Think spring in my front derailer is bust

Slydice

So I stopped being able to shift down on my front derailer.

My first guess was that dirt had gotten in so I tried cleaning it and lubing it. It seemed to fix for a small time but then stopped working again.

So this weekend, I degreased and brushed on Friday and then again on Saturday.

Then on Sunday I put on loads on lube.

So now it looks shiny clean but still doesn't shift down by itself. I have to kinda tap it down with my foot.

I assume the spring is gone and I'm gonna have to get a new front derailer?

Sound good? Am I missing anything?

Value Hunter

Sounds about right.

You may as well have a play with the two adjustment screws on the derailer to see if that will improve it, it's unlikely to be the problem with what your saying but it won't cost you anything to try!

Tonyandthewhale

Are you sure the problem isn't in your shifter?

StevieGriff

Tonyandthewhale wrote: »

Are you sure the problem isn't in your shifter?

Could be shifter problem too as said above. Slacken the pinch bolt off the cable and work then derailleur by hand to see if it returning home without cable tension.

iwillhtfu

It should be fairly easy to tell if the spring is gone. When on the inner ring if you try push out the mech with your hand is there tension on it that keeps it pushed toward the inner ring if you get me. If so then I doubt the issue is with the spring. Possibly the cable is getting caught up somewhere. Is the guide under the bottom bracket badly worn or damaged? Does the cable move freely when shifting?

dvntie

When was the last time you replaced your cable and casing?

Slydice

Thanks! Plenty to think about.

The shifter (thing on my handlebars right?) seems to be working fine. It pulls the chain up to the outer cog no problem. The cable also loosens when I use the shifter in the other direction.

Once I push the derailer down to the inner cog, it holds there pretty good. I couldn't force it back up with my hand. I had to go back to the shifter on the handlebars and use that.

My guess is the next things to try are:
- loose the pinch bolt and disconnect the cable
- see if the cable can move ok when disconnected
- see if the derailer (mech?) moves over and back easier with just the use of my hand

I think I got a bike shop to change the whole front setup about a year and a half ago.

Value Hunter, I've played with adjustment screws before to fix other issues. This doesn't feel the same but it does sound like a good last resort idea. Will keep it in mind.

Not sure but I'll probably have to wait for the weekend to give this a shot. Thanks again!

Slydice

Right! Sorted I think.

I tried another cleaning last night. No luck. I tried disconnecting the cable ... and the derailer itself. Couldn't see what was wrong. Gave up and said I'd go into the bike shop.

Went to bike shop today. Yer man noticed the muck around my whole chain and derailer areas was sticky. Listened to the front derailer as it pulled up. He said it's the sticky mud/gunk or whatever was blocking up the derailer. Said I could do it with a huge cleaning effort.... or I could pay him a shedload to do the same thing. Sounded like he really didn't want that job so I said I'd give it a try.

Washed the whole area around the derailers and chain with loads and loads or degreaser. It's all nice and clean. I'd say 90%-95% of the sticky mud/gunk is gone. Derailer still wasn't working.

Disconnected the derailer. It was sparkling clean at this point. I couldn't budge it.

Solution was pretty much Degreaser and Brute force using my hands and fingers to pull and push and degrease until suddenly it loosened. Boom! I could see behind the spring area. More of that sticky gunk/mud.

I cleaned it off, rinced it down and reconnected the derailer to the bike. Gave a small cycle around and tested the derailer in action and it worked.

Rinced down the bike and have it left in the shed.

It's drying now. I got some oil/lube called "TF2 All Purpose" in the bike shop. I plan on putting it on the chain and derailers tomorrow after the parts have had some time to dry off.

Thanks for all the advice here. It helped get me into the frame of mind for what needed to be done and what to look at.