important: Nuts and bolts on your bike should always be tightened to the manufacturer's specifications.

How to Adjust Your Front Derailleur

Applies to most 3-chainring derailleur systems.

Today we’re going to learn how to adjust the front derailleur. Make sure that you’ve already set up your rear derailleur, as you will need to access all of your rear gears for this tutorial.

Front Derailleur Components

Front Derailleur

Height Adjustment

The first step is to adjust the derailleur’s height and angle using the positioning clamp that attaches the derailleur to your bike’s frame. This can be a bit tricky, since tightening the clamp’s bolt will set both height and angle at the same time. To make things easier, tighten the clamp so that it is secure, but loose enough to move it around with your hand.

Front Derailer and Chainring

For correct height adjustment, position the bottom of the derailleur cage as close to the largest sprocket teeth as possible, so that it still clears. Manufacturers recommend a 2mm spacing, but this is only meant as a general guide and not a rule. The lower the cage is, the better it will shift. While you’re in this position, take a quick look at the curvature of the large chainring and the outer derailleur cage, to make sure no part of the cage is rubbing on the chainring.

Angle Adjustment

The derailleur angle is set by looking down from above. This can be tricky and requires some patience, as the shape of the derailleur cage is often not straight. You’ll want to imagine a centerline in the middle of the cage, which should line up with the center line of your frame. Once the angle is correct, you can completely tighten the positioning clamp.

Limit Screws

There are two gear limit screws. On older derailleurs the low-gear limit is closest to the frame, but some newer models have reversed the screw’s positioning.

Low Gear Limit

To adjust the low-gear limit, first make sure your chain is shifted to the largest sprocket in the rear, and the smallest sprocket in the front. The low-gear limit stop stops the derailleur from shifting past the smallest chainwheel and throwing the chain onto the bottom bracket shell. If it is too loose, the chain will fall off when you downshift to the small chainring. If it is too tight, it might not shift down at all. Ideally, you want to set up the inner plate so that it barely clears the chain in the lowest gear. However, triple chainrings like this one sometimes require a tiny bit of extra spacing.

High Gear Limit

To adjust the high-gear limit, shift the chain into your highest gear, that is, smallest sprocket in the rear, and the largest sprocket in the front. The high-gear limit prevents the chain from shifting past the largest chainwheel and throwing the chain out into your pedals. Ideally you want the cage to stop just after it clears the chain on the large chainring.

Shifting Adjustments

Now that both limit screws are set up, shift back to the largest sprocket in the rear, and the smallest in the front. Make sure your front shifter is in the lowest gear position, and pull the shift cable to eliminate any extra slack, before tightening the cable bolt.

Shift the front derailleur to the middle gear, and run through the entire range of rear sprockets to make sure the chain does not rub on either side of the front derailleur cage. If it does rub, you can adjust the trim by tweaking the barrel adjuster on your front shift lever. If you have an older friction shifter, often you will have to manually adjust the trim while riding.

This tutorial was based on the most common type of drivetrain, and assumes that you are using the components your derailleur was designed for. If you have a customized set of chainrings and/or derailleurs, you may need to try some different techniques, or even take your bike into a shop for further adjustment.

Related Links

Recommended Tools

Categories

Discuss this topic in the Bicycle Repairs and Mechanics Forum

Variation in Conti GP5000 sizing?

Latest post 23 hours ago

I must have fitted 3 or 4 pairs of 25mm Continental GP5000 tires without any trouble whatsoever. On different brands of 622x15c rim, they went on without struggle or complaint. Older GP4000 also went on without trouble. However, the most recent set, bought a month ago, are probably the worst I've ever had in terms of the challenge I had to get them fitted. Has anyone else found such a big differ...

Read more

Cassette shifting Problem

Latest post 5 days ago

I just replace the 10 speed cassette on my Mountain bike. I decided to go for a largest cog with more teeth for an easier ride uphill.. I increased from 38T to 42T. I also replaced the chain and chainrings at the same time. When the bike was on the stand it ran through the gears well. I had the following problem when out riding. I had just ridden up a steep hill on the 22T chain ring and the ...

