Front Derailleur Spring loose

[Crackle]

Slightly annoyingly, whilst away in France, my front dérailleur has packed up. The spring is just loose, so there's no return tension to bring the dérailleur back from the top ring. I can't see if something is broken or something has just come out of position. I only have a multi tool with me so I'm limited as to what I can do.

It's not critical as I'm only doing limited riding of an hour or so in the morning and I also have some woods nearby and my mtn bike with me. I can also just leave it in the middle ring (triple) as it's flat round here but if there's a simple fix I'll do it. I was just in a Decathlon today as well but didn't know it was bust until I got back. Any thoughts or suggestions welcome.

 

[fossyant]

There isn't much you can do with a front mech really, they are simple. Have you tried pushing it manually to see if it will return to rule out grubby cables ?

 

[sittingbull]

I had the the same issue with a front mech, coincidentally also on a triple. I couldn't see anything wrong with the return spring until I compared it side by side with a new mech.

It turned out that a 90 deg bend on one end of the spring had sheared off, disengaging the spring so the cage had nothing to pull against to return.

 

[Crackle]

I had the the same issue with a front mech, coincidentally also on a triple. I couldn't see anything wrong with the return spring until I compared it side by side with a new mech.

It turned out that a 90 deg bend on one end of the spring had sheared off, disengaging the spring so the cage had nothing to pull against to return.

I think that's the case then. I suspected the spring had broken because I could see no obvious way of attaching it. I think I'll take it off so it doesn't rub as it's not in the right position now or try trimming it solely on the cable tension.

 

[Crackle]

Replaced it today with a 105 triple. As you can see from the piccie, the actual casting had snapped next to the spring.

The 105 is a bit less tardy than the 7 year old Tiagra, though like all triples it has quirks.