So I acquired a frame/box of parts for super cheap that I figured I could turn into a fixie or something fun. Since I was missing derailers/shifters a fixie made sense, but my friend has been wanting a road bike so I decided to track down the rest of the parts and just build a regular road bike (I figured it would be good practice since I have been relying on the shop for most of bike maintenance).

For the record the bike has sora 8 speed triple parts.

Anyways, I have the bike built and all is well except the FD. I have the rear derailer shifting like a champ, but I am having a ton of problems with the front. The height/angle seem ok (going off of sheldon brown instructions) and the low limit adjustment seems good for the smallest chainring/largest rear cog...but the problem is I cannot shift into the highest chainring no matter what. In fact, to shift into the middle takes a LOT of effort. I have checked the cable and it seems ok (brand new dura-ace) so I can't figure out what is going on. The lever seems like it has a lot more travel than I would expect. The only other road bike I have to compare it to is my Giant TCR1 (9spd ultegra double)...it is a night and day difference. I only have to press the ultegra lever a slight bit to get it to click, but the sora shifter you basically have to press ALL the way which is a good 2" or so of sideways travel...very tough. I can actually get the derailer to the second click if I push really hard, but at that point the cable feels ridiculously tight (tighter than the ultegra on any setting).

Could the shifter be messed up? Something I could be missing? I am about to give up and take it into the shop, but I would like to figure this out.

I know this is probably a basic question, but I seem to be kind of dumb in the bike mechanic department.

Can you put on the cable manually and have it shift, or is that ust as impossible?


So I acquired a frame/box of parts for super cheap that I figured I could turn into a fixie or something fun. Since I was missing derailers/shifters a fixie made sense, but my friend has been wanting a road bike so I decided to track down the rest of the parts and just build a regular road bike (I figured it would be good practice since I have been relying on the shop for most of bike maintenance).

For the record the bike has sora 8 speed triple parts.

Anyways, I have the bike built and all is well except the FD. I have the rear derailer shifting like a champ, but I am having a ton of problems with the front. The height/angle seem ok (going off of sheldon brown instructions) and the low limit adjustment seems good for the smallest chainring/largest rear cog...but the problem is I cannot shift into the highest chainring no matter what. In fact, to shift into the middle takes a LOT of effort. I have checked the cable and it seems ok (brand new dura-ace) so I can't figure out what is going on. The lever seems like it has a lot more travel than I would expect. The only other road bike I have to compare it to is my Giant TCR1 (9spd ultegra double)...it is a night and day difference. I only have to press the ultegra lever a slight bit to get it to click, but the sora shifter you basically have to press ALL the way which is a good 2" or so of sideways travel...very tough. I can actually get the derailer to the second click if I push really hard, but at that point the cable feels ridiculously tight (tighter than the ultegra on any setting).

Could the shifter be messed up? Something I could be missing? I am about to give up and take it into the shop, but I would like to figure this out.

I know this is probably a basic question, but I seem to be kind of dumb in the bike mechanic department.

Try to isolate the problem, bad shifter vs. bad FD or bad cable routing. Make sure your high and low limit screws are set properly so that the chain will not over shoot the outer chain ring or the inner chain ring.
Place the bike in a work stand and start with the chain on the inner chain ring. While turning the cranks by hand, grab hold of the exposed FD cable where it runs along the down tube and pull the cable away from the frame. This will move the FD towards the larger chain ring. Take note on how much effort it takes to move the FD. If it takes little effort to move the FD, then concentrate your attention to the shift lever. If much effort is needed, then you may have a FD cable routing problem (cable rubbing, cable not attached to FD clamp correctly, etc.). For great instructions try the Parktools web site.

Thanks guys.

I ended up going to the shop this morning for a tube anyway so I just brought the bike with me for them to look at. One of the guys played with it for a few minutes and decided the derailer is toast. He dug in his parts bucket or whatever and found an old one for me so I went home and tried it....bam. I had it working in a couple minutes, smooth as silk.

Sooooo, I am pretty happy that it was not my incompetence after all :)

Thanks guys.

I ended up going to the shop this morning for a tube anyway so I just brought the bike with me for them to look at. One of the guys played with it for a few minutes and decided the derailer is toast. He dug in his parts bucket or whatever and found an old one for me so I went home and tried it....bam. I had it working in a couple minutes, smooth as silk.

Sooooo, I am pretty happy that it was not my incompetence after all :)


Not sure about sora level components, but my ultegra triple fd need to have the cable looped over, not through the clamping bolt.