[bobbinogs]

HI folks, are there any Shimano FD setup gurus who can advise me on what I am doing wrong trying to setup an FD (4700 Tiagra)?  I do the following:

• Adjust the FD so that it is a couple of mm above the large chainring and parallel with it. 
• Low stop and high stops set using a thumb to extend the FD.
• I shift down and wind in the in-line barrel adjuster so that tension is at a minimum and then pull/connect the cable so that there is enough tension to keep the cable straight, but no more. 
• Finally, I start winding up the tension on the barrel adjuster so that chain shifts up when I, err, shift up.  Once the min tension required to shift up is reached I stop.

The problem is that the increase in tension required to shift up now means that the chain is scuffing the FD in the lower gears (big or small ring) and the FD’s low stop is fairly redundant as it is a few mm away from being effective.

Where am I going wrong??  I seem to have a choice of accepting chain scuff or riding around on only one chain ring.

Many thanks in advance.

oh, 4700 shifters and FD, 5800 crankset.

Topic

[Grahamd]

I have Tiagra 4600 on one of

I have Tiagra 4600 on one of my old bikes and ended up getting LBS to adjust after much infuriating fettling.

Turned out needed new cable and bottom bracket as both were showing their age. Once they were changed absolutely fine.

[Rich_cb]

I have 4700 and the FD is a
I have 4700 and the FD is a bit of a nightmare to get right even with a 4700 crankset.

One thing I have found is that my shifter has settled itself into a pattern where what was a down shift is now essentially a trim. You need a really firm push to carry out a full shift.

May be worth trying to push the lever right the way across and see if it shifts slightly further for you, solving the problem.

I’ve no idea if this is a common problem with 4700 or just idiosyncratic to mine!

[IanMSpencer]

Oh, I agree that the
Oh, I agree that the compatibility chart is a guide, I was rather drawn to why the 4700 was in a world of its own.

I would check the cable routing. It’s too long since I messed with them to know which ones this happens on, but some FDs can easily be connected wrongly resulting in reduced pull if you miss out some subtle sticky-out bit.

[bobbinogs]

Hi there IanMSpencer, thanks

Hi there IanMSpencer, thanks for that.  I should clarify that the FD and shifters are both 4700, it is just the crankset that is 5800 and I have had this combo running before (and I did check online and it seems many others have got a non-4700 crankset working with it).  An extra mm/s spacing between the chainrings would explain the symptoms though.

[IanMSpencer]

Your process sounds correct

Your process sounds correct so:

First port of call, the heiroglyphics and Enigma machine that is the Shimano compatibility chart. Note that the 4700 shifter and FD does not link to the 5800, the 5800 being 11 speed, but it’s not even compatbile with the 5700.

https://productinfo.shimano.com/#/com?cid=C-453&acid=C-455

It’s a while ago, so I am a bit hazy on what it actually was, Shimano did something, which I think was that they spaced the chain rings slightly further apart by a mm or so to allow for a shorter drive train which allows the little/little combination not to catch on the outer chain ring. That would fit with what you are experiencing.

To add, the compatibility chart suggests there isn’t a route from your shiifters to use a different FD – it seems that the two most expensive parts you have are not compatible.

[Author]

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