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Intersting observation on 2004 xt front der....

1K views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  Schtoojp 
#1 ·
I just picked up a used Titus Racer-x and one of the parts I was upgrading was going to a new 2004 xt front der.

Interestingly enough it seems the new 2004 top swing front der. does not travel as far in as in past years and no where close to a xt bottom swing front der. I could not even get the chain to drop into the granny ring in the bottom half of the cassette. Now granted I realize I'm running a narrow set of FSA carbon cranks on a 110mm JIS bottom bracket instead of spine cranks on a 113 spline BB, but still. The new xt has such a thick linkage area that it keeps it from getting close enough to the seat tube. I played with it for about 30 minutes, then went back and got a xt bottom swing top pull front der. and had that working in 5 minutes, with enough to spare to the inside I could actually get it to drop off the inside of the granny ring.

It probably works fine on a full 2004 setup, but for those of us upgrading that are still running narrow cranks beware. I didn't try a older top swing style xt to see if that would work, didn't have one available to try. However I can say I've set up other 2003 and older top swing xt front der. on narrow crank/bb combos and never had this problem before. Possibly the combination of my setup is just a odd ball but it's something to keep in mind.

Todd
 
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#2 ·
I have also had a run in with the new one derailuer fits all tube sizes and cable pulls- only choice to top or bottom swing. The problem I had was not the range that the cage can move, but the cable pinch bolt that points downward and (on a Giant VT) ends up right behind the swing arm. I hated it so much that I bought two (one to use, one as a spare) of the old style XT front derailuers in the proper size, swing and cable pull. Put the old style on and in 5 minutes had everything dialed in. Also the cable fixing bolt is on top of the old style derailuer- much easier to get to.
 
#3 ·
If you look at the thread "Can a Deore FD be used with the new XT crank?" further down, I might have mentioned this.

You are right, the 04 XT wont be happy with an narrower crank. But the crank/ring width is not the issue, it's where Shimano decided to set the rigs for the 04 XT (XTR too I believe).

More Shimano integration at work...

I hope you were able to return the 04 front mech. :)
 
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