Derailleur for 50/34t on P3 that works?

Triathlon Forum
1

I am having trouble getting a front derailleur to work well on my 2002 Cervelo P3 with FSA 50/34t chain rings and a 12-27 9 speed cog. It seems the P3 poses two problems. One is the short chain distance and the other is the braze on bracket sits 3-5 mm to high.

The two speed Dura Ace that came with the bike, sitting as low as possible, still leaves more than a 3 mm gap between the outside plate and the chain ring. No matter how hard I try, I am left with a very sluggish shift from small to large and with it rubbing when in 34/27. I have taken it to two different bike mechanics and they were unable to improve on this. One suggested a Dura Ace 3 speed.

I got a 3 speed on sale and indeed it does reach lower, the chain ring – derailleur gap is about 1 mm at the bottom of travel. But to make a long story short, this performs more poorly the two speed.

Has anyone solved this problem? Supposedly Campy was coming out with derailleur designed for these chain sizes. Have they? Will it work with a short chain stay and high bracket? If so, what is it called? Other ideas?

Any help is appreciated.
Bill

2

I had the same problem last year when I tried the 50/34 on my Trek TT. We ended up calling FSA. They were very willing to help, but their solution was to use a 52 big ring with the 34. I always thought that was way too big of a difference in sizes and the main reason I wanted the 50/34 was for the 50. I didn’t try it and subsequently sold the crankset on eBay. Give FSA a call and see what they say about the P3…maybe they’ve thought of something over the last year that I don’t know about.

3

IRD makes this one specifically for compact cranks.

http://www.interlocracing.com/cd_frtder.JPG

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

Shimano is also coming out with a compact front derailleur for 2006 but it probably won’t be available until this winter.

4

Hey Oldaveguy

take a look at the IRD derailleur it may work for you.

http://store.yahoo.com/glorycycles/irdcdfrdefor.html

Dan…

5

Slightly better pricing at Excel, save $10.

6

Get the Record or Chorus CT…no more issues…none on my P3 anyways
.

7

Thanks to all of you I have renewed hope.

Record, How old is your P3? Mine was produced before Tyler Hamilton helped popularize 50/34t. I would guess that newer P3s have a lower mounting bracket. I don’t really know if that is the case but it would be a smart change and Gerard is pretty smart.

Trifloriday, Raynard, Dan, and ironmanatee,
I will give FSA a call and see if they know of anyone using the IRD on P3s with 50/34t. I wouldn’t mind a 52 instead of a 50 but the jump from 34 to 50 is already quite a hike. 34 to 52 is going to be a lot lift for the derailluer and I worry a little bit about the loss of overlapping gear ranges.

Just an aside, I am amazed at how quickly this thread dropped to the fourth page. The rate of posting is a lot higher than it was a couple of years ago. I guess this makes Slowman’s nipples even harder.
Bill