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SRAM type 2 derailleur issues

62K views 145 replies 70 participants last post by  RS VR6 
#1 ·
Hey All:

I've been running an X9 type 2 derailleur for around 3 weeks now. Everything you've read is true: chain slap is nearly eliminated and the frequency of dropped chains is reduced (at least compared to a SRAM xx 2x10 rear der.) BUT, I've developed a strange and irritating issue:

The clutch seems to have fallen out of tune or something. It takes a significant force to overcome the clutch at this point. When the cage finally moves forward I hear a fairly loud click. I hear this click every time I cycle past 40% travel in the rear. I can also feel this force in the suspension travel. I've been riding primarily dusty terrain. I was caught in a biblical rain storm about a week ago. Anyone else discover similar issues? Is the clutch adjustable (i don't think so)?
 
#66 ·
Update:

The derailleur ended up "clicking" instead of knocking after a few rides. Took things apart with no resolution. I got the derailleur warrantied and there are absolutely no problems now. No clicking, no knocking. I felt a noticeable difference in the tension of the new derailleur in comparison to the original derailleur. There was no more dragging feeling in the derailleur and what seemed like less tension in the derailleur arm... all smooth now. The shifting has improved as well.
 
#68 ·
After working great for only 3 or 4 rides my T2 rear derailleur is binding up as I shift into larger gears, completely locks up!? I noticed shifting was getting super stiff, almost takes brute force just to shift up a single gear. When I first installed it it would not shift at all, I had to take it back off the bike and force the arm to move by hand and that too took a lot of force. It gave off a cracking sound like it was put together with locktight? Not happy...I spent over $600 dollars converting to a 10 speed setup and now I can't even ride....
 
#70 ·
A follow-up on post #38. The X9 Type II was replaced under warranty. Despite being beat up in the mail, the replacement derailleur shifts fine, and the chain no longer rides up pulley teeth nor derails from the lower pulley. What I notice different about the two derailleurs, the original plates were tight to begin with, and became sloppy later, plus the cage was straight in-line on the high gear. The replacement has remained tight, and the cage is angled outward (appears bent, shipping damage perhaps) in high gear. In fact the cage will contact the derailleur body if allowed to completely retract without cable tension. Clutch resistance feels a bit more linear on the replacement than the original also.
 
#71 ·
I just unboxed my new XO type 2 rear der. from Chain Reaction and i notice that when swinging the cage by hand it pivots with a smooth motion. When i first checked out these der at my LBS i did the same thing and remember the cage pivoting with a dull clicking in the tension, almost like a ratchet. So which one is correct, is it supposed to be a smooth pivot or is supposed to click
 
#72 ·
Not supposed to click. The "clutch" is designed to apply a smooth resistance to the cage's forward motion only. Any kind of ratcheting would definitely be cause for concern. The "click" or "knock" users describe is likely the sound made when initially overcoming the static friction of the clutch mechanism while it's at rest. It's a one-time sound (per forward motion of the cage).
 
#74 ·
Sorted

:thumbsup:Just a quick note I work in a bike shop in New Zealand the clutch rear mec dose have a small problem with the clutch being to dry from factory and all the latest stock coming out now seems to be fine and we are about to service some even though sram says you can't we have been told how and we try on some of our test bikes so we have got it sorted before we try a customers hope this helps
 
#79 ·
I am glad I found this post! I am having the same issues on my bike and i have a XO medium cage 2013 rear derailer type 2 that is knocking like crazy in the low gears and the higer gears but the middle of the cog is a little better.

I converted my 2012 camber carbon expert to a 1x10, 36 wolftooth front sprocket and 11x36 rear all new 2013 parts and after about the 3rd ride all the noise started.

The bike shop is getting a smaller cup spacer for my crank (I left it stock) so i will have a better chain line to see if this helps any. My lbs has checked everything from chain length to derailer hanger etc and all is right on the money. I am still riding it but more of an annoyance for new parts to have this issue.
 
#80 ·
For what it is worth do not take it apart it made mine worse. So what i really mean is that i destoried mine and snapped off the bolt that holds the backside of the clutch.

Now that was not the end i also stripped out my 5mm hanger bolt. So going back to the x9 type 1 no more clutch. So in conclusion it was totally my fault for messing with it further and after three trips to different bike shops and three different chains still no resolution.
 

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#82 ·
Yes they are reusable. It is just a plastic cap over top of the torx 50 star that u have to remove (simple utility knife is fine)to take it all apart but I would advise not to take it apart.

In retrospect i should have maybe tried adjusting the B tension screw to see if this made any difference since this worked for another poster. What i noticed is that the knocking was worse moving up into the higher gears which was putting more tension on cassette and chain.
 

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#84 ·
Yes they are reusable. It is just a plastic cap over top of the torx 50 star that u have to remove (simple utility knife is fine)to take it all apart but I would advise not to take it apart.

In retrospect i should have maybe tried adjusting the B tension screw to see if this made any difference since this worked for another poster. What i noticed is that the knocking was worse moving up into the higher gears which was putting more tension on cassette and chain.
Thanks for the advice, I managed to open it with no damage. Do you remove the bearing? Eventually how? If there's no need the bearing, do you lubricate through the crack of that sort of c-ring in front of the bearing?
 
#92 ·
I was able to fix the problem (and the knocking on mine was fairly bad) with just removing the main cap and greasing the roller clutch. No other steps required. Takes all of a couple minutes.
Just a note, initially I used oil as shown in the diagram but the problem came back fairly quick.
I then switched to the Park Tools thick grease, putting quite a bit in there. Problem-free after several months now.
 
