My Front derailleur won't shift?

Another bicycle question: cannot shift into biggest chainring in front!?

• So, I've recently done a lot of work on my bicycle 7.2fx by Trek. I'm a guy that's pushing 240, which I cannot understand as I ride a lot and am close to a raw foods diet(not too close, but close). So, the bottom bracket/crankset became warped when the crankarm came loose once, as well as the BB recently died with signs of grease exiting from it and bearings becoming loose. I'm not certain how this first problem cropped up: most likely the bicycle shop didn't tighten it all the way down when I purchased it, and I made the cardinal sin of not checking anything until I rode it about a month. Now, I replaced the BB with a 68x122.5mm UN 54. I upgraded to the Alivio crankarms(very nice if you're thinking about upgrading hybrid crankarms), M411 with the 48/38/28 and 175mm long. All of that works well, and I replaced the chain while I was at it, since I had a new rear cogset I picked up over the years. Therefore, I pretty much have an all new drivetrain. I decided to keep the rear derailleur, as it still looked nice after a cleaning. The system works well as far as no wobbliness or clicks coming from the BB/crankset area! The one problem I'm experiencing is I cannot shift into the biggest chainring. I can shift into the first and second one, but when I shift into first it just seems to drag along the cage. I tried adjusting the front derailleur to no avail. I'm wondering if now do I need a front derailleur to make this system work. I thought it would work with my old derailleur, which I think is a FD-T301. I've never adjusted a front derailleur, as mine's always been fine, but they're relatively simple, so I can't see how I'm this far off. When I put it in the smallest chainring there is slack in the cable, but even while pedaling and physically pushing the derailleur out, it just doesn't look like it can go out much farther to get into the biggest chainring. After much searching, I found some specs on the M411 crankset here http://bike.shimano.com/media/techdocs/content/cycle/SI/Alivio-Acera/FrontDriveSystem/SI_6KFFB/SI-6KFFB-002-ENG_v1_m56577569830750020.pdf It lists four front derailleurs: FD-M413 / FD-M412 / FD-M410 / FD-M410-E. It seems as though the FD-M410 corresponds to the FC-M411, but this is an idealized system. If I can use my FD, then I'd like to. Lower down on the page, it lists the bottom bracket, but it says you can have 113 or 123mm spindle length and both systems will have a chainline of 50mm. This doesn't make sense to me, since as you increase the spindle length, you increase the chainline length by half the increase in spindle length. There's a FD-M412 Alivio FD on amazon for 15 bucks. If I got this and properly installed it, would it fix my problem? Could my problem be with my adjustments? The cage is missing about another 8mm before it can move the chain onto the biggest chainring, and that's at it's best setting. One more thing, I found a M191 FD on amazon that is supposed to be rated at 47.5/50mm chainline. The M411 alivio FD is rated at 50mm chainline. As always, I'm more than willing to try things or provide more details, and I appreciate anyone's help. The yahoo answers community has always pointed me in the right direction for my bicycle questions. ;)

• Answer:

  No, you don't need a front derailleur, and the 122 spindle is fine. First, look at the gap between the top chainring and the bottom of the derailleur cage- you may have to move the derailleur by hand to view it. There should be no more tham 1/16" (2mm) gap between the cage and the chainring. If there is, then move the derailleur until this condition exists. Next, look through the top of the derailleur. The cage should be in line with the chainrings. If not, rotate the derailleur until you get it right. Now you want to pull the slack out of the cable- make sure the shifter is in position 1. Loosen the cable abchor bolt. Pull the cable through and retighten carefully... don't overtighten. Test everything and make sure it works. If it is still finicky, go to http://thecheapbikeshop.com and go to the repairs page. Folow the directions on adjusting a front derailleur. IF YOU HAVE an "E" type derailleur that mounts behind the bottom bracket, you can't adjust height... you'll either need a top mount front derailleur or a crankset with the proper sized chainrings.