new SRAM rear derailleur works poorly

[Marc Rosenbaum]

My brand new Volae Club LX has a SRAM X.9 rear derailleur. It shists
fine in the largest 3 cogs, and in the smallest cog (12-27 Ultegra
cassette. IN the mid-range, it grinds and sounds badly misadjusted,
and skips, and occasionally changes gears all by itself (I have an
automatic transmission!) The only pertinent adjustment that I see is
the cable tension on the SRAM shifter. But if the cable tension is
off, why would it shift fine in some of the gears?

Any thoughts on what to look for would be approeciated. The
derailleur appears to be straight (not a bent hanger) as far as I can
see.

Thanks

Marc Rosenbaum

['BentRider]

Sounds like your derailleur hangar is tweaked a bit. Look and see if
the derailleur pulleys and the cog that you are supposed to be in are
all lined up.


On 28 Sep 2003 05:17:56 -0700, (Marc Rosenbaum)
wrote:

>My brand new Volae Club LX has a SRAM X.9 rear derailleur. It shists
>fine in the largest 3 cogs, and in the smallest cog (12-27 Ultegra
>cassette. IN the mid-range, it grinds and sounds badly misadjusted,
>and skips, and occasionally changes gears all by itself (I have an
>automatic transmission!) The only pertinent adjustment that I see is
>the cable tension on the SRAM shifter. But if the cable tension is
>off, why would it shift fine in some of the gears?
>
>Any thoughts on what to look for would be approeciated. The
>derailleur appears to be straight (not a bent hanger) as far as I can
>see.
>
>Thanks
>
>Marc Rosenbaum

Bryan J. Ball
Editor/Publisher
www.bentrideronline.com

[Alma Williams]

I would get s Shimano xt and get it over with.
"Marc Rosenbaum" > wrote in message
m...
> My brand new Volae Club LX has a SRAM X.9 rear derailleur. It shists
> fine in the largest 3 cogs, and in the smallest cog (12-27 Ultegra
> cassette. IN the mid-range, it grinds and sounds badly misadjusted,
> and skips, and occasionally changes gears all by itself (I have an
> automatic transmission!) The only pertinent adjustment that I see is
> the cable tension on the SRAM shifter. But if the cable tension is
> off, why would it shift fine in some of the gears?
>
> Any thoughts on what to look for would be approeciated. The
> derailleur appears to be straight (not a bent hanger) as far as I can
> see.
>
> Thanks
>
> Marc Rosenbaum

[brian hughes]

"Marc Rosenbaum" > wrote in message
m...
> My brand new Volae Club LX has a SRAM X.9 rear derailleur. It shists
> fine in the largest 3 cogs, and in the smallest cog (12-27 Ultegra
> cassette. IN the mid-range, it grinds and sounds badly misadjusted,
> and skips, and occasionally changes gears all by itself (I have an
> automatic transmission!) The only pertinent adjustment that I see is
> the cable tension on the SRAM shifter. But if the cable tension is
> off, why would it shift fine in some of the gears?
>
> Any thoughts on what to look for would be approeciated. The
> derailleur appears to be straight (not a bent hanger) as far as I can
> see.
>
> Thanks


I had the exact same problem on my SRAM 9.0 rear derailleur. I downloaded
the SRAM tech manual off the internet--it even has troubleshoot charts--and
quickly fixed the problem. Turns out my chain gap was way off (gap is
suppose to be about 6 mm, mine was about 3 times that). So I simply
adjusted one hex screw to make the gap correct, and now my V-Rex shifts very
smoothly and hasn't skipped ever since (that was 750 miles ago).

I'm not sure where to find the current manual, but the 2001 manual I found
was at www.sram24.com/techdoc/english/dealers/technicalmanuals/
pdf/2001/DTM_MTB_MY01_E.PDF

[Jude T. McGloin]

I agree. Most any shifting problem that is related to adjustment can be
corrected by the adjusting barrell on the grip shifter itself, on the fly,
provided that your high gear (small cog) stop adjustment is correct.
A misaligned (bent) derailer hanger can cause the symptoms you
describe. But then again there is another murphy that I see from time to
time and that is an improperly assembled cassette. Its hard to do but can be
done. The last small cog can be put on in such a way (cocked) as to cause
the 2nd and 3rd cogs to be loose and the 1st to be crooked. I have have lost
count of the number of tune ups I have done in the past 25 years. I can say
I have seen more murphys in a year than most see in a lifetime.
Deraileur systems and their alignment can be tricky wickets for some
and simple for others.
As for the poster that commented about XTR..I put a SRAM XO deraileur
on my AERO and it works just as well as the XTR did. SRAM's lesser
deraileurs 5.0 and 3.0 are not the greatest but set up properly they will
shift as well as Shimano deraileurs in the same quality range. However, That
said the 5.0 Sram stuff on my 98' BikeE AT still works flawlessly. 25 years
ago Campy or SunTour users called it ****mano.
--
Jude....///Bacchetta AERO
St. Michaels and Tilghman Island.. Maryland
Wheel Doctor Cycle and Sports, Inc
1-800-586-6645
"'BentRider" > wrote in message
...
> Sounds like your derailleur hangar is tweaked a bit. Look and see if
> the derailleur pulleys and the cog that you are supposed to be in are
> all lined up.
>
>
> On 28 Sep 2003 05:17:56 -0700, (Marc Rosenbaum)
> wrote:
>
> >My brand new Volae Club LX has a SRAM X.9 rear derailleur. It shists
> >fine in the largest 3 cogs, and in the smallest cog (12-27 Ultegra
> >cassette. IN the mid-range, it grinds and sounds badly misadjusted,
> >and skips, and occasionally changes gears all by itself (I have an
> >automatic transmission!) The only pertinent adjustment that I see is
> >the cable tension on the SRAM shifter. But if the cable tension is
> >off, why would it shift fine in some of the gears?
> >
> >Any thoughts on what to look for would be approeciated. The
> >derailleur appears to be straight (not a bent hanger) as far as I can
> >see.
> >
> >Thanks
> >
> >Marc Rosenbaum
>
> Bryan J. Ball
> Editor/Publisher
> www.bentrideronline.com

