 You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Fitted a brand new 10spd X9 rear mech last night, but it just will not set-up right. It seems to be a compromise - shift ok from 9 to 6 with 5 iffy - OR - shift iffy from 9 to 6 with 5 iffy but ok from 4 to 1.
It looks like the mech has a slight twist in it, which is accentuated when in the bigger cogs. Also it looks as if the mech will not retract enough, when in the smallest cog - ie even with the tension screw wound right off it won't come back far enough - to the point the outer cage is sitting against the body of the mech, but still the mech is not aligned with the 9th cog.
To try and get around it, you end up running the gear cable slack, when in 9th cog, but because it isn't tensioned enough, you effectively loose the last 'click' on the shifter and getting in to the largets cog is a real b*tch!
It's not a case of hanger alignment - it's a brand new frame, plus the cables are all good in terms of no friction and routing is fine. The shifter (X9) is also working fine. The chain and cassette, although not new, are both good, clean and freshly lubed. And I also can't see that using a 10spd mech with a 9spd cassette would be the issue as the mech is not indexed in any way.
HELP!!!
Isn't it a different amount of pull for 9 vs 10 speed? I.e. for 10 speed, you need 10 clicks within the same distance...?
I'm no expert, though - Someone who actually knows what they're doing will be along shortly!
Don't assume that because the frame is new the hanger isn't bent. I'd pop it down to your LBS, or wherever you bought it from, and get them to check the hanger alignment.
They get bent really easily when the frame is in the box or being handled.
And I also can't see that using a 10spd mech with a 9spd cassette would be the issue as the mech is not indexed in any way.
You're wrong - cable pull is different, otherwise why can't you just use a Shimano mech? I really don't understand why no one gets this, not a difficult concept.
You need a 9 speed mech, or 10 speed cassette, chain and shifter.
Must have missed that in your post. Yep, 10 speed mech with a 9 speed block won't work. The 10 speed mechs are designed for a narrower chain for starters.
Sram rear mechs have more often than not been like this over the past 12 years.Nothing has changed.
If you remove the mech and fit a shimano (or a campag,just for the hell of it) you will probably find that it will look well aligned under any of the cassette sprockets.
A mech is just a mess of pivots really. Change any distance between those pivots and you change how the whole thing moves. That's my understanding of why, and how, 10-spd mechs (and SRAM-Shimano) are different anyway.
Surely the mech is just a slave to the shifter? - it ios the shifter that is indexed and not the rear mech. The mech is not indexed at all and has limit screws, which you can adjust to suit.
And aside to the above, the mech outer cage is resting on the mech body, but still still coming back far enough to be in-line with the smallest cog.
I've thought lots about will a 10spd mech work with a 9spd cassette, and to my mind I can't see why not (although I will happily stand corrected if it is otherwise the case - not just 'SRAM say it won't work!). Surely it's the same principle as 9/8spd - ie 9speed mechs work fine with 8? And 10spd plus 9spd cassettes are the same overall width.
Surely the mech is just a slave to the shifter
Yes but if you change the geometry of the mech (as SRAM have done from 9 to 10 speed) then you need different cable pull at the shifter...
Ok - thanks for the replies. You live and learn!
Go and buy a Shimano mech, try and use it with your SRAM shifters. It won't work. It will move 2 gears for every click of the lever. The same is true with 9/10 speed SRAM. There are 4 different cable pull ratios, your mech and shifter must match. The number of clicks at the shifter is irrelevant, but the mech must move one sprocket width for each press of the lever. The ratios are:
- 7/8/9 speed Shimano and 10 speed road
- 10 speed Shimano MTB
- 9 speed SRAM
- 10 speed SRAM road and MTB
How are we still doing this after a year?!
"How are we still doing this after a year"
Because you suck it and see and go on previous experience, and because you don't always check forums (or DO but don't get back definitive answers).
That's why we're STILL seeing this question and will probably continue to do so.
A bit OT but my understanding of the whole 9/10 speed incompatability is:
The shifters pull the same amount of cable per click (the 10sp having one more) and because of this, and the fact that the 10sp derailleur has to move an extra sproket in the same distance, SRAM have had to change the amount of cable used by the 10sp rear mech for each unit of cable pulled by the shifter (as that cant be changed).
I think...?
Sort of, they could've kept it the same if they wanted, so the mechs would've been reverse compatible, but they didn't. Not a 'feature' of 10 speed per se.
Even well setup I have to say I am underwhelmed by shifting of my 10 speed x9. I love the range of gears though. I have to settle for snappy down shift or upshift. Not both