# Sram Red Front Derailleur/ Trim issues



## northwave2 (May 19, 2008)

Last year I road the Sram Force group 50/34 with an 11-23 cassette. Flawless shifting in all gears. I just switched to the Red group, 50/34 with an 11-23 cassette, and have flawless shifting in the 50 and the full range of gears. When I'm in the 34 I get chain rub that begins in the 13 and is very pronounced in the 12 and 11. I know it's questionable to ride cross chained in the 34/11, but don't want to give up the 34/12 and 34/13. 
One final note. I'm using a Shimano clamp to attach the front derailleur otherwise everything else is Sram Red so there shouldn't be any compatability issues.
Any suggestions?


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## northwave2 (May 19, 2008)

Not getting any suggestions, I continued on my own. I asked two friends who are very experienced mechanics to see if they could find fault with the setup. They assured me it was set up properly. One of the mechanics called Sram technical support and was told that I could be having problems with the trim but that I shouldn't be riding cross chained and basically to just live with it. They also mentioned that they had responded to rider input and put the trim tab on the larger chainring instead of the smaller ring like last years Force. If they had asked me for feedback I would have stated the obvious, put a trim tab on both rings and solve the problem. If you read the marketing info on Red they directly mention this change in the trim position and imply that this fixes last years issue with the Force shifters. It doesn't and for me the chain rub is actually worse on the Red group.
Yesterday I replaced the left Red shifter with a Dura Ace shifter that has trim positions on both rings. Problem solved for now. Shifts fine. This solution might not be the best for racers having two shifters with very different shifting action, but for someone who is a fitness rider and participates in cyclesportifs for fun, the setup works great.
When the new Dura Ace 7900 comes out in the fall I'll be removing the rest of the Red group and replacing it with Dura Ace.


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## lamazion (Sep 11, 2004)

I was concerned when I bought my Force group because I didn't have the latest trim set-up. I have to admit, I have no problems with trim and I spend most of my time in the big ring (live in MN flat land). I do wish I had the faster shifting of Red, but I'm very happy with Force.


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## jderreks (Sep 1, 2006)

keep in mind the red group was built for racers. They (the racers in question) ride more big ring and wanted the trim to work that way. The other thing is the cage is slightly more narrow. You could stay with the force derailleur and the wider cage will help with some of the rub. I'm just getting in better shape so I can use the big ring more.


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## roadieKill (Jun 6, 2008)

northwave2 said:


> When the new Dura Ace 7900 comes out in the fall I'll be removing the rest of the Red group and replacing it with Dura Ace.


Everything you went thru i went thru the same. Only i had Red FD RD, crank, cassette, chain, shifters everything. Chain rub and noise begone. A costly experiment ill never do again.


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