[Marc Rosenbaum]

Thanks very much for your responses to my derailleur post. I hung the
bike yesterday from the garage ceiling and it looks as though the
tension adjustment may have done the trick. I'm not certain why
improper cable tension would allow the derailleur to shift well in
some gears and poorly in others, but if it works, great. I'll road
test today.

I've only ridden 15 miles (one ride) on this new bike but I can see
that I will probably want to change the gearing for the hilly place I
live. I have always preferred a tight cluster and wide range
chainrings. The bike came with a 52 42 30 Truvativ Elita and an
Ultegra front derailleur. I have a 12-27 rear. I'm thinking I'd like
to change the small front ring to 24 if possible (I have a couple) or
26 if that won't work. Then get a custom cassette such as 11 12 13 14
16 18 20 23 27 so I can have higher top end (I was in top gear 52-12
on my maiden voyage on a nearly flat road) and get the granny I need
around here.

Will the Ultegra front work for this? If not, what might you suggest?

"Jude T. McGloin" > wrote in message >...
> Deraileur systems and their alignment can be tricky wickets for some
> and simple for others.
> As for the poster that commented about XTR..I put a SRAM XO deraileur
> on my AERO and it works just as well as the XTR did. SRAM's lesser
> deraileurs 5.0 and 3.0 are not the greatest but set up properly they will
> shift as well as Shimano deraileurs in the same quality range. However, That
> said the 5.0 Sram stuff on my 98' BikeE AT still works flawlessly. 25 years
> ago Campy or SunTour users called it ****mano.
> --
> Jude....///Bacchetta AERO
> St. Michaels and Tilghman Island.. Maryland
> Wheel Doctor Cycle and Sports, Inc
> 1-800-586-6645

[Marc Rosenbaum]

Just confirming that the cable tension adjuster adjustment fixed the
problem - no problems on my road test today.

Thanks

"Jude T. McGloin" > wrote in message >...
> I agree. Most any shifting problem that is related to adjustment can be
> corrected by the adjusting barrell on the grip shifter itself, on the fly,
> provided that your high gear (small cog) stop adjustment is correct.
> A misaligned (bent) derailer hanger can cause the symptoms you
> describe. But then again there is another murphy that I see from time to
> time and that is an improperly assembled cassette. Its hard to do but can be
> done. The last small cog can be put on in such a way (cocked) as to cause
> the 2nd and 3rd cogs to be loose and the 1st to be crooked. I have have lost
> count of the number of tune ups I have done in the past 25 years. I can say
> I have seen more murphys in a year than most see in a lifetime.
> Deraileur systems and their alignment can be tricky wickets for some
> and simple for others.
> As for the poster that commented about XTR..I put a SRAM XO deraileur
> on my AERO and it works just as well as the XTR did. SRAM's lesser
> deraileurs 5.0 and 3.0 are not the greatest but set up properly they will
> shift as well as Shimano deraileurs in the same quality range. However, That
> said the 5.0 Sram stuff on my 98' BikeE AT still works flawlessly. 25 years
> ago Campy or SunTour users called it ****mano.
> --
> Jude....///Bacchetta AERO
> St. Michaels and Tilghman Island.. Maryland
> Wheel Doctor Cycle and Sports, Inc
> 1-800-586-6645
> "'BentRider" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Sounds like your derailleur hangar is tweaked a bit. Look and see if
> > the derailleur pulleys and the cog that you are supposed to be in are
> > all lined up.
> >
> >
> > On 28 Sep 2003 05:17:56 -0700, (Marc Rosenbaum)
> > wrote:
> >
> > >My brand new Volae Club LX has a SRAM X.9 rear derailleur. It shists
> > >fine in the largest 3 cogs, and in the smallest cog (12-27 Ultegra
> > >cassette. IN the mid-range, it grinds and sounds badly misadjusted,
> > >and skips, and occasionally changes gears all by itself (I have an
> > >automatic transmission!) The only pertinent adjustment that I see is
> > >the cable tension on the SRAM shifter. But if the cable tension is
> > >off, why would it shift fine in some of the gears?
> > >
> > >Any thoughts on what to look for would be approeciated. The
> > >derailleur appears to be straight (not a bent hanger) as far as I can
> > >see.
> > >
> > >Thanks
> > >
> > >Marc Rosenbaum
> >
> > Bryan J. Ball
> > Editor/Publisher
> > www.bentrideronline.com