Subject: Flat bar conversion front derailler Posted by: Roland on September 08, 2006 at 22:40:07:

Message: Hi, I have a specialized allez road bike that was converted to flat handlebar with shimano 440 shifters. I swapped out the front derailler to the fd-443 from the sora it came with. It does not seem to be able to be adjusted correctly. I can only get about 3-4 clean rear gears in either high (top 3) or low (bottom 4). On the middle cog I can get almost all 8 rear gears without noise. The chainline of the specialized front crankset is 46.5mm (the recommeded is 45mm for the fd-443). Is this enough to make a big difference, or should I just live with the poor performance. I would like to be able to get at least 5-6 gears in both high and low if possible.