# 2007 Fuji Team drivetrain



## atoner (May 24, 2007)

I've had a 2007 Fuji Team bike for about a month now. It is my first road bike, mainly for commuting but some training, after mountain biking for about 10 years. I wanted to post on my experience with the drivetrain before I post a review or bring it back to the shop.

First, I have experience repairing bikes. I built my MTB from scratch and can do most repairs.

This is the cheapest carbon race bike from Fuji and has a mixed compact drivetrain: 105 front derailleur, 105 shifters, Ultegra rear derailleur, FSA Gossamer 34/50 crankset, Shimano 105 11-23 cassette, and KMC DX10SC chain.

Everything is fine on the bike except the front derailleur. I've had nothing but problems with it, and when I do finally get it dialed-in that only lasts 1-2 days before it goes out again. 

The little ring is no problem, but shifting into the top ring either doesn't happen or goes too far and throws the chain onto the crank. Typically, if I adjust the cable tension and limiter to get it to shift when in a middle cog, it'll throw the chain off if I'm in a little cog.

The front derailleur was a bit out of alignment coming from the shop, so I re-aligned it to be parallel with the chainring. This helped, but then it got out of alignment again (not sure how).

Another problem has been with the cable slipping through the holder. I ended up having to wrap the cable all the way around the nut/washer to get it to hold. The derailleur body only has a small indent to grab the cable, and the washer is totally smooth.

I checked Shimano's specs on the 105 front derailleur, and it says there's a max difference of 15 teeth between the chainrings. Perhaps this is part of the problem.

I've also been in contact with FSA. They say it should work, but might require some tuning.

Aside from the front derailleur shifting problems, this drivetrain really doesn't like to be crossed up. If I go little in front and little in the back (like when I can't get the front to shift) the chain rubs on the big chainring.


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## tron (Jul 18, 2004)

This probably won't help you much, but I have the same setup on my specialized and I have had no problems. You didn't mount this derailler yourself? Did you buy it from Performance? sometimes it helps to have someone else look at it, I know I get frustrated after a while working on something when someone else can just immediately fix.


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## atoner (May 24, 2007)

Thanks for the input. At least I know it should be possible to get it working. Do you have the front derailleur aligned parallel to the big ring? Do you have the same problem with the chain rubbing on the big ring when running little/little (perhaps your spacing and chainline is a bit different than mine.) How much separation do you have from the top of the big ring to the derailleur cage when shifted to the top gear? 1-3 mm?

I bought it from Performance. It came with the derailleur not parallel to the big ring. I'm the kind who would rather tweak it myself than trek it over to the store. If the problems keep up then I'll bring it in. I don't think a drivetrain should be so touchy that only black magic can get it working.


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## tron (Jul 18, 2004)

Not being near the bike I can't say how the alignment is. Actually for the past year or so I have had the bike i havent even thought about the front derrailler it just works and I havent had to adjust it at all. I have noticed that if I am in the big and I go to the largest cog in the rear it makes some chain noise but I am not sure if that is from the derrailler. It sounds like you may have to re-position the derrailler itself. check out park tools website and others for help with the positioning. Also, your adjustment at the shop is probably free, why not go in there and have the guy show you what he is doing and then take it for a spin around the block to make sure he has everything dialed in.


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## aussiejim (Sep 13, 2006)

Had the same problem on my felt the chain rings are crap and they flex to much ,you have to be really precise with everything to get it to work ,there were heaps of guys complaining about this same problem last year .I got sick of it and eventually changed the crank over to ultegra and it changes first go allways i never have to touch it.


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## atoner (May 24, 2007)

aussiejim said:


> Had the same problem on my felt the chain rings are crap and they flex to much ,you have to be really precise with everything to get it to work ,there were heaps of guys complaining about this same problem last year .I got sick of it and eventually changed the crank over to ultegra and it changes first go allways i never have to touch it.


I finally got a decent ride today with no shifting problems. I ended up aligning the derailleur with the big chainring then tweaking the limits and cable. I also cleaned out the drivetrain last night and lubed with White Lightning. At least now if I do have another drivetrain problem I won't get black grease all over my hands.

It still doesn't like being cross geared, but as long as the front derailleur shifts I should have no excuse for crossing anyway.


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