Chain rub on front derailleur

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DEL 707

Active Member
Location
Kent
I bought a B'Twin Triban 520 from a shop yesterday and on the cycle home, I noticed that when I hit the higher gears I get a clanking noise and from what I can see, the chain is rubbing on the front derailleur.

I've tried following some guides, but adjusting the screws doesn't seem to move the derailleur at all.
Any idea on what I'm doing wrong?
 

S-Express

Guest
Most bikes will do this if you run too much crossover.
 

Ajax Bay

Guru
Location
East Devon
Not enough cable tension. The cable needs to be taut when the chain is on the small chainring. Then when you make the change to the large chainring, the cage will 'get over' and you will be able to go large chainwheel/smallest sprocket with no rubbing. Then adjust the H screw so that the change does not throw the chain right off the large chainring (when you change up). Screw it in till when in large chainwheel/smallest sprocket there's no rubbing: about a 1mm gap 'tween cage and chain (under mild tension).
Frankly I'd hop back to the shop and ask them to sort it, as they should have done before selling it to you). But you will need to know how to do this yourself so entirely reasonable to treat this as a learning opportunity.
 
I bought a B'Twin Triban 520 from a shop yesterday and on the cycle home, I noticed that when I hit the higher gears I get a clanking noise and from what I can see, the chain is rubbing on the front derailleur.

I've tried following some guides, but adjusting the screws doesn't seem to move the derailleur at all.
Any idea on what I'm doing wrong?
The 520 has adjusters for the mechs coming out of the sides of the hoods. The front mech adjuster is the one on your left. Turn it backwards to move the mech outwards, roll it forwards to move the mech inwards. If the adjusters are at their limits, and the chain is still rubbing, you need to tweak the tension of the gear cable up a bit. Put the bike in its lowest tension setting ( chain on the smallest ring and smallest sprocket) then release the cable pinch bolt on the front mech. Pull the cable taut with a pair of pliers, and retigthen the bolt. You should get enough response from the adjuster on the hood, to move the mech enough, to stop the chain rub.
 
OP
OP
DEL 707

DEL 707

Active Member
Location
Kent
Frankly I'd hop back to the shop and ask them to sort it, as they should have done before selling it to you). But you will need to know how to do this yourself so entirely reasonable to treat this as a learning opportunity.

I know I should do, I had a horrible time in the shop, what was supposed to be 20 minutes turned into 2 hours.
Sadly the're not local, so the time, money and effort to get back to them just isn't worth it.
I'm going to keep playing, but a local shop has quoted me £15 to sort it out for me, so I may just bite the bullet.
 
I know I should do, I had a horrible time in the shop, what was supposed to be 20 minutes turned into 2 hours.
Sadly the're not local, so the time, money and effort to get back to them just isn't worth it.
I'm going to keep playing, but a local shop has quoted me £15 to sort it out for me, so I may just bite the bullet.
It's not really the shops fault. They can set it up so it's working just fine, and within a couple of hours riding, the cables / housings etc. bed in, they aren't in the position that was set up for originally, and then you have to adjust bits to account for the bedding in process. It's why they have a free check up and adjust service ( 6 weeks IIRC) after you buy the bike, you don't even have to keep the receipt, if you've registered for rewards points ( worth having from Decathlon). Nearly all reputable bike shops have something similar in place.
 

Ajax Bay

Guru
Location
East Devon
They can set it up so it's working just fine, and within a couple of hours riding, the cables / housings etc. bed in, they aren't in the position that was set up for originally, and then you have to adjust bits to account for the bedding in process.
For the benefit of the community, this is not good advice. (I assume as a result of repeated bad experience setting up his gears or getting his LBS to do it for him).
If the shop or the rider has set up the gear cable tension correctly, all the ferrules are properly housed, and the clamp bolts secure, the derailleurs should work efficiently for 1000s of miles. Cables do not stretch more in their early life than they do anyway (which for gear cables is very little anyway).
 
Last edited by a moderator:
For the benefit of the community, this is not good advice. (I assume as a result of repeated bad experience setting up his gears or getting his LBS to do it for him).
If the shop or the rider has set up the gear cable tension correctly, all the ferrules are properly housed, and the clamp bolts secure, the derailleurs should work efficiently for 1000s of miles. Cables do not stretch more in their early life than they do anyway (which for gear cables is very little anyway).
Right, let's start at the beginning shall we. I know what I'm doing, I don't need the LBS to do it for me. My many years and hundreds of thousands of miles of riding experience come in handy for that sort of thing. It doesn't matter how well you set up the bike, things will shake about, and change positions slightly whatever you do. I didn't mention cable stretch, just position changes in components, due to 'shakedown'. My advice is good, and based on experience, and knowledge. In this particular instance, knowledge and experience of the actual model of bike ( gained from years of ownership of a Triban 520).
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Shaun

Founder
Moderator
Something worth checking whilst riding - some front deraileurs allow you to 'trim' the position slightly by doing a half-click or soft-click - moving it slightly off position by a fraction, which can combat chain rub in higher gears - explained here:


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uU42lJygu-Y
 
OP
OP
DEL 707

DEL 707

Active Member
Location
Kent
Took it to the LBS this morning, got a puncture on the way, so FML.
Guy noticed that the brakes were the wrong way round. When I bought my bike they told me this and that it would take another 20 minutes to change that, but at that point I had, had enough and just wanted to leave.
Guy at the LBS said that was illegal? He telling the truth or he just trying to get more money out of me? :P

Told him to do it anyway, might as well get everything sorted in 1 go.
 

ianrauk

Tattooed Beat Messiah
Location
Rides Ti2
No it's not illegal.
Brakes in the UK are set up front/right and rear/left
In Europe and the US it's front/left and rear/right

If you are used to them being non UK then it's not a problem. I used to ride a recumbent with Euro/USA set up and it wasn't a problem.
 
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