra FD and it shifts my FSA compact just as nicely as it did my Ultegra 53/39. I've now got about 4000 miles on the Compact and for me its the only way to go. I run it with a 12/25 on back, or a 12/27 for those real tough mountain centuries I love to do. I'm a 225watts/1 hour rider at 90 rpm's. So, if your real strong, then you might not like it as much as I do. Century rides come out to about 185 watts and 90 rpms.



Sure wouldn't buy a new FD based on my experience. Other toys would come first for me.

I second and third cerveloguys and dirtroads experience. I haven't had any shifting problems using the standard Ultegra FD.


greg

My dealer installed a Third Eye Chain Watcher on my seat tube to account for potential chain drop. Works so far and weighs basically nothing ($10). Have a D/A 10sp FD and FSA SLK compacts.

Well, I did about 900 miles on my R2.5 with FSA Compact cranks and a standard (not compact specific) front derailleur and it worked 97%.

My only criticism was a little more mechnical noise and a little roughness, infrequently though, going up onto the big ring.

Beyond that, yeah, you guys are right- it worked fine. I never dropped a chain or missed a shift.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com