Touchy front shifting on Ultegra triple

I just set up a bike with Ultegra triple. All new Shimano drivetrain
parts and shifters and a Specialties Alize crank with 50-40-30 rings.
Rear shifting is perfect, but front shifting is very touchy. It feels
very "notchy", grinds a bit on upshifts, and downshifts go "clunk" and
I have to be very careful and "hold my mouth just right " or it will
shift straight to the inner ring when I downshift from the outer ring.
This is the best I've been able to get it after two days of trying
everything I can think of. I've set up several front derailleurs
before and never had this kind of trouble, but I'm no pro. I took it
to my LBS and the guy played with it and couldn't improve on my
set-up. Then he told me that Specialties cranks are not compatible
with Shimano. I didn't buy that. I wanted to take it to another
shop, but they're closed for the next several days to digest their
turkey.

I double checked that the fd is indeed the triple model.

Is Ultegra triple front shifting always poor? I doubt it, but I sure
can't figure it out. I set up Ultegra double on my other road bike
and it's flawless. Any ideas?

Thanks very much.

Dave: How old is the Specialized crank? If it doesn't have the various
ramps & pins built into it, shifting might be problematic at best. STI
shifting demands a lot more from chainring & chain performance than friction
shifting, and the fact that your crank has non-standard (for STI) sizes
(30/40/50 instead of 30/42/52) implies that it might be of the older,
pre-STI style.

If it's a modern Specialized road crank, it should be relatively compatible;
nobody would make a new crankset that didn't work well with STI shifting!

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
http://www.ChainReactionBicycles.com


"Dave" wrote in message
...
I just set up a bike with Ultegra triple. All new Shimano drivetrain
parts and shifters and a Specialties Alize crank with 50-40-30 rings.
Rear shifting is perfect, but front shifting is very touchy. It feels
very "notchy", grinds a bit on upshifts, and downshifts go "clunk" and
I have to be very careful and "hold my mouth just right " or it will
shift straight to the inner ring when I downshift from the outer ring.
This is the best I've been able to get it after two days of trying
everything I can think of. I've set up several front derailleurs
before and never had this kind of trouble, but I'm no pro. I took it
to my LBS and the guy played with it and couldn't improve on my
set-up. Then he told me that Specialties cranks are not compatible
with Shimano. I didn't buy that. I wanted to take it to another
shop, but they're closed for the next several days to digest their
turkey.

I double checked that the fd is indeed the triple model.

Is Ultegra triple front shifting always poor? I doubt it, but I sure
can't figure it out. I set up Ultegra double on my other road bike
and it's flawless. Any ideas?

Thanks very much.

sallydog- I just set up a bike with Ultegra triple. All new Shimano
drivetrain
parts and shifters and a Specialties Alize crank with 50-40-30 rings.
Rear shifting is perfect, but front shifting is very touchy. It feels
very "notchy", grinds a bit on upshifts, and downshifts go "clunk" and
I have to be very careful BRBR
I took it
to my LBS and the guy played with it and couldn't improve on my
set-up. Then he told me that Specialties cranks are not compatible
with Shimano. BRBR

It's compatible but ya got use a wee bit of cycling finesse when shifting. Just
ease up a bit of pedal pressure when shifting, both front AND back, and you
will see how good it is. As if in a bike stand, type of pressure.

using a shimano triple crank it probably would be better but using the crank
you havem it isn't 'bad'..

Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

On Sat, 29 Nov 2003 06:15:08 GMT, "Mike Jacoubowsky"
wrote:

Dave: How old is the Specialized crank? If it doesn't have the various
ramps & pins built into it, shifting might be problematic at best. STI
shifting demands a lot more from chainring & chain performance than friction
shifting, and the fact that your crank has non-standard (for STI) sizes
(30/40/50 instead of 30/42/52) implies that it might be of the older,
pre-STI style.

If it's a modern Specialized road crank, it should be relatively compatible;
nobody would make a new crankset that didn't work well with STI shifting!

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
http://www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

Thanks Mike.

Sorry I wasn't more clear. The crank is a new *Specialties TA Alize*
I should have put the "TA" in my original post to avoid confusion.
'Course, I think there should be more TA in everything, but that's
another story.

Your comment that any crank sold today should be compatible with STI
is why I didn't buy the LBS guy's diagnosis. Peter wrote that there
might be some compatibility problems so I'll continue under his post.

