Sticky Sram shifter - right hand

[ghammer]

Hi There,

bear w me here.

I own a locally-made bike that used to have issues with its drop out der hanger. The issue substantially disappeared once the manufacturer sent me a new hanger (machined instead of molded).

At the same time, even before i got the new hanger, when exposed to a lot of water, say, during a storm, my right hand RED sram shifter would get stuck, or not shift. I thought it was due to gunk in there, but after airing it out it'd go back to normal and shift ok.

this past year i did a few too many indoor rides on the trainer. I sweat profusely (for a skinny-ish rider), and after a few sessions, washed the bike w soap. Then 1-2 days later i went for a ride and the bike shifted like garbage. Overshifting, not shifting, click once and two cogs go up, etc. When i got home I took the hood off, sprayed a dry-degreaser, let it dry, doused it in lubricant, then let it sit overnight. I also swapped the rear der cable. the bike did get better but not as good as it was before i over-sweated on it and then washed it.

i checked the innards, and the indented parts are clean and free of gunk. still, from 16 to 17 it takes a few tries. from 17 to 16 it goes easy. from 17 and up (17-19-21-23-25), it shifts fine and very crisp. HOWEVER, from 25 to 23 it misses, rattles, sorta doesn't shift, then shifts. then from 23 to 21 it's similar, from 21 to 19 it shifts ok but rattles a lot. i fix the rattle by shifting to 17, then to 19 again. that holds true on both small and big ring (i run 38-52, so no big jumps and the fd shifts flawlessly).

My question is: is this a derailleur problem? i want to fault the hanger, but i'm not sure it's the real reason. I also wonder if the cable or housing are either damaged or overgunked or crimped. It's its 3rd der cable this season, and i don't even race anymore and it hasn't rained that much here to warrant such poor quality shifting. The thing is, it didn't use to be like that. The bike is set up w 10 speed red levers matched w a rival rear der, an ultegra cassette 12-25 and sram chain. i replaced the pulleys on the rear der, which helped a bit but not much. Any insight out there? should i replace the housing? the cable? what am i doing wrong?

pls help. i love this bike but don't feel like going on an exploratory mission buying new stuff to assess the problem.

thanks,

G

[oldpotatoe]

Hi There,

bear w me here.

I own a locally-made bike that used to have issues with its drop out der hanger. The issue substantially disappeared once the manufacturer sent me a new hanger (machined instead of molded).

At the same time, even before i got the new hanger, when exposed to a lot of water, say, during a storm, my right hand RED sram shifter would get stuck, or not shift. I thought it was due to gunk in there, but after airing it out it'd go back to normal and shift ok.

this past year i did a few too many indoor rides on the trainer. I sweat profusely (for a skinny-ish rider), and after a few sessions, washed the bike w soap. Then 1-2 days later i went for a ride and the bike shifted like garbage. Overshifting, not shifting, click once and two cogs go up, etc. When i got home I took the hood off, sprayed a dry-degreaser, let it dry, doused it in lubricant, then let it sit overnight. I also swapped the rear der cable. the bike did get better but not as good as it was before i over-sweated on it and then washed it.

i checked the innards, and the indented parts are clean and free of gunk. still, from 16 to 17 it takes a few tries. from 17 to 16 it goes easy. from 17 and up (17-19-21-23-25), it shifts fine and very crisp. HOWEVER, from 25 to 23 it misses, rattles, sorta doesn't shift, then shifts. then from 23 to 21 it's similar, from 21 to 19 it shifts ok but rattles a lot. i fix the rattle by shifting to 17, then to 19 again. that holds true on both small and big ring (i run 38-52, so no big jumps and the fd shifts flawlessly).

My question is: is this a derailleur problem? i want to fault the hanger, but i'm not sure it's the real reason. I also wonder if the cable or housing are either damaged or overgunked or crimped. It's its 3rd der cable this season, and i don't even race anymore and it hasn't rained that much here to warrant such poor quality shifting. The thing is, it didn't use to be like that. The bike is set up w 10 speed red levers matched w a rival rear der, an ultegra cassette 12-25 and sram chain. i replaced the pulleys on the rear der, which helped a bit but not much. Any insight out there? should i replace the housing? the cable? what am i doing wrong?

pls help. i love this bike but don't feel like going on an exploratory mission buying new stuff to assess the problem.

thanks,

G

First thing I would check is to see if there is a lot of in/out play between the der. body and the pulley cage. Depending on age/year, SRAM ders develop some in-out play there which in the worse case, will cause cage to go into your spokes.

If der ok, new cables and housing, use 5mm der housing and metal ferrules.

[AngryScientist]

interesting. that was a thoroughly written problem statement, so bravo with that.

i think the first thing you should do is disconnect the cable at the RD and have someone shift the rear with you applying light tension to the cable. this should let you ascertain whether there is any binding or resistance in the cable and housing. i suspect that is where the problem is myself.

if, in fact everything seems to move smoothly: that is, cable pulled and released over the full gear range, you can look elsewhere, but its a good place to start based on what you've described.