Death of the front derailleur?

Religion, politics, global warming….. and front derailleurs. Touchy subject.

I love the idea of the Hammerschmidt but can anyone tell us what sort of delay or lag is in the mechanism? How many degrees of pedalling rotation before it engages? And if you add the engagement needed for the HS to the freehub engagement, is that a negative for tech riding?

I got to take a pedal around on one and was amazed. The engagement seemed instantaneous. Shift under full power, shift while stopped, it doesn't matter. No chattering, no waiting, no letting up, just shift and it goes. Up, down, whatever.

The downsides of it seem to be it has to mount to a bike with iscg mounts. Lots of all mountain type bike only a year old don't have this. There's also lots of talk about what the small outer diameter of the unit does for pedaling input on various different suspension designs. Getting great shifting out of your front derailleur won't do you any good if the bike pedals like crap all the time.

No more front deraillers for me. Just received this killer device for my 1x 9 xc setup.

http://bb.nsmb.com/showthread.php?t=125532

I run a front D on my 7-8" bike still, with no guide, I might drop my chain once a ride on Fromme, but it is worth it to have the granny to climb Mtn Hwy from the bottom 2 or 3 times a week.

I should look into a dual ring guide (Stinger), but just haven't been that frustrated by the issue of chain dropping.

Hammerschmidt sounds like a good idea, but I am not ready to drop a bundle on a whole system until it has all the bugs worked out. I'll let everybody else deal with it's issues for the first 18 months, then buy the upgraded version.

I also run 2 rings on my XC hardtail (36/24), I never have a problem with shifting that when needed. The key to good shifting is trying to keep your rear D in the middle of the cassette, using the front D more frequently than you'd think. Then you are just shifting the rear for small increments, as opposed to shifting the front D for a big increment (spend some time on the North Shore on a road bike, with an 11-25 and a 39/52, you will figure out shifting pretty quickly).

Word for word I would have posted almost the same thing Tony just said

What I find lacking though is gear selection for cranks. How often does anyone here really spin out a 44 X 12 or 11? And I don't really need a 22. I would love to be able to ride a 24x30x40 or something like that.

Middleburn has started producing a crank and chainrings in that diameter.

Though it's only being produced in the older 94/58 BCD in 5 bolt.

http://www.middleburn.co.uk/chainrings_mtb.php

Word for word I would have posted almost the same thing Tony just said

Here's the bigger question. Would you trust anything like Hammershmidt on one of your epic's?

Too me, there's just way to many moving parts.

I'm with Lee and Tony. Front derailleur. I'm even running 3 rings again - a la Wayne, but I have 22/32/40. I do need the 22, I do things that are very steep and go on for several kms, several times in a single ride. And I'm older than I used to be, so 26 is out. FD is certainly not dead.

And I recall a certain dude with no use for a name saying something about buying things in the "early stages".

I asked the SRAM dudes why they put the ratio on the big gear, rather than having the granny reduced and they said that they tossed it around for sure, but settled on this.

Now, wait a couple years, when it's cheaper, when all frames have ISCG or it doesn't need it, when it's lighter, when it's cheaper, when it has 3 gears (or 8 OMG!), when they have figured out all the bugs, when etc.

Then, I'll think about it.

I'd never put something that new on a bike I'd use on a backcountry trip. If it breaks you are fuked. On sharon's bike I stuck a 20!!! tooth granny. Its funny to see her spin little tiny fast circles but i sometime I wish had more gears when i run down to 22 x 34.

I've thought about the 20T on Thurston. I've also thought about anti gravity, helium ballons and and a twisting grip that connects to a big motor.

I've actually had the 20T on Thurston back in the old days before the 4x4's chewed up the road. I could actually spin all the way up then would almost black out from heat exhaustion when it got sun-exposed.

Where it really comes in handy now are long grinds like up to Windy from High Trail especially at altitude.

I don't think I could keep balance on on a 20 tooth!

Well, I love my front der for the long limb up Harborview on my AM bike, but I
still have a guide, and I've kept a single for my DH rig (and I push up Harborview,
but I could do most of Fromme up to Ladies on it). I've had one too many dropped
chains pedaling for a jump that took me out to NOT have a front chain device.

As far as Hammershimdt, I like the idea of the added clearance for those "just
too high" logs, and having the sealed compartment for those muddy days. Tthough,
the mud over here isn't anywhere near as bad as some good old Kauai red dirt/mud. If everywhere had mud like Kauai, we'd all be riding internally geared bikes
by now.

And I recall a certain dude with no use for a name saying something about buying things in the "early stages".

Bah Pete, by the time i can afford one, they'll be well past the early stages.
Nevermind the broken ulna that probably means my next ride will be when the snow melts in Calgary.

Religion, politics, global warming….. and front derailleurs. Touchy subject.

Almost as bad as arguing 29ers.