How do you adjust Shimano 105 5800 11 speed front derailleurs?

[dcama5]

I posted this across the hall so I will here as well. Does anyone have any suggestions on adjusting these long arm 11 speed front derailleurs? I have tried just about everything but nothing really works well: Converter in this way and the other way, run the cable the way Shimano recommends and the way Lennard Zinn wrote may work better, but nothing works really well. Any ideas? Thanks.

[saab2000]

Keep the cable tension tight. Tighter than you would have with previous types of front derailleurs. I have a barrel adjuster on my 9000 front der and it's necessary. You can't get the cable tight enough during the installation to make it work properly. Get it as tight as you can, then tension the cable more with the adjuster. I'm not a huge fan of these new long-arm front ders and that's the only way I can find to keep my 9000 models shifting properly. I assume the 105 is the same.

[AJosiahK]

Agree with Saab. I've installed many 58, 68 and 9000 fronts and and mostly needed barrel adjustors. Use the tool that comes with too, changing the pins position might help too..... I can't actually recall if the 5800 series comes with but Ultegra and d/a fronts come with a TL-fd68 or tl-fd90 respectively.

That might do the trick

[Gummee]

I've done several now. They get easier with practice.

The first few had me seriously scratching my head wondering WTHeck Shimano was thinking.

M

[PacNW2Ford]

I found this interesting: http://velonews.competitor.com/2015/...e-setup_363733

[dcama5]

Thanks everyone for the comments. Yes, I noticed that it was impossible to get it tight enough and I will pick up an inline barrel adjuster later today. I'm pretty sure that will do the trick.

[Gummee]

If you don't have one, the quick workaround is to set the low limit, then clamp the cable as you're pulling the arm downwards. That way, when the arm pulls back up, you take up more slack as if you had a bbl adjuster.

Barrel adjuster is better, but if you NEED to ride this bike RIGHTEFFINGNOW! it'll get you going.

HTH

M

[choricoff]

I had a really hard time adjusting my 6800 FD, and eventually found this thread: http://www.velocipedesalon.com/forum...s-36114-3.html

Post # 44 from suhacycles:

FWIW, installed a 6800 FD for the first time recently and discovered what to do when the cable runs EXACTLY down the middle of that tool that you use to determine how the cable is attached. According to Shimano, attaching with the converter on or off should work but neither did. Had a significant amount of the chain rub in top gear no matter what I did. Figured the ‘solution’ was to increase the range that the cage moves somehow to have more room to play with the trim. Decided to position the converter pin to the right (Off position I think) and then attach the cable to the far right on the outside of the pin and up to the bolt. Thus, the lever arm is shortened slightly and the cage swings a little farther out… voila, no more rubbing. Shimano doesn’t say anything about this option in its instructions but it works. =)

After trying with the pin in both positions multiple times (and nearly ruining the cable due to fiddling while frustrated), this is what finally worked for me. Unfortunately I did not have the alignment tool that should have come with the group which may or may not have made things easier.

[nublar]

Make sure your cable angle is correct as well

[dcama5]

Got a pair of inline shift cable housing barrel adjusters, put one in and now everything is perfect. These derailleurs really shift nicely when the tension is right. Thanks everyone.

[Cicli]

I tighten the low limit screw two turns too tight, attach the cable then loosen the low limit to where it should be. This puts extra tension on the cable and helps. You can then fine tune with the barrel adjuster. I try to avoid inline adjusters. Just a personal preference.

[saab2000]

All these suggestions to keep the tension high are very good. But having an inline barrel adjuster isn't so horrible either. Don't even notice it on the bike.

But those suggestions are good indeed.

Here's my Giant. The front der didn't work properly until I installed it and I have to use pretty much all the adjustment available to get the tension as tight as possible.

A fourth hand tool would help too.

[fatallightning]

all that fancyness and a wired computer from 20 years ago eh?

[saab2000]

Originally Posted by fatallightning

all that fancyness and a wired computer from 20 years ago eh?

I've since installed a Garmin and it does nothing I prefer except keep track of more than one bike, something I could do by switching this between bikes.

The Garmin is WAY overrated. This Cateye is lighter and very accurate. I'm glad I still have it.

As far as I can tell, the Garmin is little more than a satellite based speedometer that requires me to start and stop it when I start and stop, something the Cateye does automatically.

I know it's a tangent, but seriously, what's the point? I want speed, time and distance and don't really care about the rest.

This is what it looks like now. Ambivalent about the Garmin.

[aramis]

Originally Posted by saab2000

I've since installed a Garmin and it does nothing I prefer except keep track of more than one bike, something I could do by switching this between bikes.

The Garmin is WAY overrated. This Cateye is lighter and very accurate. I'm glad I still have it.

As far as I can tell, the Garmin is little more than a satellite based speedometer that requires me to start and stop it when I start and stop, something the Cateye does automatically.

I know it's a tangent, but seriously, what's the point? I want speed, time and distance and don't really care about the rest.

This is what it looks like now. Ambivalent about the Garmin.

If you aren't using a powermeter or Strava (or something like it) there's really no reason to spend the money on a Garmin.

That said mine's great, I use it on all my bikes (trainer, track, road) with my powermeters and Strava.