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Anyone using Shimano chains on X01/XX1?

7K views 13 replies 10 participants last post by  Brad 
#1 ·
After just a few miles of riding my drivetrain squeals in the 42T cog. After another 10 miles the 36 and 32 start as well.

Drivetrain consists of X01 derailleur/cassette/shifter, XX1 cranks w/Wolftooth cog, and Ultegra 11spd chain. It all has low miles. 150 miles on ring/cassette/chain. 300 miles on crank/shifter/derailleur.

I lube and wipe down after every ride with Rock N Roll Gold and let it sit at least overnight to dry before riding.

Is it possible that Shimano chains do not play nice with the rest of the setup? My road bike is all Shimano except the cassette and it works great.
 
#4 ·
I tried a Shimano XTR 11 speed chain with a RF narrow wide ring with a SRAM xx1 cassette that was pretty new, and the chain fell off 4 times during a race. I had put the chain on 3 weeks prior, and of course no issues. The chainring was nowhere near worn, and to test it, I tried swapping a new ring of the same size onto the crank, and sure enough I dropped the chain two rides later. We have really rough riding and the clutch really gets a hard workout on the descents, but having ridden XX1 for a year and a half now, I have only dropped a chain once before and that was due to excessive mud. I pulled the Shimano chain off, and put a new XX1 chain on, and there have been no issues since. Normally I'm a big Shimano chain fan, they last longer and shift better on the 10 speed system but in this case, I'm sticking with XX1.
 
#5 ·
I tried a SRAM 1170 chain today and had the same issue. Will try switching to Rock N Roll Blue before the next ride. Just surprised I rode all last summer with RNR Gold with no issues. I was on a Shimano XT 1x10 drivetrain though, I wonder if the SRAM 1x11 stuff is just more picky...
 
#6 ·
I swapped to an XX1 chain and RNR Blue lube and the drivetrain is dead silent after a 30 mile REALLY dusty ride yesterday.

Both of the chains I tried that were squealing had ~200 more miles on it than the cassette... so I don't know if having a chain that's older than the cassette could be an issue or if it was the lube, but I'll be using RNR Blue from here on out just in case.
 
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