My front derailleur just fell off. WTF?

Triathlon Forum
1

Recently I had noticed that my front derailleur (DA9, new last summer) was pivoting on the braze-on, turning inward toward the wheel. About 15 minutes ago, as I was heading out for a ride, I noticed the derailleur wasn’t lined up with the chainrings, and reached down to turn it outward.

It fell off. The threads came partially out of the derailleur body, and now it looks like I have a wire sticking out of the hole.

This blows goats. Unplanned expenditures suck, and right now I don’t have a lot of room to accomodate them. Any chance that Shimano will replace it, or should I not even bother?

Pics to come (when I find my camera).

2

Just pick a ring and save up :slight_smile: There is also ebay.

3

“This blows goats.”

That is true. That is very unfortunate. It does fellate domestic animals.

This may be a frame issue though- do you have braze on or clamp on? If it is braze on is the derailleur mount riveted or welded onto the bike?

4

Braze-on welded to the frame. Frame is a Yaqui Aerolite.

5

I have no clue if this will work but chucks bikes has a 105 front D for 14 bucks
.

6

Recently I had noticed that my front derailleur (DA9, new last summer) was pivoting on the braze-on, turning inward toward the wheel.

I have seen this problem happen with a Dura Ace rear deraileur - looks almost as if a helicoil had been inserted and come apart - but fortunatley Shimano Dura Ace - both 9 and 10 speed, comes with a 3-year warranty, pretty much no questions asked warranty (details found here: http://bike.shimano.com/publish/content/cycle/sac/us/en/support/warranty/warranty_details.html).

So, short term get the 105 deraileur from Chuck’s bike while digging up the receipt for your deraileur then, either (A) download the warranty form Shimano (http://bike.shimano.com/publish/content/cycle/sac/us/en/support/warranty/warranty_claim_form.MainContent.0001.File.tmp/Warranty&Claim.pdf), box up the deraileur and send it to Shimano or (B) take the bike to your LBS and let them handle the warranty process. Hint, depending on how you ship it to Shimano - USPS Priority Mail works well for me - handling it yourself can result in a new deraileur in your hands in as little around 14-days whereas the LBS could take longer.

7

“handling it yourself can result in a new deraileur in your hands in as little around 14-days whereas the LBS could take longer.”

Umm, I’m racing IMWI in six weeks.

8

The Chucks Bikes derailleur is looking good. I opened up Performance and saw that new DA is going for about $100. Apparently 9spd ultegra can be had for like $30. I’m going to call my shop and see what they have in stock.

9

Umm, I’m racing IMWI in six weeks.

What, and you don’t have a parts bin with a spare Dura Ace front deraileur?

Maybe I am missing the humor or sarcasm or wit in this reply as you also mentioned budget in your orginal post so I offered advice on how to most cost effectively handle the problem. If 2-weeks turn around to get a brand new, Dura Ace braze-on front deraileur from Shimano is not in line with your training plan, then crack open the wallet and deal with it!

10

“you also mentioned budget in your orginal post”

The ironman is already entirely budgeted for, and has been for a long time. A random $100 for a derailleur hasn’t been.

What’s weird about that?

11

Do you really want suggestions or do you just want people to co-miserate with you?

Solutions seems pretty obvious to me: Buck up and get the 105, or pick a chainring and wait until the replacement der. comes in.

12

“Do you really want suggestions or do you just want people to co-miserate with you?”

A little of each. I’ll probably just buy a Tiagra or 105 from my LBS and wait for the replacement from Shimano.

13

If you want I can TSR you a REcord, Chorus, Ultegra or 105 till you get your replacement. BUT…if your LBS has a 105 for $15.00 that would be less than shipping.

14

I’ve got a used Ultegra front derailleur you can have - it’s missing a limit screw, but you have two in your broken derailleur that you won’t be using.

Shipping is like $3.75

15

I got some good old French Simplex der’s . You know the plastic type.You could tape it on or somthing. ----Or — Some folks only shold have a single up front less to think about and it saves weight .

Thom

16

Thanks for the offer Chip. I’ll see what the LBS can do for me tomorrow and post an update. $15-30 wouldn’t be too bad, but $100 would not be nice.

After recovering from my shock this afternoon I taped the cable to the frame and went out for a spin-fest in the 39t. As it is pancake flat where I train it really wasn’t too bad. The only problem is that I couln’t use my 12t because the chain rubs on the 53 in front. Tonight’s ride made me realize that in the area where I do 90% of my training I could ride an 11-23 in back with a single 42t ring in front comfortably. Kind of makes me wonder about the need for 10 speeds.

Thanks to all who participated in this afternoon’s pity-party.