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The Daily Insight

What is the difference between top pull and bottom pull derailleur?

Author

Daniel Martin

Updated on March 05, 2026

Traditional front derailers are "bottom-pull", operated by a cable running up from the bottom bracket area to the derailer. "Top-pull" derailers are operated by a cable running down from above. Run the bare cable under the bottom bracket and up to the derailer's anchor bolt.

Keeping this in view, what is a bottom pull front derailleur?

Some front derailleurs are designed to work with cables which pull upwards from above the derailleur, and some work with cables which pull downwards from below. They are called “top-pull” and “bottom-pull” respectively. Locate the cable stop or routing on your bike frame through which the derailleur cable will run.

One may also ask, are front derailleurs necessary? Front mech is not necessary to climb slopes. You can swap out the rear cassette for even larger one if you need lower gearing. With 10 speed cassettes, you can easily have a rear cog with more teeth than the crank. i.e. 40T rear with a 36T crank would give you granny gear like low without a front derailleur.

Also asked, what is a dual pull front derailleur?

Dual pull is something that came out as a solution to make front derailleur options more universal. Simply, a dual pull derailleur allows the cable to be routed from either the top or bottom.

What's the difference between braze on and clamp on derailleur?

Clamp-on have a metal clamp that wraps around the tube of a frame that doesn't have a built-in mounting tab for the front derailleur. Braze-on derailleurs can be mounted to frames that don't have a mounting tab, using an adapter.

Related Question Answers

Can you use a 10 speed front derailleur with 9 speed?

A 9-speed front derailleur will work, but it's not optimized and may result in more chain drops or slower shifting -or no shifting at the extreme ends of the cassette- because the gap between plates is larger than what's required for a 10-speed chain.

Can I use a SRAM shifter with a Shimano derailleur?

The SRAM rear derailleur (mech) will not work with a Shimano shifter as is; the cable pull and shift activation ratios are not the same between the two systems. If you have an 11-36 (mid-cage SRAM RD) or a 10-42 (long-cage SRAM RD) cassette, you won't be able to use a Shimano road rear mech.

Will a 9 speed front derailleur work with 8 speed?

Re: 8 speed front derailleur w/9 speed chain

The wider (8-speed as they are commonly referred to as) front derailleurs work perfectly fine with a narrower (or 9-speed as they are commonly referred to as) chains.

What is band on front derailleur?

There are two types of road front mech mounting: band or braze on. Band: this as the name implies is a band which clamps around the seat tube of the frame. There are two band sizes 31.8mm or 34.9mm so check current model or frame manufacturer's recommendations.

Will a triple front derailleur work with a double crankset?

"Double" front derailers will work with triples, but if the middle ring is much smaller than the big ring, they will be balky shifting up from the small to the middle chainring. Most other Shimano front triple derailers are optimized for a 10 tooth difference between middle and large ring.

How do front derailleurs work?

The front derailleur moves the chain between the three front sprockets. Unlike the rear derailleur, the front derailleur moves the top part of the chain, which is under tension when you are pedaling. This means that in order to switch sprockets on the front, you have to ease off on the pedals.

How do you shift a Shimano STI lever?

To shift gears, you push the levers inward, toward the bike's frame. Each lever is moved separately and in only one direction. A general rule of thumb to remember: Pushing the bigger lever shifts to a bigger chainring or cog. Pushing the smaller lever shifts to a smaller chainring or cog.

What is a braze on Mount?

A braze-on is the name for any number of parts of a bicycle which have been permanently attached to the frame. The term "braze-on" comes from when these parts would have been brazed on to steel frame bicycles.

What is a direct mount derailleur?

Rear wheels are easier to remove with a mounting option for SHIMANO SHADOW RD and SHIMANO SHADOW RD+. The direct mount feature is designed to suit a wide range of contemporary frames with large-section chainstays, in particular mountain bikes with thru-axle dropouts.

What size derailleur do I need?

your drivetrain capacity is the maximum amount of slack chain the rear derailleur cage can handle. The more potential slack, the bigger a derailleur cage you need. Meanwhile, if you are running a modern 1x11 or even a 1x12 with a very large top sprocket, then a medium cage derailleur is probably the way to go.

How do you measure a front derailleur clamp?

If you don't have calipers, you can take a piece of paper, mark about 10 cms on it (use a ruler) wrap it around the tube, take note of the length and then divide by pi (3.1416). That will give you the diameter for the clamp. One of those soft sewing tape measures works well too.

What is chainstay angle?

Chain stay angle generally refers to the angle from the rear axle to the center of the bottom bracket. In normal circumstances, the chain stay would be oriented such that the centerline of the chain stay would be more in line with the rear axle and these two dimensions would have very similar values.

Can I just remove my front derailleur?

Removing the front derailleur isn't really a good idea, gear wise unless you have a good reason to. All you're doing is taking away the little mechanism that moves the chain from one front ring to another. If you're not happy with the shifting, get it tuned, not remove it.

Why bikes are being sold with only one gear in front?

In practical terms, it means having lower gears that allow you to climb the longer steep sections, and having higher gears so you can pedal down the fast descents. 2. Efficiency is the second big advantage.

Which is more important front or rear derailleur?

The same is mostly true of the derailleurs too. On the one hand you could say shift quality of the rear is more important because you do it more often, and it can be more sensitive to mis-tuning. but then if the front derailleur isn't solid you can toss the chain and that is no good.

Why is there no front derailleur?

We suspect that there are two main reasons for this. Removing the front derailleur opens up options to make rear suspension pivots wider, meaning more stiffness and longer lasting bearings, which makes our riding lives better/happier/more fun.

Is 1x11 better than 2x10?

2x10 has slightly more gear range (than a wide range 1x11) and better chainline. 1x11 simpler since you don't have to mess with the front shifter at all, and lighter. If 1x11 is enough range for you, I'd say it's absolutely worth it.

What does a 12 speed bike mean?

On the back, the 12-speed cassette starts at a 10-tooth cog, and increases by 1-tooth per cog. The overall result is that you can reach a higher resistance at the top-end, and your smallest gear is even easier to push.

Is 8 gears enough on a bike?

Especially if you're living somewhere hilly, riding an 8 speed will just turn you right off! There's enough value out there in the used market right now to get up and running with a very nice 9 or 10 speed, almost definitely for far less than you'll pay for a new 8 speed bike. Don't fall to the curse of the 8 speed!

Can you ride a bike without a front derailleur?

My suggestion to ride it without the front derailleur is to get the chain as straight as possible (put the bike on a stand, and try different gear combinations until you get the one that looks the straightest) and be smooth with your riding.

What is a 1x bike?

A one-by—or 1x—drivetrain refers to a setup with a single chainring up front and any number of gears on the cassette. The most commonly seen today are 1x10, 1x11 and 1x12. The concept of 1x drivetrains is nothing new. Chains would drop, gears would mis-shift, and the ideal gear range simply wasn't there.

What is a front mech on a bike?

The front derailleur or 'mech' pushes the chain between the two or three chainrings on the chainset to change gears. It consists of a metal cage -through which the chain runs – connected to a parallelogram linkage which moves when the shifter cable is pulled or released.

How do you measure a front derailleur?

Simplest way is to wrap a bit of paper round the tube and mark where it meets. Open the paper out and use a ruler / tape measure to measure the distance between your marks - that's the circumference of the tube. Divide by Pi (3.14159) to get the diameter.