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Anyone deliberately leave the clutch off?
Yes but not normally in my MTB. The one I use on a road frame I don't see the point of.
On the Shimano one I have it was always by accident and it was generally crap as it wasn't doing it's job.
SRAM no it's on by default.
Chris Porter is though but he can feel the micro tug in his suspension.
yep, I had a single pivot ( very high and forward pivot location) and it definitely worked better without the clutch on. surprisingly noticeable. It doesnt seem to make any difference on my new bike with a horst link
Yup. Gear changing is nicer.
Yes never use it.
A lot depends on the bike IMO - I have it on 4 different bikes and on two of them it makes little difference,but the other two lose the chain a lot on rough terrain...…
On my hardtail I've found it makes little difference to chain retention. My wife leaves the clutch off on her Stooge as the gear changes are nicer/easier. Neither of us have noticed any chain drop - the NW chainrings handle that more than adequately.
Never use it on my hardtail and have dropped the chain about twice in the last two years.
I leave it off on mini’s bike, as he struggles to change gear with it on, loosening it internally has no effect until the clutch is slack. Doesn’t seem to rattle and slap too much with the clutch off.
intentionally don't use clutch mechs on 2 DH bikes and one Hardtail 4X bike (close ratio cassettes and short chains) for once I agree with CP the rear suspension on my hardtail is definitely way more sensitive* without a clutch 😉
My other mtbs have clutches
*it actually is on the DH bikes.
#science
First ride with one today, I thought I felt the suspension pulling against the mech with a bit of a clunk.. but not sure.
Yes on my 5010, I can feel the difference and it makes no difference to retention or noise.
Was dropping chains with it on. Removed a link. Now doesn't drop with it off.
no clutch on my shimano 1x gravel bike just a NW ring and a 105 mech, chain hasn't come off yet and i've tried hard to make it bounce off even with the chain at it's slackest, so no, you don't need the clutch on
I think there is a subtle improvement in suspension without and a more noticeable better shifting. Unfortunately I also find it knackers the mech more quickly and I wrapped 2 mechs round my spokes with it off.
My compromise now is on but minimum tension on the clutch.
The tension is adjustable? On an XT M8000 mech?
yes, there's a very small hex key bolt
yes molgrips - pop off the cover (2 or 3 little screws) and loosen the wrappy-roundy thing
Shimano clutch: normally "on" all the time on all of my bikes.
Sooner or later gear shifting won't be as smooth. Then I turn the clutch in "off". Until i make a small service on this bike / the clutch. Small service means some PM600 grease onto the clutch and adjusting the clutch force / (small screw - very little rototation will change the clutch force a lot!!!).
All mountin bike with 150/150 travel: clutch force adjusted to be "high". No influence onto the suspension. Suspension is fantastic - with or without clutch.
XC hardtail: don't do these rough trails with this bike. Clutch force adjusted to be "low". But clutch is "on".
Independed from the bike: when "shifting" isn't smooth any more ... it's the clutch.
1/2 year service interval?
Chain drop (my bikes all still have a front mech...): have three bikes going. 1 chain drop in two years? (on the XC hardtail. None on the others)
I didn't realise these things were servicable. Waggling by hand it feels stiff but sticky like it needs some grease. Thanks for the pointers.
It's a bit fiddly but not too bad to service. But I found the main problem was not the clutch barrel itself sticking but some kind of gunk build-up in the bit I couldn't get to behind the clutch assembly.
Shutting the clutch off on my preferred SRAM mechs isn’t an option but so far as Shimano, just remember what the clutch is meant to give you and consider how frequently you had dropped or rattly chains before clutches.
If you rarely noticed chain slap and dropped chains were a rarity you might as well leave it off. Choice of frame probably has as much to do with this as riding habits or setup abilities. I’d guess frames with more chain growth and multiple rings probably benefit most and 1x hardtails least. This based on a very unscientific consideration of chain length...
So, in the Shimano instructions linked to above (thanks TheGingerOne) it says that the clutch friction when measured with a torque wrench in the torx hole should require torque of 3.5-5.4Nm to move the cage. Mine was something like 8 or 9. So I stripped the clutch which was pretty easy above, and it was clean but slightly dry so I greased it up.
Now I am able to adjust within the range they suggest, and I went with the lower end 3.5Nm or so because I wasn't really dropping the chain and it just takes a little chain slap out of the system. Doesn't noticeably affect shifting now.
Not too difficult to remove the friction belt, but to put it back on you do need to get the cam the right way round, and it's a little fiddly to reassemble. But not as hard as say rebuilding a shifter or putting the top pivot of a traditional mech back together, with that spring and all.
On my hard tail the clutch gradually disengages itself. Chain doesn’t drop but chain slap increases.
I think most people know my distaste for derailleurs on mtbs.
However, I'm now impressed because of those clutches. Mtbs are becoming silent - as they should be.
At the recent WEMBO faster riders were coming up behind me without the usual crashing and thrashing chain noises so I didn't have the usual amount of notice to move over. And unusually in a 24 hour I didn't see anyone with a derailleur issue.
The clutch is probably the best improvement to the derailleur since indexing.
I always leave it on because I broke the switch.
I didn’t realise these things were servicable. Waggling by hand it feels stiff but sticky like it needs some grease. Thanks for the pointers.
Shimano ones are very easily serviced and the parts are even available if they wear out. Remove the cover and the clutch outer (the metal band around the outside) can be removed with needle pliers. Then the internal one-way mechanism slides off the axle. Clean and lubricate (thin lithium grease between clutch outer band and the one-way assembly, light machine oil on the internal needle bearings) and reassemble. You may also want to look at the main link axle through to the jockey wheel plate too as these also get crapped up with time. 30 minute job, max.
Personally, I've only had to replace the stabiliser module when the needle bearings corroded and the chain tensioner started to get "stuck" forward, resulting in a slack chain with the clutch engaged.
on a HT i leave it on as it defo helps with retention with no side effects
On my single pivot FS i leave it off if going somewhere rough as it feels nicer. (fair amount of chain growth through the travel). locally i leave it on as its not that rough here in brighton.