Fixed with pictures: cant get shimano RD9000 to shift correctly

[pavel]

Oh I see. yes, the cable is on the outer side of the bolt, not on the wheel side.

[m_sasso]

Does your cassette have the correct spacers between cogs? Have you used this cassette with another rear derailleur and it shifted correctly?
Any kinks in the cable? Is it a new cable and is it wrapping correctly in the shifter? Which shifters are you using?

[pavel]

Shifters are 9001.
Cassette is fine. Tried 2 different wheels. Same results.
Removed all the liner. Same result.
Removed all the link housing and liner, replaced with the original DA cables. Same result.

[stien]

Is all this testing done in a stand? Any chance the clamp is near the cables? Are the cables rubbing anything else on the frame? Could they be crossed improperly at the downtube?

[OtayBW]

Novel concept: take it to a qualified shop and learn from the fix.

[jds108]

I just want to make sure - is this cable run all external? Plenty of folks have troubles with cables dragging in internally routed frames.

[pavel]

Originally Posted by jds108

I just want to make sure - is this cable run all external? Plenty of folks have troubles with cables dragging in internally routed frames.

Internally routed, so at this point its the only thing I can think of.

Originally Posted by OtayBW

Novel concept: take it to a qualified shop and learn from the fix.

The shop is just as puzzled as I am.

[Fatty]

Originally Posted by pavel

Internally routed, so at this point its the only thing I can think of .

You could run a full length of housing externally , see if that helps.

[moobikes]

More possibilities:

Are the cables interfering with each other inside the frame?
If the frame has a replaceable dropout, could that be a bit loose, and causing erratic shifting?
Is there a loose or broken cable stop?
Is the cable head seating properly in the shifter?
Can the shop swap the rear shifter for another one and see if the shifting is better? Swap RDs?
Don't mind me saying it but it could still be possible the cable is attached to the wrong position at the RD, like OldPotatoe suggested. Maybe check against the Shimano's drawing to be sure.

[sw3759]

yeah,thats what i was going to suggest,unless someone already had or it had been checked off the list.i've heard of several instances where the internal cables get intertwined and cause some weird shifting issues.outside of that,maybe try a another shift lever if that's an option

[jds108]

You're not going to want to hear this, but I bought a no-name chinese carbon frame with internal routing. I put the new Ultegra stuff on it but had the same problem you're having. It takes just a tiny amount of friction in the cable to screw up Shimano.

So I switched the frame over to 11spd Chorus and that solved the problem. Why? Because when the RD shifts from say the 13t to the 14t, it overshifts just a tiny bit while you're pushing the lever. Then when your finger releases the lever, the RD moves back down just a tiny bit. That slight overshift feature overcame the friction issue I had in that frame.

I'm avoiding internally routed frames from here on out.

[John H.]

I was also thinking about issues inside the frame.

Are housing lengths correct? Not too short especially in rear?
Housing cut cleanly so cable doesn't bind?
Do the bars force a tight bend in housing?

[pavel]

Fixed.

It was the second position cog. The other wheel that I tried and had the same issue with last night is fine. I'm attributing that one to irritation, exhaustion and frustration.

Borrowed my friends wheel with 11-25 ultegra and it was perfectly quiet in my frame. Put my wheel in his and it was noisy just like in my frame. Decided to dig deeper. Switched my 3rd position cog ( the noisy one) with his. Same result. Examined further and looked at the other cogs.

My second position dura ace 12 tooth cog is not finished or machined correctly. The ultegra 12 I tried has sharp, geometric edges and a flat back surface where it rests against the next cog. My dura ace 12 does not appear to be machined off on the back. The edges are smooth and on the back of this one it looks like there is excess material left over from the forging process that wasn't machined away resulting in a ring of material all around the spacer part of the cog. It's not a lot, it's probably less than .3mm tall, but it's enough to change the spacing between the 12 and 13 just enough to where accounting for it with chain tension throws the whole system off. Using his cog in my cassette results in perfect shifting. Putting my cog in his recreates the problem. So my fix is a 12t from another cassette. I will contact shimano.

[m_sasso]

Glad to hear you solved your difficulty, often exchanging parts to known good parts is the key to finding the obstacle.

[ultraman6970]

Wow this was a triky one. If its that little just lay a piece of sand paper in a super flat surface and sand the cog over it.