First things first: I’m about as ignorant as it gets regarding anything to do with bikes.
I’m having shifting issues with my Dual (Ultegra 9 speed). In the shop, up on the rack, it shifts fine. Once I’m on it on the road, it has a terrible time shifting from the small to large chain ring… I can eventually get it to go through random shifting through gears on the back, stopping/starting pedaling, or just random luck. I’m embarassed by the looks of pity I get as other bikers pass me by at the crests of hills as I’m fumbling and clicking away…
Between two LBSs and two different ‘race-morning mechanic’ adjustments, I’ve had 4 different people tinker with it to no avail… it always is fine on the rack and lousy on the road. I’m pretty heavy (210 lb); not sure if that’s heavy enough to distort the frame to induce the shifting problem.
One guy mentioned that some chain rings are shaped in such a way as to aid shifting, and that mine aren’t. Is this a possible fix?
Any thoughts/suggestions/education will be welcome. Thanks,
I’ve had that problem occasionally. I think front shifting is a cervelo weakness. I ran a new length of housing under the bb which helped (p2sl, don’t know if dual has this). But i do still have problems.
I have a 2005 cervelo dual 10 and I had problems with the front derailer/chain rings too. I’m not sure if it was because it’s an ultegra front derailer and FSA crank set but when I swapped my crankset to a FSA compact and FSA derailer, everything is fine now.
Also, you should suggest that after the mechanic adjusts the derailer, to ride it outside for a while. I think under pressure, the derailer acts differently.
The Shimano chainrings have shift ramps that many of the others (eg FSA that comes with the Dual, Stronglight) don’t. Makes for easier shifting under load. Very nice.
What you’re describing is way worse than that, though. Sounds like maybe your front derailleur could be bent or not trimmed right or … maybe even just misadjusted … Another possibility is if you got a bunch of gunk in the cable housing somewhere and the cable is not sliding smoothly. You can also check where the cable housing from the aerobar goes into the frame. If the end piece there is cracked, worn or not seated nicely in the guide, things will not work nicely.
Did it always shift poorly or did you drop it, fly with it, ride in the rain, change cables etc and then start seeing a problem?
Check if the cable is rubbing the frame under the bottom bracket - where it makes the curve from the plastic guide to go up to the derailleur. I believe that might be the problem and it could get worse when you are riding it. A simple solution would be to put some housing around the cable there to prevent it from rubbing.
I have a Dual 10, and had that issue when I bought the Bike. Bike store could not get the Ultegra front to shift up, no matter what they did. Three trips later, owner replaced the Ultegra with Dura-Ace, and absolutely no problems since. Shifts like a dream.
I have a Dual 10, and had that issue when I bought the Bike. Bike store could not get the Ultegra front to shift up, no matter what they did. Three trips later, owner replaced the Ultegra with Dura-Ace, and absolutely no problems since. Shifts like a dream.
Slower than U
Yep, my friend had similar issues with her Dual last year, and ultimately had to switch down to a 105 fr … and, yes, she had compact cranks on her 10spd Dual …
Thanks all for the info & suggestions. A few follow-up questions:
A number of you suggest cable issues as the possible culprit. I would have naively thought that this would cause troubles regardless of whether the bike is being ridden… But, Marcello suggests this could get worse when ridden. I’ll examine cable routing more closely to look for trouble.
I think all components are ‘stock’ on this bike (I bought it used). the cranks & chain rings are FSA. Another question (remember I’m ignorant): If Shimano ‘ramped’ chain rings aid in shifting, is it possible to put a Shimano 53 chain ring on the existing crankset, or are each manufacturer’s components mutually incompatible?
Apart from possible cable routing design issues, is there any reason why a particular manufacturer would be more susceptible to this kind of problem (e.g. notions that this is a ‘Cervelo issue’)? I would have thought that shifting is largely determined by the spatial relationship between the derailieur & chain rings, which I would assume is highly standardized regardless of company.
Finally, about how much does a front derailieur cost, if I were to take the suggestions to trade up (to Dura Ace) or down (to 105)?
Chainrings are interchangeable as long as you get the same BCD (same bolt pattern). That’d be an easy thing to try. It’s also possible the derailleur tab is misaligned. If I recall, this has been posted about several times with some Cervelo models. People have had their frames replaced because of this issue…
I think all components are ‘stock’ on this bike (I bought it used). the cranks & chain rings are FSA. Another question (remember I’m ignorant): If Shimano ‘ramped’ chain rings aid in shifting, is it possible to put a Shimano 53 chain ring on the existing crankset, or are each manufacturer’s components mutually incompatible?
Apart from possible cable routing design issues, is there any reason why a particular manufacturer would be more susceptible to this kind of problem (e.g. notions that this is a ‘Cervelo issue’)? I would have thought that shifting is largely determined by the spatial relationship between the derailieur & chain rings, which I would assume is highly standardized regardless of company.
Finally, about how much does a front derailieur cost, if I were to take the suggestions to trade up (to Dura Ace) or down (to 105)?
FSA uses the shimano standard 130mm BCD (bolt circle diameter) for their chainrings so you can put a shimano ring on your current cranks. The ultegra 6500 53T ring on performancebike for $30 would be fine.
All the relationships are standardised, execution can vary though. One very simple thing to check is that the chainring bolts aren’t loose as the ring will flex away when shifting.
Shimano derailleurs are made with the same geometries, if a store managed to get better results by changing the front mech then either the old one was damaged or the store were muppets with the first one (or were being dodgy).
Read this and analyse the setup on your bike to determine if something is obviously wrong http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=75 - if it is then you could try to modify it or find someone who will do it correctly.
If you bought the bike used…I would first replace the housings and cables. I have this done every year…preventive maintenance. Any good wrench should be able to fix the problem from there. Heck - I am just one step ahead of stupid…and I can adjust my front deraillieur!