I hope the video provides some context. Im having trouble shifting down gears and I’m finding that even with zero tension on my cable, when I’m in larger cassette cogs (I never remember which to call up/down gears) it doesn’t want to spring back naturally. The video shows me putting no pressure on the derailleur, having manually pressed it into that cog before it randomly decides to shoot back into the smallest cog where it’s meant to be. The derailleur is a SRAM SX If that helps.
Why is my rear derailleur sticking?
byu/designer_by_day inbikewrench
by designer_by_day
11 Comments
The pivot might be sticking. I’d give them a clean and a lube.
Chain is not fed correctly.. double check and try again
My only thought is the pivots may need to be cleaned?
Also, if you ever lubricated, there’s a good chance that it’s actually attracting dirt and making them worse over time (in my experience).
Not to mention you hopped like 10+ gears in one shot there bud. What happens when you click through at a normal pace and let the gear engage between each shift?
Your b-tension looks too far wound in. When you’re in the largest cog at the rear, the upper jockey wheel is very far from the cog. SRAM indicates this should be a few mm away (they have a plastic guide tool to help fine tune this but a few mm away is fine for SX)
https://www.sram.com/globalassets/document-hierarchy/user-manuals/sram-mtb/drivetrain/1x-mtb-mechanical-derailleurs-user-manual.pdf page 28 onwards
The chain is way too long.
If you push the derailleur over is it a strong spring opposing you smoothly?
If so it’s a worn cable, replace the cable outer and inner.
Edit: I just re read your post, it is sticking then likely the pivot springs. Try again with the wheel removed
Is that chain not too long?
The derailleur cage should point forward on the biggest ring not downwards
The whole thing is set up wrong. Start from scratch. Chain length, then H limit, then indexing, then L limit, then B limit, then try again.
B-tension is a problem, maybe not the problem.
There are a couple of issues I can see, the chain being a little long and the top pulley being reall far away from the cassette cogs. You want that gap to be fairly close to get good shifts down the cassette.
SRAM has some videos for setting up your derailleur – [https://support.sram.com/hc/en-us/articles/5928758457243-How-do-I-set-up-my-SRAM-Eagle-rear-derailleur-correctly](https://support.sram.com/hc/en-us/articles/5928758457243-How-do-I-set-up-my-SRAM-Eagle-rear-derailleur-correctly)
I’d probably first check that your chain is the right length tho – [https://support.sram.com/hc/en-us/articles/5928721432603-How-do-I-determine-the-right-chain-length-for-my-SRAM-Eagle-drivetrain](https://support.sram.com/hc/en-us/articles/5928721432603-How-do-I-determine-the-right-chain-length-for-my-SRAM-Eagle-drivetrain)
But firstly, I’d remove the wheel and cable to the derailleur and see if there’s any friction when you push it left and right. If there’s difficulty with it swinging sideways you’ll need to address that first.