Campy compact front derailleur adjustment

[steve575]

I'm changing one of my bikes over to compact. The components are '06 Centaur, so it's non quick shift. I'm having trouble setting up the front derailleur. The spacing between the plates when on the 50 tooth ring is so narrow, I'm having a lot of rubbing issues I can't adjust out. There is plenty of space in the 34 ring, but the front of the cage is much narrower than the standard Centaur. Should I raise the derailleur up some? I did a search and found some people talking about "trimming". What exactly are you trimming? Some others are using standard front derailleurs with compact. Should I switch back to my old Derailleur?

[Dave]

Trimming merely means a shifter position that moves the FD cage to the right or left to eliminate chain rub.

With a Campy double FD, only 3 clicks of the shifter will usually cover the entire range of travel. From the 34T ring, you swing the finger lever as far as it will go and the FD cage should then be in the far right position, with the chain on the big ring. If the big ring limit screw is adjusted properly, there will be no rub cage, in any of the smaller cogs. As you shift to larger cogs, eventually you will get some chain rub on the left side of the cage. One click on the thumb button will "trim" the FD cage to left and stop the rub. One more click will usually shift the chain back to the little ring.

[93LegendTG]

I just went through the same thing. I'm gearing up, (or down), for the Highlander Century and wanted to change my normal 50/36 to a 50/34. I have always run the standard Record FD, but found a great closeout deal on a new Centaur compact FD, so I switched everything out. I can set up a standard Campy FD with no problems within a couple of minutes, but the compact FD had me cursing out loud. Campy instructions tell you to have the inside plate parallel to the chainring, but it has so many bends to it, its hard to know where to start. After many adjustments and a great deal of time I finally got the thing to work adequately, however it still required "trimming" at the extremes. After one ride I switched back to the regular Record FD and it works great with the 50/34! Better by far than the special compact FD. Its quicker, easier to shift, installs easily and does not require any trimming over the entire range of the cassette, (trimming usually refers to adjusting the front derailleur while riding with your shift or ergopower levers by a click to eliminate any chain rub on the FD). I will add that I also run a Deda Dog Fang to eliminate the possibility of throwing the chain. My new compact FD now sits in a drawer.

[steve575]

Thanks guys. I have some experience setting up front derailleurs properly, but the range of gears on the rear cassette that I can use before trimming is like 3. Typically I can get half way up the cassette before moving the front derailleur. I may try my standard front.

[R2D2]

FWIW I find that is critical to have a compact FD outer plate to be with in 1-3 mm above the outer ring. I had problems when it was too high.

[wasfast]

The space between the plates is considerably closer than the standard Campy's FD's. I used the new Record compact for a couple weeks and finally just put the regular FD on. No problems.

There is little "improvement" in shifting quality. Some have complained that standard FD's are slower to shift over to the big ring but it's fine for me.

[thwart]

I've used both triples and regular FD's with better luck/less trimming than the Compact FD's.

One of Campy's relatively rare mistakes... IMHO, anyway. ;)

[Elefantino]

Apparently this is an understood problem that they are fixing. (http://www.campagnolousa.com/pressrel.php?nid=113)

[MilanoTom]

I had a miserable time setting up a Record CT front derailleur. When it shifted correctly to the big ring, there was barely any space between the outer plate and the crankarm. On the other hand, I had fine luck on another bike when I used a Campagnolo triple front derailleur with a compact crank. The inner plate was low enough to keep the chain from dropping off, and there was no problem with upshifts to a 50t ring (since Campy makes a 50/40/30 triple). The only issue was getting the derailleur at the right height on the braze on tab, but a little bit of filing (with a chainsaw-sharpening file) fixed that.

Regards.
Tom

[sg8357]

I've been using Campy triple fronts for compact triples for years.
The short cage works well with low bottom bracket bikes,
Shimano FD cages are too long, they hit the chain stays.
The FD shifts 48/36/24 just fine, using Ergo, Shimano bar-cons or
Suntour power ratchets. Now if Campy would make 28.6 clamp on
FDs again I'd be happy.

Scott G.

[Dave]

Now if Campy would make 28.6 clamp on
FDs again I'd be happy.

Scott G.

I actually prefer to use a braze-on adapter and a braze-on FD, instead of a clamp-on. On frames with steep STAs, the tail end of the FD cage sits up too high. I use a dremel sanding drum to alter the mounting angle on the adapter, so the FD cage follows the curve of the big ring and lowers the tail end. The adapter then stays with the frame.

[Grant McLean]

Now if Campy would make 28.6 clamp on
FDs again I'd be happy.

Scott G.

You can buy the 28.6 clamps from E-Richie. He ordered a big bunch of them
from Campy after they disco'd the derailleur.

-g