I am unable to index the shifting on this old 9 speed xt drivetrain. If I dial it in for one gear, it’s off for the others. I aligned the hanger which was bent with an alignment tool. I also tightened the b screw all the way, but there’s still a lot of forward rotation of the pivot before it catches on the limit of travel. The cassette’s largest cog is 34 and the chain is at 0.5 wear if that is relevant. The cable and housing are in good condition.
This is a donor bike that the local coop fixes and donates back out so of we can get this sorted someone in need will have a free bike.
by TheDoughyRider
11 Comments
Adjust (turn in) B screw to move jockey away from cassette
Yeap, adjust your b tension screw in. Gap should be about 5mm
Since the b limit is maxed out, maybe try a 32 tooth cassette? Some older derailleurs weren’t made for more during the 3x days. And with the chain, half wear is still close. My last thought is whether that’s the right speed chain? Maybe it’s an 8?
B knuckle spring is probably shot, you could try to harvest one from another dead derailleur, or try a longer b-screw/ turn it around to get a tiny bit more tension. Might be totally off base, but is the cable seated in the groove properly? Almost looks off a bit, could make for bad indexing.
Check max tooth for your Deore XT RD. Looks like biggest cog is a 42? You may be able to get a longer B screw.
The “b” limit tab looks bent. Those screws don’t normally bottom out like that.
An old trick is to thread the b screw in from the bottom to get a slightly longer b screw. Might get you there.
you could add a “Wolf Tooth Roadlink”, which is basically an elongation of your derailleur hanger. I used it to change the 11-25 cassette of an youngimer race bike to a 11-32 cassette.
[https://www.wolftoothcomponents.com/collections/derailleurlinks/products/roadlink](https://www.wolftoothcomponents.com/collections/derailleurlinks/products/roadlink)
Can’t do 34 teeth unless you install deore rear mech
That is deore, usually works up to 36 tooth
Is the derailleur mounted correctly?
The b-screw looks like it doesn’t have purchase on the hanger to adjust effectively.