Intermediate Week 3 - Front Derailer

Here's some info you can look at before class if you have time, or refer back to afterwards

http://sheldonbrown.com/front-derailers.html a good introduction into the complicated world of front derailers.
http://sheldonbrown.com/chainline.html this article is fairly technical, but helps understanding chainline.
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/derailer-adjustment.html this article also covers front derailer adjustment
http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=75 this Park article covers all the front derailer basics, and has great pictures
http://bicycletutor.com/adjust-front-derailer/ video notes: loosen the cable before adjusting height & angle so that cable doesn't pull derailer down, have cable disconnected to check low limit, doesn't address index front shifting very well or trimming fd, see the Sheldon Brown article
http://www.ctc.org.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=%204068 this is a long article, but has some good suggestions for mixing and matching components, also gives you an idea of how complicated picking a front derailer that works can be.

Some chain watchers for the front derailer: N'Gear Jump Stop, Deda Dog Fang, or Third Eye Chain Watcher. k-edge chain catcher: http://www.acecosportgroup.com/content/

If you get sick of front derailers check out Hammerschmidt: http://www.magicmechanics.com/home.php?lang=en#