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Hi
I just saw an ad for a front derailleur from IRD which is made specifically for compact cranks...
After hearing about the new campy compact group with its special front derailleur specific for compacts I was wondering if there is a noticable advantage...
Wasn't aware that such a product existed for shimano components
thanks
Currently Shimano does not make anything compact road (i.e. cranks, deraillers etc) so if you're running shimano and want to say use FSA compact cranks you have 2 choices
1. you can use a standard derailleur however the shifting wont be as good because of the bigger jump in chainring size (53-39 = 14) versus (50-34 = 16) plus the curvature of the derailleur is set up for larger diameter chainrings.
2. you can use a compact specific front derailleur - such as the one from IRD (about $80 canadian) and I believe FSA is coming out with one as well. you could also try running a campy one - but I dont know if you can mix campy front derailleurs with shimano shifters
Campy has come out with compact cranks albeit in uber expensive carbon only as well as a full range of compact front derailleurs starting at the centaur level and moving up to record...I've been having trouble acquiring a front right now...but until a few weeks ago they were pretty widely available...
As for the difference in shift quality - I dont know since I dont have one yet...but others on the board have commented postively...
so in summary use compact front derailleurs if you're using compact cranks...
You can run ANY Front Der with ANY shift lever...I dont care if it is a 20 year old Nuovo Record or Superbe Pro with a ShitmaNO lever...they are all compatible.
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What if the Hokey Pokey is what it is all about?
I'm running an older DA 9 speed front d. over Ritchey compact cranks and can honestly say I have had 0 issues shifting. I have yet to drop a chain or miss a shift evn running 50-34.