"Dave" wrote in message
.. .
I just set up a bike with Ultegra triple. All new Shimano drivetrain
parts and shifters and a Specialties Alize crank with 50-40-30 rings.
Rear shifting is perfect, but front shifting is very touchy. It feels
very "notchy", grinds a bit on upshifts, and downshifts go "clunk" and
I have to be very careful and "hold my mouth just right " or it will
shift straight to the inner ring when I downshift from the outer ring.
This is the best I've been able to get it after two days of trying
everything I can think of. I've set up several front derailleurs
before and never had this kind of trouble, but I'm no pro. I took it
to my LBS and the guy played with it and couldn't improve on my
set-up. Then he told me that Specialties cranks are not compatible
with Shimano. I didn't buy that. I wanted to take it to another
shop, but they're closed for the next several days to digest their
turkey.

I double checked that the fd is indeed the triple model.

Is Ultegra triple front shifting always poor? I doubt it, but I sure
can't figure it out. I set up Ultegra double on my other road bike
and it's flawless. Any ideas?

Thanks very much.

On 29 Nov 2003 14:43:30 GMT, (Qui si parla
Campagnolo) wrote:

sallydog- I just set up a bike with Ultegra triple. All new Shimano
drivetrain
parts and shifters and a Specialties Alize crank with 50-40-30 rings.
Rear shifting is perfect, but front shifting is very touchy. It feels
very "notchy", grinds a bit on upshifts, and downshifts go "clunk" and
I have to be very careful BRBR
I took it
to my LBS and the guy played with it and couldn't improve on my
set-up. Then he told me that Specialties cranks are not compatible
with Shimano. BRBR

It's compatible but ya got use a wee bit of cycling finesse when shifting. Just
ease up a bit of pedal pressure when shifting, both front AND back, and you
will see how good it is. As if in a bike stand, type of pressure.

using a shimano triple crank it probably would be better but using the crank
you havem it isn't 'bad'..

Thanks Peter.

The biggest problem is in downshifting from the big ring to the
middle. The shift lever seems to go past the middle "stop" and
derailleur drops directly to the inner ring. It's not smooth either.
Kind of goes "clunk." Is it possible that that condition is caused by
derailleur adjustment that compensates for the crank incompatibility
but causes shifting problems?
Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

Sorry I wasn't more clear. The crank is a new *Specialties TA Alize*
I should have put the "TA" in my original post to avoid confusion.
'Course, I think there should be more TA in everything, but that's
another story.

Your comment that any crank sold today should be compatible with STI
is why I didn't buy the LBS guy's diagnosis. Peter wrote that there
might be some compatibility problems so I'll continue under his post.

Sorry I misunderstood; I was thinking "Specialized Alleze" with creative
spelling. The TA cranks are better than those of yesteryear, but my
experience has been that they don't shift as well as the Shimano (or most
other Japanese) cranksets. A Campagnolo Ergo system would have no
difficulty, because *you* control how fast & far the derailleur moves, but
the Shimano is definitely a bit picky up front.

It's also possible that your crankset is too far out from the frame (too
long a bottom-bracket spindle).

--Mike--
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com

"Dave" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 29 Nov 2003 06:15:08 GMT, "Mike Jacoubowsky"
wrote:

Dave: How old is the Specialized crank? If it doesn't have the various
ramps & pins built into it, shifting might be problematic at best. STI
shifting demands a lot more from chainring & chain performance than
friction
shifting, and the fact that your crank has non-standard (for STI) sizes
(30/40/50 instead of 30/42/52) implies that it might be of the older,
pre-STI style.

If it's a modern Specialized road crank, it should be relatively
compatible;
nobody would make a new crankset that didn't work well with STI shifting!

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
http://www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

Thanks Mike.

Sorry I wasn't more clear. The crank is a new *Specialties TA Alize*
I should have put the "TA" in my original post to avoid confusion.
'Course, I think there should be more TA in everything, but that's
another story.

Your comment that any crank sold today should be compatible with STI
is why I didn't buy the LBS guy's diagnosis. Peter wrote that there
might be some compatibility problems so I'll continue under his post.

"Dave" wrote in message
.. .
I just set up a bike with Ultegra triple. All new Shimano drivetrain
parts and shifters and a Specialties Alize crank with 50-40-30 rings.
Rear shifting is perfect, but front shifting is very touchy. It feels
very "notchy", grinds a bit on upshifts, and downshifts go "clunk" and
I have to be very careful and "hold my mouth just right " or it will
shift straight to the inner ring when I downshift from the outer ring.
This is the best I've been able to get it after two days of trying
everything I can think of. I've set up several front derailleurs
before and never had this kind of trouble, but I'm no pro. I took it
to my LBS and the guy played with it and couldn't improve on my
set-up. Then he told me that Specialties cranks are not compatible
with Shimano. I didn't buy that. I wanted to take it to another
shop, but they're closed for the next several days to digest their
turkey.

I double checked that the fd is indeed the triple model.

Is Ultegra triple front shifting always poor? I doubt it, but I sure
can't figure it out. I set up Ultegra double on my other road bike
and it's flawless. Any ideas?

Thanks very much.

