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    Took off my cassette and pulley wheels to clean, drivetrain skipping all over the place after reinstallation

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    22 Comments

    1. Matternous on

      Just picked this bike up today, everything is new. Took my chain off to wax it and took apart the drivetrain to give it a full clean, now it’s skipping all over the place and the chain goes totally slack when moving the pedals backwards. I followed the Shimano manual for reassembling the cassette and I made sure to line up the directions of the pulley wheels with the arrow on them.

    3. simonster1000 on

      When you’re pedaling forwards, it looks like the shifting isn’t aligned and you’re heading into the next gear.

      Going backwards, sometimes there’s a tab in the derailleur cage, that people route the chain on the wrong side of.

    4. java_dude1 on

      You just waxed the chain… it’s still super stiff and will not shift correctly till you break it in. Before you touch anything like limit screws got for a 10min ride to loosen that chain up and then see if things are working. Usually I’ll break up the links by wrapping the chain around a wooden dowel or similar and pull it through a good number of times. But even after that the chain still needs breaking in.

      I agree with another poster that the indexing seems off or the limit screws aren’t set correctly. Did you put the cassette back on correctly?

    5. HippieCowboyy on

      Is your chain on the correct side? On a shimano chain the side with the lettering goes towards you looking at it from the right side of the bike. Not sure what you have?

    6. Beneficial-Oven1258 on

      You might have a few things going on here simultaneously:

      1. A freshly waxed chain needs a break-in.
      2. It looks like your derailleur indexing is off.
      3. You need to figure out where the tension/friction in your system is coming from. Either your jockey wheels or freehub. When you pedal backwards, what is resisting the movement? Is it your freehub? Is it your top jockey wheel?

      I think either your jockey wheel or freewheel/casette was reassembled incorrectly and now you have friction in the system thats causing your chain slack issue when pedaling backwards.

    8. FlaminBollocks on

      Take it all off, and reinstall the cassette. Also check you didn’t make a mistake with the cassette spacers.

    9. budegan on

      Is the cage definitely straight and not bent at all? Could be the photo or my eyes but looks perhaps bent. Could it have had a whack whilst you were at the shops?

    10. RuinousEffigy81 on

      The last time this happened to me it’s because I knocked the derailer hanger and slightly bent it just a 10th or so of a millimeter. That was enough to do the job.

    11. Reisefieber2022 on

      I’m counting 11 gears. I think that might be a directional chain. Are the logos on the chain facing outwards, away from the cassette?

    12. West_Personality_528 on

      The jockey wheels often have a different sized bushing specific for each one. Ensure you have the correct wheel in the correct location with the correct bushing.

    13. SlightlyOrangeGoat on

      Looks the same as mine after I wax my chain. I just smash through the gears at a high rpm and it gets progressively smoother.

    14. blisseynite on

      If I wax and then break the chain in a cold garage in winter it skips. Break wax thoroughly at room temperature (flex each link back and forth until not stiff). I have no problems the rest of the year but a waxed chain skips like this in the winter for me.

    15. Fatcow38 on

      When you pedal forward it looks like it’s trying to shift into a higher gear, are you sure your indexing is correct?

    17. Necessary-Dirt8639 on

      Check you actually have a 12 spd chain.
      Check chain is actually within spec.
      Check freehub isn’t bound up/mucked up.( Clean and regrease with proper grease)
      Double check your cassette is seated all the way. And tight to-torque.
      Check you have jockey wheels correct top/bottom (not sure offhand if this derailleur has different top and bottom, but for sure the top one should have lateral play in it)
      Check your derailleur is tightened to hanger.
      Check your thru axle is tightened properly.
      Check you didn’t route the chain on wrong side of that stupid “tab” thingy between jockey wheels.
      Check your front derailleur gap (is front derailleur sort of pushing the chain to left as you’re pedaling,and also pulling on the rear side too?).
      Check/set rear derailleur B gap.
      Check/set rear derailleur limits.
      Check/set rear derailleur indexing.
      Go ride your bike.

    18. konwiddak on

      Does your chain have a scalloped side and a flatter side on the wide links? Hard to tell in the video but it looks like maybe it does? The flat side should be on the top.

      However that wheel slows down pretty fast, is your freewheel ok?

    19. nplm85 on

      When you cleaned the jockey wheels im assuming you took it apart…

      The guide and tension wheels look installed backwards, the one at the bottom has more pronounced teeth which last time i checked should be the one closest to the cassette.

      They are also directional if you take a look at them.

      Edit: Could be wrong, i did see a photo later in the post that shows them looking to be the same maybe? But i assume sram are also directional??

    20. RMCaird on

      Just looks like the indexing is out slightly. If it’s only doing it in this gear then the limit screw might be set too close, try back it off half a turn. 

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