So I caught a stick in my derailleur which forced my derailleur into my spokes. A spoke was jammed into the derailleur cage tight against the hub of the lower pulley. I had to loosen the screw on the pulley to get the spoke out. So the derailleur was pushed way in and caught some force because it locked up my wheel (going slow in granny gear bushwhacking). After that it rode but shifting was not too smooth. Not horrible, just like it needed adjustment. Is the derailleur supposed to move this much?
by Cute_Difficulty_3821
7 Comments
It’s normal for it to move a little sideways. Also normal to swing back and forward like that once you put it in a locked mode like that.
As for shifting issues, perhaps it’s because of the bent derailleur hanger? You can take it to a bike shop. They should diagnose it for free, maybe fix it free if they can bend it back straight.
Did you check to make sure that your derailleur is tightened to the hanger?
Check hangar first. You’ll only be able to see a bent UDH with a hangar alignment tool. Replace if bent, $16. If that doesn’t resolve shifting issues probably new derailleur. Tolerance on 12s is so tight that bends you can’t see will throw it off. NX and especially SX bend too easily. You could be looking at a new derailleur. In which case get a GX.
NX will eventually develop play in the B bolt, which leads to poor shifting. Assuming the B bolt is properly torqued and you still have all that play, it’s likely time for a new derailleur.
Now is a good time to purchase a V90.
I don’t see that the derailleur pulls the derailleur cage backwards. The only tension on the chain comes from the RD attachment point (next to B screw). The cage is simply pointing straight down, the joint/pivot with the RD body is stiff. I think it’s time for a new RD.
You can also see that the upper pulley wheel is WAY too far away from the cassette. With the RD in the largest cog, the too pulley should juuust about clear that cog (adjustable with B screw). Towards the smaller cogs there will be more of a gap but definitely not 4 inches.
If you want to try it, you could undo that pivot where the cage attaches and examine it. There is a spring inside that’s responsible for pulling the cage backwards. Maybe that spring got pulled out of place and now blocks that pivot.
The nx that came with my bike did that (I mean the lateral wobble) since day one when I tried to installed it. The forward backwards play is normal. The torque was correct. I immediately replaced it with a gx. The gx wasn’t doing that.