How to fix a front derailleur that won't shift down

[@christube4487]

Thank you. You're the only one who hasn't immediately said - just replace it

[@JoeyMesa]

You're welcome! Thanks for taking the time to leave feedback!

[@tomaskozler4856]

First 1,5min really put me off but as the video progressed, I really appreciated the functional part of the content. And that´s what matters. Thanks a lot!

[@qtommyb]

A splash of oil and getting the downshift to small ring..was bout to bring it in ta the shop, Thanks!

[@camilosanz4173]

Great !! My front derrailer was not working, was completely stuck. No movement, nada. Took it out cleaned with a lot of window cleaner and banged it as you suggested and got it unlocked .. I have not assembled it back. But so far is working and is moving more and more.

[@JoeyMesa]

Great to hear!

[@spearmint47]

I had this problem for ages, would'nt go to the smallest cog. Worked perfect in the shed but not on the road. I mustve cleaned, sprayed and adjusted it 100 times, drove me crazy. Finally solved it one day out riding when my pump fell off while downshifting. I used to jam the pump by the downtube between the crossbar and bottom bracket and it was that limiting the derailleurs travel, nothing to do with the shifter. Course, the pump was off while working on it for access. Just shows you....there's always an answer.

[@aesca151]

Great video. I did everything except the hot water soak to reduce chance of corrosion. Saved me from having to buy a new one. Don’t be lazy. Unmount and place on another pipe like in the video. It will save you time. A friend told me this.

[@JoeyMesa]

Glad it helped

[@One_Swell_Sailor]

Thank you for the assistance. Mine ended up being extremely dirty. After a few squirts of simple green and some movement the spring started pulling and I was able to align it again.

[@Grevil89]

That was very helpful! I figured it would be a simple to fix mistake, but I wouldn't dream about it being THAT simple! ;)

[@kimballlewis1154]

Worked. Left on bike and used pb blaster and windex. Thank you.

[@JoeyMesa]

Excellent!

[@jasona2516]

I have the 1st issue. I drilled a 1/16" hole right where the tab broke off and jb welded a piece of drill bit I had laying around that was broken into the hole. Used vice grips to hold the spring until the jb weld cured. Also put some more adhesive over the bit just for added security. So far it works and hasn't broken again. We'll see, only time will tell

[@JoeyMesa]

Sounds like a solid repair! Thanks for taking the time to leave feedback!

[@marfa233]

Great tip on loosening limit screws and and working it in the full range for a while. Seems to have done the trick.

[@JoeyMesa]

Great to hear! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!

[@kriskills1463]

I though of giving up and just calling it quits on the Doere front mech. However, it seems like its the 4th case and I will try to work it around! I actually have a bent mtb bar, I might be able to clamp it down and just work it around! Thank you so much for this video! Have a great day man!!!

[@JoeyMesa]

Thanks!

[@Aaron-uo7tt]

Thank you for the great information, God bless you.

[@JoeyMesa]

You're welcome! Thanks for your feedback!!

[@bontragerjones]

Great video. 2min and 40s in and you've solved a problem I've been dealing with all week.

[@JoeyMesa]

Thanks! I'm glad you got the issue resolved!

[@bontragerjones]

@@JoeyMesa So was I! Was getting tired of mashing the gears

[@hellorunescape111]

Thanks so much! Helped to fix my dad's older 105.

[@JoeyMesa]

You're welcome!

[@louitzr1]

I enjoy watching your videos, really good stuff!

[@JoeyMesa]

Thank you!! I appreciate you watching and your feedback!

[@grooveseeker6269]

Thanks a lot, i had this and soaked it with WD-40 but didn't work, then I worked it out by tapping it with a mallet as you did and it released itself very nicely. Great hack, you saved me some money on a 105 derailleur so thank you so much. Greetings from Spain :)

[@PezRacer]

Thank you, this just helped me today!

[@jonbock4853]

Thanks. Bike sat for a month and then I hardly made it up a hill when I couldn’t down shift.

