This may sound dumb...but are you sure it is out? I have seen it..."My der wont shift to the small ring"...and it is setup with the set screws all the way in - and is in...it was not going out (saw that at a race I was neutral support at just about a month ago). Make sure that with your hands you can pull it out - and it should be quite hard to pull.

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What if the Hokey Pokey is what it is all about?

hey Kevin.....you may want to make sure the the gap from the bottom of the derailluer to the big ring is only 2mm.....and that the blades of the front der are parallel to the chainring......to adjust you must loosen the cable first and then move the der.....re-attach the cable....hope the helps / works....regards -AL

If I can push the cage to the corrrect postition with my hand, shouldn't that mean that the lower limit screw is not too tight (all the way in)? I mean if it was all the way in I don't think it would let push the cage with my hand. I've actually loosened the lower limit screw about as much as it can be loosened without it falling out. I was expecting that it would pull the chain so far over that it would fall between the frame and small ring. But the der. does not move.

Does the cable go under the bottom bracket? Is it internally routed? Check/clean/lube the cable/housing/guides to make sure the cable moves freely.

Thanks - position is fine as per Leonard Zinn's book.

Could your cable be the problem? Needing cleaning and lube,this is what i find when mine gets slow to drop,also energy drink leaks out and runs down to the bottom of the bottom bracket and gums things up

You have to push it in...is this with our with out a cable connected? When I install a F.Der I do the setup 99% with out a cable connected at all. If you have no cable, and still need to push that thing in...it is broken - period. If you have a cable on it and it will not retract, what you have is a hung up cable or broken shifter.

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What if the Hokey Pokey is what it is all about?

If you use Cytomax or any sugar based fuel on the bike while riding , esp stationary you've probably filled the tight tolerances of the pivots with the dried gooey residue. That stuff dries like road tar and can stop a front derailleur or the cables from moving in the housing.

Remove the front deraileur AND both limit screws and drop it in boiling water (when your wife isn't home) for 2-4 minutes this will help loosen, clean and dissolve. A quick shot of WD, Acetone, or other solvents are not sufficient. Be sure to readjust the screws upon reassembly. I've seen this dozens of times.

The bolt and "rivet" are there for assembly and do not move relative to the derailleur body during its motion.

Let me know how this works out.

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https://www.kickstarter.com/...bike-for-the-new-era

Thanks SD - will give that solution a try (no wife so I should be ok :) ).

Randall/efernand - cable should be fine as once I flick the STI lever, there is no more tension in the cable so the der should move back into position.

Great race at PB efernand!

Kevin, great job at PB also. I was slowing down too much near the end, you were a lot closer than I had thought. Are you doing Steelhead this weekend? I'm doing Stony Creek instead.

I was just thinking that the cable might go slack along the down tube, but be getting hung up going 'under' the bike right before reaching the derarilleur, but as someone already noted, if it doesn't move without the cable attached, it needs some TLC.

Worked great SD. Thanks!

Eric - was planning on doing Steelhead earlier in the year but then decided to do the Duke Blue Devil on 10/11. So I am in the middle of some higher volume training right now and racing probably would not be a good idea. Would like to get up to Benton Harbor maybe next year to give it a try though.

Have a good one!

I'm ramping up my mileagefor Kona right now also. I am going to do 5+ hours on Saturday. I did 104 last Saturday before racing in South Haven on Sunday. Legs were a little flat on the run, but not too bad. South Haven was beautiful, and we even had some beach running during the race. The water was only 54 degree though, and they had to shorten the swim (that might have been good for you).