The low clamp of some new style mtn bike front derailleurs in nice. Too bad road derailleurs don’t have that option. Is there an inexpensive do-it-yourself way to remove the braze-on? The crank I ordered (hasn’t arrived yet) is square taper and I plan on buying a BB with a spindle length that will yield a 45mm chainline. Second hand info on the crank suggests a 107mm spindle will give a 45.5mm chainline. One of the first things I am going to try is a derailleur braze-on adapter clamp w/ and w/o modification of the attachment hole/slot of the clamp.

If you’re using a mountain bike triple crankset (44-32-22t), you’ll have a chainline between 47.5-50mm.

I missed the bit about the braze-on clamp. You will likely have to remove it, which is entirely possible. But I’d suggest trying if a MTB front derailleur fits first as they sometimes have a lower clamp position.

I want a 45mm chainline for this road bike frame and triple crank. I’ve read the current mtn bike front derailleurs have a chainline of 50mm and won’t go inboard enough to shift onto a road granny. Can these mtn front derailleur be modified? Perhaps the IRD Alpina-d will work with a 44 (or 42)-32-22? The potential problem with my braze-on is that it may physically be in the way of where the new FD clamp should go. I’m not sure how difficult it is to remove that FD braze-on.

You’ll want a mountain bike 9-speed triple front derailleur to match your 44-32-22t crankset. Using the friction shifter will permit compatibility. If you can’t find a derailleur with a clamp small enough, you’ll easily source 28.6mm shims on eBay or at your local shop.

No the shifters are 105, so that is 5700/5800 which have almost identical appearance. It is still easy to buy the 5700 triple shifter. The chain and cassette are Ultegra 11 speed.

Patrick, Beautiful build! So I am guessing you used 6700 crankset, left shifter, and FD, with a 6800 right shifter. What about the RD – 6800GS? What about the chain – 10 speed or 11 speed? What cassette are you running?

It certainly did work out John. Have a look at the final result at http://cyclingpuglia.blogspot.com.au/2018/02/cycle-surgery-successful.html

Sure. The frame conversion to support discs and thru axle is taking a little more time than I hoped but I should have the bike up and running in the next six weeks. Drop me a line patrick@keogh.net.au if I don’t get back to you!

Patrick, please let me know if this works out. I have a Ultegra 6700 10 speed triple set up, with a 6603 triple crankset, and I would like to convert to 11 speed triple.