#95 ·
I think I was getting the knocking sound on my full sus on the short cage I had back in this post. However I'd decided to get one for the hard tail also so moved the short cage to the hard tail and got another type 2 for the full sus but this time a medium cage.

Reason being that the short seemed to have a stretching creaking sound when shifting to the lower gears and wondered if short cage was stressing it too much and might be causing the knocking also.

Anyway, knocking gone on the hard tail as there's no rear suspension. Creaking is still there but not much of a bother. I do wonder if it's going to make it fail though.

Next issue though is the medium cage I got for the full sus was working great for many months, keeping tension and chain slap minimal to none. Recently though chain slap all over the place and it's very easy to pull the cage forward by hand unlike the short cage on the other bike which is very hard to pull forward.

Has the clutch "gone" in some way, and what can I do about it? Just seems like it's no longer a clutch mech now. Chain is not that worn and just to double check I removed a link but the chain was definitely too short then. If I had it serviced the same way to sort out the knocking as others are getting, would it sort this problem out also I wonder. Looks like I could do with both mechs servicing really.

Short of doing it myself, is it worth getting it done by LBS (who would probably send it off I assume), given the repair price vs the price of a new mech (x9)? And anyone had them repaired in the UK and who by?

p.s. Narrow-wide chainrings... awesome! No more guides and devices. I run these (Works Components) on both bikes and not a chain drop once or hint of one :thumbsup:
 
#96 ·
I'd love to know this also.
My XXO1 rear derailleur seems also to have lost its damping capabilities.
Worked fine for a couple of months, no chain slap but now the chain is as loud as with a classic RD.
I warrantied it and SRAM says there'd be no issue at all,
I am pretty curious if it'll work again as advertised once I get it back...
 
#97 ·
I just tried to service mine last night. Using the box cutter razor blade to extract the plastic cap, I managed to only chip out the cap piece by piece. I did get the T50 opened up and greased. Hopefully this helps, because I really scratched the derailleur up the the process.

I was experiencing the very noticeable "knocking". However, the even bigger problem I was trying to correct by tightening the clutch was to try and prevent chain drop from my 36T ring to the 24T ring.
 
#99 ·
I'm just covering all bases. The chain ring is new <120 miles. I have a new chain on the way, and just checked FD alignment again. The reason why I was convinced to buy a Type 2 in the first place was the same chain drop issue when the terrain gets rough. It went away for quite a few months since installing the type 2 new, but now it is as bad as when it started. Ergo - adjust the clutch to take up any slack that might have developed over time.
 
#100 ·
i had chain drop issues on my 2x10 setup up front too through rough braking bumps. had new chain on there and my chainrings werent terrible and my fd was adjusted good. I put an x0 type 2 on and i never had it happen again, since then ive ditched dual chainrings and went xx1 up front and love it.
 
#101 ·
How long have you been on your Type 2? I've had mine for just under a year. The chain drop problem resurfaced within the last month for me. Prior to that, I thought it was no longer an issue. Even with the longer teeth of a true 1X chainring, I have my doubts. If the Type 2 starts to weaken its chain tension ability then I will be dropping the chain into the frame.
 
#106 ·
I got a new rear derailleur from SRAM and mounted that up. It worked again as advertised and I never dropped the chain (ever ;-) )

At some point this one started to creak and tick like crazy. That was not Srams fault however.
I almost went nuts, nearly tore apart half of my bike, couln´t find anything.
Then I noticed that the derailleur made noises when I touched the cage and then I re-read the instruction/mount-up manual and thought that I might not have greased the hanger bolt properly.

And that was the culprit. I took the derailleur off, greased the hell out of the bolt/derailleur interface and the rotating part with the tension-screw and then greased the contact area to the hanger, loc-tited the thread and never had a single noise since then.

The derailleur seems to put a different kind of load to the frame, because it rather moves sideways than up/down, as most conventional derailleurs do. At least that is my personal explanation.
Never had to grease a hanger bolt before. But now that it works, I am fine with that...

I really like my X01 again, the cassette starts to look pretty worn though...

Greetings Znarf
 
#145 ·
I got a new rear derailleur from SRAM and mounted that up.

At some point this one started to creak and tick like crazy. That was not Srams fault however.
I almost went nuts, nearly tore apart half of my bike, couln´t find anything.
Then I noticed that the derailleur made noises when I touched the cage and then I re-read the instruction/mount-up manual and thought that I might not have greased the hanger bolt properly.

And that was the culprit. I took the derailleur off, greased the hell out of the bolt/derailleur interface and the rotating part with the tension-screw and then greased the contact area to the hanger, loc-tited the thread and never had a single noise since then.

Never had to grease a hanger bolt before. But now that it works, I am fine with that...
I have had the exact same issue with my X0 Type 2 10-Speed - horrible creaking and noise caused by the hanger bolt/derailleur interface. I've had to take it apart and re-grease several times now. Happens every 3-4 months for me before I can't stand the noise and have to re-grease.

I have had the derailleur apart and done the re-greasing (per the Aussie MTB guide), but I suspect the clutch tension is too high and leading to the creak at the hanger bolt. I've also noticed over time the T55 bolt does loosen (affecting clutch tension, requiring adjustments). On top of that I have occasional ghost shifts (briefly up or down one gear, then back) that only happen over rough terrain. Already ruled out cable/housing/hanger/b-screw/indexing for that issue.

At this point I just want it to work reliably. Thinking of grabbing a GX Type 2.1 shorty and calling it a day.
 
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