Tag Archives: derailer

Junzo Kawai

Paint

Cable guide

See this too often.

Front derailer cables move little, but enough to score steel frames, and enough to damage carbon frames.

Block the front derailer, slack the shifter, loosen the cable guide retaining bolt, align the cable and guide, tension the cable, then tighten the bolt.

Link

A bit dated, but a good read:

The Road War — Shimano vs. Campagnolo

and still largely true.

Campy costs too much.
But their integrated shifters last and work well, except for thumb fatigue.

On this particular example every single bolt head and allen key socket has been chewed as if by some crazed, chrome-eating beaver. This illustrates a rule known to all bicycle mechanics – that ace racing cyclists think they are ace bicycle mechanics but, in fact, athletic prowess and mechanical sympathy are mutually exclusive.

Next time you observe an accomplished cycling star eschewing a ring spanner in favour of the open-ended variety, using a screwdriver as a chisel or tightening a nut with a pair of pliers, remember all those adverts you see claiming that this or that product was developed using the expertise of that or this professional racing team – and thank your lucky stars that the claim is only so much marketing bullshit. — Michael Sweatman