Read more

I'm curious—how often or after how many miles do people typically check or change their mechanical disc brake pads? I've been bikepacking for a while but never really followed a maintenance schedule. A few weeks ago, I took my bike to a mechanic because I heard some noise. The mechanic did a quick overhaul, and I was sent on my way. However, a few weeks later, while descending steep hills, I s...

Read more

A question I've wanted to ask for a while now. From a personal point of view, what have you found to be the positives and negatives of these two valves? What would your preference be?...

Read more

Grip Shifters

Latest post 2 weeks ago

Currently renovating a child's bike. It has 24 inch wheels and is a suitable size for a 7-10 year old. Anyway it has grip shifters. it is a six speed with three chain rings on the front derailleur. On the rear derailleur the shifter does not appear to move the gear cable at all when shifting from 6 to 5 and 5 to 4. I am actually holding the cable with my finger and thumb against the cable cas...

Read more

  p6i6rfpm1ip41 (1).jpg (Size: 82.1 KB / Downloads: 537) Is there a way to get rid of that rust or do I need to replace certain components? More pics...

Read more

9 speed chain on 8 speed bike

Latest post 2 weeks ago

All of my bikes are 7 or 8 speed and sometime in the past I bought a 9 speed chain for some unremembered reason. is there any reason not to use it on an 8 speed bike?...

Read more

Hello, I was going to ask this question in @Flowrider’s post, but since this is a slightly different issue, I decided to start a new post. https://forums.bikeride.com/thread-9267.html I’m nowhere near the ocean, so salt-related rusting isn’t a concern. I’m currently in the ninth month of a long bikepacking trip, and sometimes I stay in one place for a week or longer. During this week or ...

Read more

Colnago restoration

Latest post 1 month ago

Hi everyone. A bit repetitive from my intro in GF, but this is the correct section for this post. I’m new to vintage bikes, but I’ve been eyeing a vintage Colnago to restore for a long time. Finally found one and the timing was right to pull the trigger. I’m still trying to identify the exact year, but from my research it’s 1991-1993 Colnago Super PiU. Mostly original, I think, apart from ...

Read more

Columbia 3 wheel differential

Latest post 2 months ago

Hello everyone and thank you so much for having me! I have an older Columbia 3 wheeler adult tricycle and she has a differential, somewhat like a car. I wanted to open up the differential for cleaning and oiling but cannot find any info on her, as to how much oil to add, and where the oil fill point is. Can anyone help me in this endeavor? I'd really love to get her going but don't want to ris...

Read more

Front derailer not moving

Latest post 2 months ago

Hi, I been upgrading my old bike with new brake and shift cables. I got my brakes working and now trying to get my shift cables working. I was able to install new shift cable, I made sure to hold the cable tight and tighten the Bolt to keep in place. But it doesn't move the derailer at all when shifting. I have a feeling it's a simple fix that I'm missing something. I thought it might be the new ...

Read more

I live 5 km from the ocean (not sure if that's relevant), and I pretty much only mountain bike. After every ride, I hose down and clean my bike. I wipe them down with a cloth. After a few days, the ones not ridden have what looks like surface rust appear on the chain. Do you have any cost-effective remedies to solve this issue?...

Read more

How to deal with rusty chain

Latest post 2 months ago

The best thing is not to let your chain get rusty in the first place. Chains for most 6,7,8 speed bikes can be had for $15 to $20 all day long. For me my first choice is to just replace it and the reason is simple. If finished it does not meet the level of 95%+ perfect it will get replaced. If the chain you are trying to save does not have a quik link then that is an extra cost to figure...

Read more

Rear v-brake repair

Latest post 3 months ago

Hi everyone, I'm new here and I've been trying to avoid taking my bike to a mechanic and save some money. I succesfully fixed my front but struggle with the rear, I got new brakes for the rear. I notice i think it might be the housing causing the noodle to be off centered and making the left brake pad to close to the rim. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks!! My next project is to attemp...

Read more

Custom Bike part manufacturing

Latest post 3 months ago

Hello, Not sure if I should post this in buying advice or repairs, but here we are. I recently bought Schwinn cruiser an old one and I can't find the rear dropout bracket replacement. So I decided to try out a custom bike part manufacturer. Still waiting for my part, so if anyone has tried out a custom on demand manufacturer, please share your experience....

Read more