I’ve put my bike up on the stand to start the work fitting my front derailleur. Before I started on the derailleur, I removed the rear wheel and replaced the cassette with an 11 – 36 tooth one as I think that range will be my best choice.

I fitted the mechanism, lined it up and then looked at routing the cable. As my frame doesn’t have any cable stops, the outer cable needs to fit all the way to the mech but there is no cable stop on the one I bought. It fits and is suitable in every other way.

I went on-line to try to find a solution to this. That’s when I discovered just how many different front derailleurs Shimano have made over the years. For some reason they seem to change them almost continually. I found articles suggesting that later models have an integrated cable stop but I just couldn’t find a model which fitted all my needs. There are one or two which were almost there but none which I could say (by reading the instructions) exactly met my needs. They were either top pull when I want a bottom-pull, braze on when I need a clamp-on or they were for anything but the 10 speed I’m running. Some of them have a high clamp which wion’t fit as my down tube has a cover for an internal seat dropper cable and the clamp needs to fit below that. I didn’t want to order a new one without being certain it would fit, so I started looking for alternatives.

Eventually I came across a clamp-on cable stop which seems to be a useable fix. It’s not ideal as it’s an extra clamp on the frame but as one of the reviews on the site I bought it from says “it seems to be the only way to fit a front derailleur to a frame with no cable stops”. I’m not sure this is the case but without any definitive evidence that there is a mech which will suit, I decided to go for it and ordered one on-line. The additional clamp should fit below the derailleur clamp and not be too noticeable or interfere with the operation of the front gears.

This means that my bike will need to remain on the stand until it arrives and I can get on with the work. Fingers crossed it will work out OK.

UPDATE: I continued researching alternatives (something I repeatedly tell myself not to do) and, by accident, found a YouTube video which contained instructions for fitting a style of front mech which seems to fit my needs. So now I am considering ordering a Shimano 105 front derailleur. This has an integrated cable stop as well as a tension adjuster. It’s the same range as my cranks but when I was reading the specs on a lot of the sites I looked at, none of them had the full details. Sourcing one has proved almost impossible as it looks as though Shimano have discontinued this model. I can’t find a supplier with one in stock. There are a few on e-bay but they are from China and I don’t really trust getting one from there. Second hand is also an option but I haven’t seen one yet in good enough condition so I may just go with my original plan.