DA Front Mech; fast cage wear

[OwenJames]

More DA9000 woes..

On my DA9000 front mech, the cage has worn extremely quickly.

The location of the wear is on the outer side, on the inside, where the chain passes through. The chain has worn a square groove into the metal.

Have a look at these pictures;





The wear has caused the coating on the outside to flake a bit now, too.

I have had this since April 2013.

Now, again, before anyone comments, NO, I have not been riding this with the chain rubbing, and NO, I have not been cross-chaining small-small, causing more rubbing. This has happened with normal shifting.

Seriously, this new Dura Ace 9000 stuff is just problem after problem.

[btompkins0112]

Looks like a poorly adjusted mech to me....what would you expect?

[OwenJames]

Tell me how it is poorly adjusted.

[lannes]

That does look like a lot of wear, your drive train looks extreme clean, maybe the lack of lube on the chain side plates has exacerbated the wear on the FD.

Also have you got a lot of toe in set, as it looks like the nose of the FD is bearing the brunt of the change down to the smaller chainring.

[Geoff]

I have seen lots of Dura-Ace front derailleurs where the chrome is all flaked-off like that. Especially Di2. I believe that it is the flexibility of the cage versus the stiffness of the rings and the power of the shifting that does it. It does not seem to affect shifting performance at all.

[HammerTime2]

As a WW, look on the bright side, your FD has been auto-tuning, and so is now lighter!!

[OwenJames]

your drive train looks extreme clean

Of course it is. My bike is immaculate at all times, which means it is not only clean, but also perfectly adjusted. The mech does not have any toe in or out; it is bang on straight. The photo many be giving the impression that it is not straight due to the angle and focus, but let me assure you, it is totally in line.

This is unreasonably fast wear, pure and simple.

Would be interested to see how much other peoples' DA9000 FDs have worn? I do ride a lot, but my DA7900 front mech was WAY more hard wearing than this tinny shit.

[Butcher]

One thing for certain, it is worn because the chain is rubbing. Lube would help, but metal to metal rubbing is not idea for longevity. Is the wear from normal shifting or abnormal chain rubbing? Obviously, normal shifting is a part of it, but as you stated, it is not because of chain rub. Cheap is cheap, but Dura-Ace is not normally known for cheap.

I suspect abnormal chain wear or you really like to shift a lot up front. Campy has a plastic insert to combat this.

[OwenJames]

It is very weird. I do shift a lot, I will admit, but the other side of the cage where the big loads shift up onto the big ring from the small seems fine. There is a plastic insert on that side however...

If I had ridden the bike with the chain rubbing on this outer plate like a dickhead, I would understand why it would have worn down like this, but I really honestly haven't.

I suspect that like the 9000 shifters, we are going to see more people in the near future with this issue. I am ultra OCD about my bike, and it may be that I notice stuff like this earlier than a lot of people as I am constantly cleaning and polishing it!

[btompkins0112]

Two ideas to check:

A: Check cage alignment back to front. Is the cage aligned perfectly with the chainrings? If the front is closer to the rings than the rear that would place all the pressure during shifting on the front edge.

B: Check cage distance from the chainrings vertically. If the cage is too close to the chainrings than the time/force required of the cage to lift/push the chain over the large ring is greater.

Just two ideas. With the higher level groups alignment and setup is so much more important due to the fact that the higher level materials can be finicky. A mm or two off with a steel cage doesn't make a hill of beans, but with a cage made of softer materials it can make a significant difference.

EDIT: The things noted above would be compounded if, like you said, you shift a lot on the front.

[XCProMD]

My DA 9000FD is more or less like yours. Until now I have had problems with DA 900 casettes (now using Campagnolo cassettes on all my bikes/wheels) and Dual Levers.

The worst thing is now I have a Di2 bike too. No idea how much time until things start to rattle/break/whatever.

we're building custom frames and we have to have test bikesassemblied with all three group options, but this makes very difficult to keep all the bikes in the best condition for our clients.

[lannes]

your drive train looks extreme clean

Of course it is. My bike is immaculate at all times, which means it is not only clean, but also perfectly adjusted.

What lube do you use on the chain, is it paraffin ?
Even with White Lightening there is a bit of a coating

[OwenJames]

1. For the love of god I have set it up perfectly. Every bloody time I post something like this I get the usual replies telling me I havent set it up properly. Enough!

2. XCproMD. Aaah, there we go! I am not alone with this then. Thanks for the for the feedback.

3. In the picture there is no lube. I took the photo in the middle of cleaning my bike. I use Finish Line lubes, depending on the weather, but never ride in the rain unless I can help it, so usually Dry condition Red.

[Tinea Pedis]

Owen, add me to the list. Even the plastic liner on the inside of the FD cage has gone (about a month or two ago).

This is on a bike with just on 18,000km. Which is a bit, but then again I have over twice that on a Campag SR FD and no such problems.

[krzysiekmz]

I ride Di2 on my Mountain bike and nothing rattles or breaks/wears out too soon. So it is not Shimano or Di2 flaw.

I second btompkins0112 comment above and this much of wear is just unusual for any front derailleur.

Have you contacted Shimano?

Chris.