Rear Derailleur troubles

Po123

Po123

Active Member
I just upgraded my ride from 3x8 to 1x10. I put a sram x9 shifter, sram 10 speed cassette, raceface cranks with a narrow wide chain ring, and 10 speed chain. My lbs said I may get away with running the original x5 derailleur that came on the bike, but here's the problem I can adjust it so it works well on the low gears or the high but not both, if I pull out enough cable slack so it will go on the 36 tooth cog it then shifts very slow going down or skips gears going down. I am pulling my hair out trying to figure it out. Looking for ideas or thoughts on how to fix it.....
 
First thing to do is find out if the derailleur has enough range of motion. It should, since X-5 is not that old, but to test it out, take the chain off and undo the cable from the derailleur. Move the derailleur manually up and down and check to see if the pulleys can line up with the biggest and smallest cogs. If they don't, then use the limit adjusting screws (H = smallest cog limit ; L = biggest cog limit) until you can achieve enough motion to line the pulleys with the cogs. If you still can't get that range, then the derailleur likely doesn't have sufficient range to cover the cog spread. Hope that helps.
 
I tried the test you suggested and it seems the range is ok. Is the shift spacing set by the shifter? And if so any derailluer should work, so long as it can cover the range, is my thinking right or does it not work like that. Thank you for your response icebiker
 
Po123 said:
Is the shift spacing set by the shifter? And if so any derailluer should work, so long as it can cover the range, is my thinking right or does it not work like that.
Click to expand...

Shift spacing is indeed set by the shifter, but the shifter and the derailleur have to have identical actuation ratios. Most SRAM's are 1:1 (whereas Shimano is 2:1). However, some of the newer SRAM shifters (such as, potentially, your X9 10 speed) might have modified actuation ratios. I seem to recall when I had to replace my X9 "Type 2" derailleur due to stick damage, my LBS mentioned that I couldn't use an earlier model of X9 because the clutch type (Type 2) SRAM stuff had a slightly different ratio (and thus my X9 "Type 2" shifter wouldn't work with the older (non-Type 2) derailleur I had lying around in my parts bin.
 
first thing, if the cable and housing isn't new, strip it. with no cable attached check the limits as advised above. then get new cable and housing. if it still doesn't work, you replaced something that should be replaced anyway and is cheap.
 
The pull ratios are different between 7/8/9 and 10/11 speed.

You are going to need a 10 speed derailleur.
 
Thanks for the reply. I bought a x9 10 speed derailleur and all my problems went away
 
Good to hear things worked out, getting the right parts usually yields the best results

What size front ring did you go with?
 
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