[@justinduongs]

Thanks man! You helped me with the second solution! Keep up the good work!

[@JoeyMesa]

Glad I could help!

[@mauriciovalenzuela8902]

Your video helped me a Lot, the problem i had was the last one... Thank you si muchas, cheers! 👍

[@JoeyMesa]

You're welcome! Thanks for taking the time to leave feedback!

[@davidparrott2090]

thanks for the tips! option 4 worked for me, 6 months of indoor trainer sweat was gumming things up i guess

[@JoeyMesa]

Glad it helped!

[@davehollingworth5537]

This is great. Thanks 😊

[@JoeyMesa]

You're welcome! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!

[@clintantonmontesino2119]

thank you you teach me how to fix my front durailleur so so thank you

[@JoeyMesa]

You're very welcome!

[@mycatisromeo]

Front derailleur; upshifts from small ring to 2nd and 3rd ring fine. Bit doesn't downshift from 3rd to 2nd and if I click my gear shifter a second time, skips past two and goes from biggest to smallest gear. Can you help me?

[@anthonycrisafulli9126]

Hi Joey, excellent video, great advice. thank you.

[@JoeyMesa]

Thank you!

[@golfandhike5598]

At 2:30 you opened the shifter ect and the hardware was exposed inside. How did you open the shifter? Is there a screw that needs to be loosened?

[@sjoerddruiven]

Exactly the tips I was looking for. Thx!

[@JoeyMesa]

You're welcome! Thanks for taking the time to leave feedback!

[@Phalanxv]

My front derailleur wont shift to the big ring pls help

[@jurijsk8997]

Thank you.

[@JoeyMesa]

You're welcome!

[@GeorgeRPope]

Just what the doctor ordered!

[@JoeyMesa]

Sweet! Thanks for taking the time to leave feedback!

[@leonosbo]

Works.

[@charliewason7446]

It went together easily in less than an hour. kzbin.infoUgkxHL1v1R3NE5x4KiYfyt8dnQmyNYz7qi5L Make sure the front fork is forward or the pedals will hit the front tire. Tires are both a little soft so it needs air before I ride it. The rear wheel didn't come with a clamp regular bolts hold it on. The front had the clamp. No scratches out of box. Rims are a little off with a slight wobble. They could have spent more time with the spoke tool fixing the run out. So far out of the box I'm happy with it. I did replace the pedals with a nice aftermarket set. After riding it a bit my A$$ is a bit sore so I ordered another seat. Overall I'm nearly 60 and didn't ride a bike in 30 years. I like my new 29" Schwinn. It will be used for casual rides with my friend.

[@cianrhyss3796]

I’m stuck in the small ring help

[@CastleKnight7]

Same here. I can move the front derailleur manually to the big ring, but not with the shifter by itself.

[@curtiswilliams9568]

Where can I order a new spring? How can I tell if it is broken? What does a new one look like?

[@JoeyMesa]

This is a common issue with shimano triple front derailleurs. It's not actually the spring that breaks, it's the tab or perch that the spring end rests against. The tab is just a small extension off the cast aluminum body. Once it's broken off, it's sometimes hard to notice or visually tell anything was there. You can tell if it's broken when the derailleur moves easily up and down through the shifting range when the cable is not attached or shifted all the way down to the smallest ring. A properly working derailleur requires some effort to pull out as the spring is fighting to pull it in. On the derailleurs this commonly happens to (sora - tiagra), there is no way to disassemble and replace the broken parts. The only fix is a new derailleur.

[@neilhowell3083]

I have a new gear cable new changers new chain new rear derailleur and I still can't change to the small chain ring ?

[@JoeyMesa]

Sounds like more of a front derailleur adjustment issue or a positioning issue with the derailleur/chainring/frame interface.

[@grooveseeker6269]

Yeah, probably the low limit screw is too tight

[@JohnSmith-on7zr]

Can it support and 6 foot 6 person?

[@JoeyMesa]

A bike fix can work for a person of any size.

[@15idog]

So this should work for a older semi rusted derailleur that is stiff to shift aye?

