[daleksic]

I finally am replacing my 3rd (big) ring with a bash guard. I've been bitten one too many times. How do I lock out the 3rd gear on the left lever so I don't accidentally shift onto the bash guard?

I use a shimano (I believe Alivio) setup. Brakes and shifters are separate.

Thanks,
happy new year...

 

[eatdrinkride]

adjust the 'H' screw on the der. so that you cannot shift over the bash guard even if you try. On my XT that means screwing it in clockwise all the way.

 

[daleksic]

Thanks a bunch.....

Do you recommend removing chain links? As it would be unnecessary long now? If yes, how many do you/did you remove. I hate that thing slapping around all over the place....

 

[jmtbkr]

Another q:
would it make sence to move the chainline out to be able to use small/small gear combo? Now that I'm never going back to a big ring, this would seem the right thing to do.
And if I do, how much should I move the chainline??

 

[ducktape]

The small/small gear combo would be about the same as middle / plus a few from small so I personally wouldn't stuff around with the chain line. If you did move it, as a result running small big wouldn't be as optimum any more and I imagine you use that gear a lot more than small / small.
But like you I wouldn't know how to adjust it without advice, so probably just putting it off until one day it has to be done for some reason!

I would however take a few links out of the chain.

 

[daleksic]

How many links would you recommend. Considering my gears are 22/32/42, if I take of the big ring, i'll be 10 teeth shorter, should I take out 10 links, or is that too much? I was thinking deleting 5 out of it but am not sure how to measure it...

 

[eatdrinkride]

How many links would you recommend. Considering my gears are 22/32/42, if I take of the big ring, i'll be 10 teeth shorter, should I take out 10 links, or is that too much? I was thinking deleting 5 out of it but am not sure how to measure it...

I removed some links the first time, it made no difference in shifting or chainslap. If you insist on removing links 10 is WAY too many. maybe 2 or 3 or 4. General rule of thumb for chain length is make it the distance needed to wrap around the largest front cog and the smallest rear without going thru the rear der. Then add 2 links. With full susp bikes you might need a bit more if the chain 'grows' during supsension loading.

 

[jmtbkr]

Uhhh, I think it's largest front ring and largest rear cog

 

[daleksic]

Cool, thanks... I think I'll be able to remove at least 3 links in that case as my chain seems to be more than long enough to go.

 

[Manning]

The chain must make the big cog/big chainring combo. Duh.

Seems like it was only 2 pairs of links when I did it years ago......

 

[Stratocaster]

Ring

I have a cheater ring on one of my bikes and what is really nice is the mid cage rear derailleur on the bike. Check it out.

 

[dan0]

dont lower your FD, if you do it wont shift right, 2 links is about right on the chain (providing it was the right length to begin with) as mentioned earlier wrap the chain around Big- Big without deraillier, add 2 links

 

[scottzg]

dont lower your FD, if you do it wont shift right

eh? this is contrary to my experience.

 

[eatdrinkride]

The chain must make the big cog/big chainring combo. Duh.

.

what he said is what I meant, duh

 

[dan0]

eh? this is contrary to my experience.

FDs are designed for 3 gears, when you install them you align them to the big ring and they have enough play to span all 3 rings, if you remove the big ring it makes no difference to the dérailleur regarding the middle and small rings, it is still set up to span those rings. When you lower it you make it now able to far surpass the granny and the alignment is not optimal either, it was designed to be setup over the big ring and while you might be able to get it to work, it will work better if you leave it up.

 

[Stevo the Devo]

108 links works for me

I run a 34t middle ring and bashie on my teocali, and have shortened the chain to 108 (I'm pretty sure). This bike has virtually no chain growth, so wasn't an issue I needed to worry about. If you are not sure, drop all the air out of your shock and compress it all the way (hold it down so growth is at its max), then run the chain through the der over your biggest combo and shorten it as much as you can. The der will be almost horizontal, but it only gets slacker from there.

 

[Manning]

I have the exact same FD on two different bikes. The bike with the bashring/2 chainring setup with the FD lowered shifts better (especially when dropping from the 32 to granny) than the bike with 3 rings. Just my experience...........:thumbsup:

 

[scottzg]

FDs are designed for 3 gears, when you install them you align them to the big ring and they have enough play to span all 3 rings, if you remove the big ring it makes no difference to the dérailleur regarding the middle and small rings, it is still set up to span those rings. When you lower it you make it now able to far surpass the granny and the alignment is not optimal either, it was designed to be setup over the big ring and while you might be able to get it to work, it will work better if you leave it up.

i moved the derailleur down, not inward- there is no problem regarding 'surpassing the granny' and the alignment is unchanged. It just shifts a little better than before it was lowered.

Just slide it down so that its the same 2mm above the biggest ring and use the high gear stop screw to keep it from trying to shift to the bash.

 

[dan0]

i moved the derailleur down, not inward- there is no problem regarding 'surpassing the granny' and the alignment is unchanged. It just shifts a little better than before it was lowered.

Just slide it down so that its the same MM above the biggest ring and use the high gear stop screw to keep it from trying to shift to the bash.

why would it shift better than before? if it was shifting good before it shouldnt have changed
when you shift down to granny the fd moves down and inward.
when you remove the big ring, it has nothing to do with the middle or small rings nor with the alignment of the dérailleur, the dérailleur still should be setup to shift to middle & small.
when you lower the fd its then able to move too far down and in, its designed to span 3 gears with a little extra for adjustment, when you move it down now its set to go way beyond the granny, the granny, and middle . you might be able to adjust the stop so it wont go beyond the granny but it going to be at the limit of adjustment and not optimal for the way the dérailleur was designed.
it might work, it might not and when it starts to wear you wont have anything left to adjust

 

[scottzg]

well, you got me curious. Took the bike out and mucked with the derailleur a bit. It only moves less than 1mm upward when i shift. The extra LX derailleur i have sitting on my desk moves upward a lot at the end of its throw, but the travel near the bottom, where it actually shifts, is flat. An old acera derailleur i found in the parts box moves upward a whole lot right from the start, as does the shimano 600 one on my roadie (which has much less curve and has to move up to reach both chainrings).
This leads me to conclude that the derailleur doesn't have 1 specific point where the chain is supposed to line up but a larger area, except maybe on the acera or 600 derailleurs. I think that it's less noticeable that the chain is hitting the 'correct' part of the derailleur than it is that the chain is shifted closer to the top of the cage, where its stiffer.
Whatever, i know what works better on my bike.