Subject: Re: Flat bar conversion front derailler Posted by: Al on September 09, 2006 at 06:20:30: In Reply to: 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. Replacing the current chain (which I presume is the OLD 8-speed chain) to a 9-speed chain should fix your problem ... you may have to tweak the front derailleur's stops.