[@JoeyMesa]

It's worth a try. It's essentially the same thing as a corroded derailleur that's been drenched in sweat over and over on a trainer. If you can get some movement in it and work it a bit, you may just save it. At least it won't cost anything to try! Thanks for your question and comment.

[@15idog]

Joey Mesa hey tried it and it worked really well! Thanks for the tip!

[@JoeyMesa]

Awesome Iain !! Glad it worked!!

[@zentrocs]

Mine won't shift to the small ring.....The chain is a bit loose but just stiff enough to sustain pressure on the rings .....It doesn't shift to the small ring and it's making a constant metal scratching noise after i try to shift to the small ring

[@JoeyMesa]

Try to isolate the scratching noise. is it the derailleur rubbing the chain or on the chainrings themselves? Disconnect the shift cable, set the derailleur in the correct height and angle position, set the low limit screw to allow the derailleur to let the chain go to the small ring then reattach the cable and try again.

[@zentrocs]

Ok. I did all the steps. The scratching noise did in fact come from the chain rubbing on the derailleur. I adjusted the screws......But it still doesn't shift to the small ring.....the derailleur pushes the chain but the chain doesn't go on the ring

[@scottc2455]

Great video, but this problem makes me want to go 1x forever...

[@carlodabandan3579]

my chain wont shift to the small ring after I changed the bottom bracket on my bike please help

[@JoeyMesa]

Hey Carlo, a lot of it depends on the type of BB system and crank your bike is set up for (square taper, octilink/isis, hollowgram/GXP outboard, or 30mm spindle type). The first thing I would try is when the shifter is all the way down, or all the slack is out of the cable, is the cable tight or a little loose where it hooks up to the derailleur? If it's tight, try letting a little slack out by loosening the cable pinch bolt on the derailleur to allow the derailleur to move down a little. If the cable is already a little lose or has some slack, turn the limit screw with the "L" next to it about 1/4 turn counter clockwise. Hopefully that should help. That would be the short answer. I hope you don't mind, but this is a good question and I think I'll make a video on some different possibilities on how to work through this particular problem, as there are many variables to consider. I'll try to cover as many as possible. Thanks for your question!

[@TheFloridaBikeVlogger]

about to throw my shit out the door

[@shariarhossain6836]

i am stuck in big rin😥

[@emmanuelserrato7805]

Please,help my REAR deraileur wont shift down

[@JoeyMesa]

If everything was working fine and then it just quit shifting down, the most likely cause would be a shift cable issue. Could also be a bent hanger. I made a video about a week ago that might be helpful. kzbin.info/www/bejne/m4LGq5dmrbl0bKM

[@felixjamesonevans6428]

I have shimano acera and it won’t shift down without me pressing on it. What’s the problem?

[@JoeyMesa]

Disconnect the shift cable from the derailleur so you can isolate the problem. It's probably either a corroded or kinked cable or sticky derailleur. It could possibly be a broken spring perch on the derailleur. The derailleur should pull back towards the Fram with the cable disconnected. If it moves back and forth easily with no spring tension, it's the perch. If it's hard to move either way with the cable disconnected, it may need to be cleaned or it could be bent and movement is restricted. if it seems to be functioning ok with the cable disconnected, make sure the inner cable moves freely through the cable housing. Those are the most common issues I can think of without seeing your situation.

[@DavidFarlow]

@@JoeyMesa Thanks I think mine is a sticky cable, would I need a new cable?

[@greenglass2]

hot water and windex worked and no oil ~ 2010 shimano deore FD-M590

[@JoeyMesa]

Nice! Thanks for your feedback!

[@saraswatich8839]

Can We use wd40

[@JoeyMesa]

WD40 works well as a cleaner/degreaser to break things free. Something designed for lubricating bike parts, chains, Etc. will work better long term for actual lubrication.

[@jimlou7899]

Thank uuuuu

[@JoeyMesa]

You're welcome!

[@mikestampphysioexercisethe4239]

Get to the point!