Front shifting...

[rice rocket]

Any good tips to decrease the front shifting effort?

My girlfriend injured her left wrist when she was young, and always has had problems since.

She had some Sora shifters before, and had trouble downshifting, so I got her some Tiagra shifters. Downshifting w/ the paddles vs. the thumb button has improved, but upshifting is pretty damn difficult, even for my hands. Going to up to the 3rd ring is insanely difficult even w/ the limit screw backed all the way out. Granted this is on a bike stand, but she has trouble either way. Compared to my Ultegra 6700, it's about 20% more difficult.

It has a Sora triple crank on the front, with a DA7800 triple FD. Tiagra 4400 shifters.

[oliver1850]

Not much you can do with STI, as you're pretty much married to the FD design that matches the shifter because of the limited trim positions. With multiclick Ergo levers you could use whatever FD you could find with more leverage or lighter action.

Could she use a DT friction shifter for the front? I rode a 7 speed DT 105 bike today. Front shifting takes very little effort with that setup.

[eddief]

i ride triple fronts on all of my bikes and smooth cable and housing would be my first go to. next i would double check the location where the cable goes through the under bb guide. my Riv had only welded in steel guides and constantly wanted grease under the cable for smooth shifting. i've also misclamped the cable in the not just right position under the cable set screw and gotten some weird sh*t goin on.

[GRAVELBIKE]

I've found that teflon-coated cables reduce the effort required for shifting. Also be sure that the (plastic) cable guide under the BB is clean. A shot of silicone spray lube down there can sometimes help. Also, be sure that you've got the cable routed in the correct position at the fixing bolt (on the front derailleur).

[Ken Robb]

a bar end would be easy to shift.

[ultraman6970]

Downtube shifters?

[fourflys]

SRAM... so much nicer not having to push the whole brake lever...

[Jaq]

Eps

[Bob Loblaw]

Try this:

Route the cables from each shifter to the cable stop on the opposite side, so they both cross in front of the head tube. The cables will cross back to their correct positions as they travel under the downtube.

It eases the bend in the cable and reduces internal friction. My wife had similar issues with her rapid-fire shifters, and this trick made it substantially easier.

BL

[oldpotatoe]

Any good tips to decrease the front shifting effort?

My girlfriend injured her left wrist when she was young, and always has had problems since.

She had some Sora shifters before, and had trouble downshifting, so I got her some Tiagra shifters. Downshifting w/ the paddles vs. the thumb button has improved, but upshifting is pretty damn difficult, even for my hands. Going to up to the 3rd ring is insanely difficult even w/ the limit screw backed all the way out. Granted this is on a bike stand, but she has trouble either way. Compared to my Ultegra 6700, it's about 20% more difficult.

It has a Sora triple crank on the front, with a DA7800 triple FD. Tiagra 4400 shifters.

5mm housing, metal ferrules, long enough housing, 1.1mm der inner wires, a wee bit of thin lube inside the housing...all helps.

[oldpotatoe]

SRAM... so much nicer not having to push the whole brake lever...

?

[fourflys]

?

:)

[AngryScientist]

depending on the frame, seriously consider a bar-end shifter or DT shifter just for the front. moving a lever back and fourth with your whole hand is really a breeze and very simple for front shiftng only.

[phcollard]

Downtube shifter for the front. Just like Lance :)

[leftsidedrive]

I've had luck taking the return spring out of the front derailleur and "persuading it" for more or less spring tension which can help in unique situations.