"Mike Jacoubowsky/Chain Reaction Bicycles" wrote
in message . com...

It's also possible that your crankset is too far out from the frame (too
long a bottom-bracket spindle).

If so, how would you deal with that? A spacer? Different spindle?

I had a similar situation when I switched from Ultegra rings to TA.

Thanks,
Mish

It's also possible that your crankset is too far out from the frame (too
long a bottom-bracket spindle).

If so, how would you deal with that? A spacer? Different spindle?

I had a similar situation when I switched from Ultegra rings to TA.

Sounds like his problem is that the crank is out too far, so a spacer isn't
going to be of any help; rather, he needs a shorter spindle (*if* that's the
cause of his problems).

--Mike--
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com

"Gary Mishler" wrote in message
news:Cz7yb.358420$Fm2.358047@attbi_s04...
"Mike Jacoubowsky/Chain Reaction Bicycles" wrote
in message . com...

It's also possible that your crankset is too far out from the frame (too
long a bottom-bracket spindle).

If so, how would you deal with that? A spacer? Different spindle?

I had a similar situation when I switched from Ultegra rings to TA.

Thanks,
Mish

On Sat, 29 Nov 2003 18:53:14 GMT, "Mike Jacoubowsky/Chain Reaction
Bicycles" wrote:

Sorry I wasn't more clear. The crank is a new *Specialties TA Alize*
I should have put the "TA" in my original post to avoid confusion.
'Course, I think there should be more TA in everything, but that's
another story.

Your comment that any crank sold today should be compatible with STI
is why I didn't buy the LBS guy's diagnosis. Peter wrote that there
might be some compatibility problems so I'll continue under his post.

Sorry I misunderstood; I was thinking "Specialized Alleze" with creative
spelling. The TA cranks are better than those of yesteryear, but my
experience has been that they don't shift as well as the Shimano (or most
other Japanese) cranksets. A Campagnolo Ergo system would have no
difficulty, because *you* control how fast & far the derailleur moves, but
the Shimano is definitely a bit picky up front.

It's also possible that your crankset is too far out from the frame (too
long a bottom-bracket spindle).

Well, Alleze or Alize, either way you seem to have been right. I
tried a new Ultegra triple BB and crankset and it all works perfectly.
The guy at the good LBS I took it to agreed exactly with you. He said
the chainline was out of whack and that the TA cranks and rings just
don't match up as well as the Shimano parts.

Thanks!

--Mike--
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com

"Dave" wrote in message
.. .
On Sat, 29 Nov 2003 06:15:08 GMT, "Mike Jacoubowsky"
wrote:

Dave: How old is the Specialized crank? If it doesn't have the various
ramps & pins built into it, shifting might be problematic at best. STI
shifting demands a lot more from chainring & chain performance than
friction
shifting, and the fact that your crank has non-standard (for STI) sizes
(30/40/50 instead of 30/42/52) implies that it might be of the older,
pre-STI style.

If it's a modern Specialized road crank, it should be relatively
compatible;
nobody would make a new crankset that didn't work well with STI shifting!

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
http://www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

Thanks Mike.

Sorry I wasn't more clear. The crank is a new *Specialties TA Alize*
I should have put the "TA" in my original post to avoid confusion.
'Course, I think there should be more TA in everything, but that's
another story.

Your comment that any crank sold today should be compatible with STI
is why I didn't buy the LBS guy's diagnosis. Peter wrote that there
might be some compatibility problems so I'll continue under his post.

"Dave" wrote in message
.. .
I just set up a bike with Ultegra triple. All new Shimano drivetrain
parts and shifters and a Specialties Alize crank with 50-40-30 rings.
Rear shifting is perfect, but front shifting is very touchy. It feels
very "notchy", grinds a bit on upshifts, and downshifts go "clunk" and
I have to be very careful and "hold my mouth just right " or it will
shift straight to the inner ring when I downshift from the outer ring.
This is the best I've been able to get it after two days of trying
everything I can think of. I've set up several front derailleurs
before and never had this kind of trouble, but I'm no pro. I took it
to my LBS and the guy played with it and couldn't improve on my
set-up. Then he told me that Specialties cranks are not compatible
with Shimano. I didn't buy that. I wanted to take it to another
shop, but they're closed for the next several days to digest their
turkey.

I double checked that the fd is indeed the triple model.

Is Ultegra triple front shifting always poor? I doubt it, but I sure
can't figure it out. I set up Ultegra double on my other road bike
and it's flawless. Any ideas?

Thanks very much.

sally- The biggest problem is in downshifting from the big ring to the
middle. The shift lever seems to go past the middle "stop" and
derailleur drops directly to the inner ring. BRBR

May be that the lever is 'ill'. Flush with STI repair kit-WD-40-

Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"