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Dumb FD question: why no black?
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This is silly, but why are pretty much all the FD's polished bent cages for the guides and never any coating on the the outside to make it black?

Cheaper/lighter to be polished bent metal? Coating wouldn't stick on the outside of the metal?

I think something darker there might look good on some bikes.

Carry on.
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Re: Dumb FD question: why no black? [burnthesheep] [ In reply to ]
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I'll guess: Every FD cage I have seen is stainless steel. SS is not cheap and easy to make black. Probably not a market for a black premium-priced FD.
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Re: Dumb FD question: why no black? [burnthesheep] [ In reply to ]
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Campy has been doing that for several years...

"I'm thinking of a number between 1 and 10, and I don't know why!"
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Re: Dumb FD question: why no black? [burnthesheep] [ In reply to ]
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burnthesheep wrote:
This is silly, but why are pretty much all the FD's polished bent cages for the guides and never any coating on the the outside to make it black?
Front derailleur cages are in frequently aggressive contact with steel chains, and their plates need to be both narrow and stiff. So to prevent them from being chewed up in normal use, and to minimize flex, they're usually made from stainless or chromed steel. This limits coating options. And there's visual consistency to consider: even if you do something to color the outer plates, the inner plates are going to be silver (or become unevenly silver with use!), and that may or may not be aesthetically preferable to an all-silver cage.

For what it's worth though, current-gen Campy FDs at the Chorus level and above have a dark outer plate.
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Re: Dumb FD question: why no black? [HTupolev] [ In reply to ]
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But most FD’s have internal wear guides. The chain doesn’t rub on the bare metal.
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Re: Dumb FD question: why no black? [burnthesheep] [ In reply to ]
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burnthesheep wrote:
But most FD’s have internal wear guides. The chain doesn’t rub on the bare metal.

While several (but not all) have a guide on the inner plate, very few have one on the outer plate:



The only road derailleur I have with a guide on the outer plate is an old 10 speed Campy Record, with a carbon cage...

"I'm thinking of a number between 1 and 10, and I don't know why!"
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Re: Dumb FD question: why no black? [burnthesheep] [ In reply to ]
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Front derailleur?
What's that? :)
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Re: Dumb FD question: why no black? [jaretj] [ In reply to ]
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jaretj wrote:
Front derailleur?
What's that? :)

For the roadie.

TT bike is 1x with a 54t. I rode it today on a route averaging 70ft per mile like that. Oooff.
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