The FD is a triple, NOS from Bicycle Classics. I think Peter is right, I'm trying to use too wide a range between outer and middle chainring for the small to middle upshift to work. However, for Houston, TX with weekend excursions into the Texas hill country, the 52-38 combo I love works wonderfully. If this means I have to upshift all the way from the the 28T granny to the 52, then down to the 38, this is an acceptable compromise, as the granny won't be used all that often.
Regards,
Jerry Moos
Houston, TX
> Jerry,
> Is the FD a double or triple model? It was made in
> both. The triple model does work for the type of
> range you're setting up.
> David Feldman
> Vancouver, WA
>
> --- jerrymoos <jerrymoos@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> > I've just gotten my new Bates frame built up
> > sufficiently to road test
> > (still need to install racks, mudguards, etc.).
> > This is the first bike I've
> > actually built up with a triple (finally conceding
> > to age). I've used a TA
> > Cyclotourist triple 52-38-28, Campy Rally RD,
> > Simplex SLJ Triple FR, and
> > Sachs Aris 13-28 6-speed FW. Even with the
> > long-cage Rally, when I shorten
> > the chain enough to just keep it from going slack on
> > the 28x13, it is very
> > difficult to shift onto the 28T rear cog when on the
> > 52T chainring. More
> > annoying, although shifting down to a smaller
> > chainring works smoothly, and
> > shifting between the 52 and 38 in either direction
> > is no problem, it seems
> > completely impossible to upshift from the 28T
> > chainring to the 38T middle
> > ring. I always wind up having to shift from the 28
> > all the way up to the
> > 52, then down to the 38. Normally, I'd try to toe
> > out the back end of the
> > FR to try to lift the chain a little better off the
> > small ring, but one
> > cannot do this except to a tiny extent, due the the
> > Cyclotourist crankarm's
> > infamous lack of FR clearance, i.e. if you toe out
> > the back of the FR, it
> > will hit the crankarm when on the large ring. It
> > was exactly this feature
> > of the Cyclotourist that caused TA to lose their
> > early dominance in mountain
> > bikes to the Japanese.
> >
> > Am I doing something wrong, or is this just an
> > inherent limitation of the
> > Cyclotourist/ Simplex SLJ combo? Anyone have a
> > guess how large a small
> > chain ring I'd have to go to to shift smoothly (or
> > at least shift) up to the
> > 38T middle?
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Jerry Moos
> > Houston, TX
> >
> >
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