Indexing problems...

[kgunzer]

All gears can be engaged except the last one. 09 Shimano Saints are crisp and snappy indexing, but I seem to have problems getting from 13T up to 11T.

Here's how it looks:



As pictured, I can't get the 09 Saint RD to engage the last gear. The idler's has gone past alignment of the last gear and still it won't engage after adjusting the HIGH gear limit and cable tensioner (at the shifter).

Any ideas as why this is happening?

Could it be possibly my shifter cable is a tad short? But if it is, how come I can get all 8 gears properly without any hitch?

 

[harmonix1234]

Your cable may be too tight, and not letting enough out.

Or, your limit screw is not set right on your RD.

Is it a new derailleur? New cables? New cassette? Has it always worked fine before?

If it worked fine before, it is just one of the above.

Wind your barrel back to halfway (so you have some play) and manually loosen the cable by undoing the cable holding screw on the derailleur and let a few mm's of cable through and tighten back up.

If this fails, then it is the limit screw.

If you need help setting the limits let me know. Be happy to walk you through it. I'd write it now, but pizza's in the oven.

 

[WillR]

It's not a Specialized is it?
I've had the derailleur hit on that derailleur protector thingy before it reaches the limit screw stop, making it impossible to get into the bottom cog. (this was with an X9 though)

 

[kgunzer]

New Derailleur, new cassette, new cable.

If the cable was too tight, it won't go past alignment of the 11th cog.

Have tried adjusting cable tension at shifter and to no avail.

Limit screws are at their max already (that's why idlers have gone past alignment of 11th cog). The setup engages the lowest gears up to the 13th gear (8 gears engaged all up) but won't engage 11 tooth cog.

Setup:

09 Shimano Saint Shifter
09 Shimano Saint Rear Derailleur (short cage)
SRAM PG-991 chain
SRAM PG-970 11-26T cassette​

 

[sneezy]

the last 3 or so(can't remember) cogs are manually placed on the cassette I believe....is it possible that the 13T is on the wrong way and affecting the movement of the chain????

just a wild uninformed guess.....

 

[kgunzer]

the last 3 or so(can't remember) cogs are manually placed on the cassette I believe....is it possible that the 13T is on the wrong way and affecting the movement of the chain????

just a wild uninformed guess.....

Good guess, but chain goes in and out of that cog and the spacing between 11, 13 and 15T are uniform.

 

[gixer7]

Whenever I come across a problem like this I try to elimate the variables and the first thing I would do is take the cable out of the equation altogther and remove it.

You should then be able to get the chain to shift into the 11T cog by using the derailleur adjustment only ie. limit screws etc.

If it does not then the mech might be having some issues.

As you mention the limit screws are already at their maximum and still no resolution I highly recommend removing the cable, resetting the limit screws and starting over from scratch.

I always make sure the derailler will shift nicely into the 11T cog before putting the cable in - I do this by moving the derailleur by hand and getting it inot a bigger cog and then let it shift naturally back to the 11T.

 

[Coaster]

New Derailleur, new cassette, new cable.

Howdy, had the same problem with my Shimano XT setup. Did you replace cable housing? Worth doing for only a few extra dollars and it solved my problem. I think there was crap in the housing somewhere and that stopped the cable from travelling the required distance.

Other than that I think gixer7 is on the money. That's what I also did (I guess it's the control/ alt/ delete of the tuning world) and found it earsier to fix when starting from scratch.

 

[sneezy]

.

Did you replace cable housing?

Is the problem solved yet?? I just noticed in the pic that the outer cables look like that metal braided type.....I did have some changing issues with a new bike that had those and after many trips to the shop just got rid of them and made my own outers....no more problems. Will never have those outers again...

hope your problem is already fixed

sneezy

 

[{ScarFace}]

Before you buy new outers, dial back the B-adjustment screw as much as you can while checking that the chain can still operate in your biggest cog.

 

[Nerf Herder]

is your hanger bent haggle king ... just straightened mine after thinking is was a cable pull issue.

There seems to be a bit of an optical illusion with your pic, my eyes seem to see the chain feeding thru the mech by crossing ... *rubs eyes ... is it just me ... yeah prolly

 

[markyh990]

My X9 rear deraileur is a bit old and bent and also a bit shit and struggled to hit the smallest cog (was as stiff as a plank)

I knocked a couple of links outta my chain and it then started working perfect

 

[harmonix1234]

There seems to be a bit of an optical illusion with your pic, my eyes seem to see the chain feeding thru the mech by crossing ... *rubs eyes ... is it just me ... yeah prolly

Not alone there Nerf, I see it too. It looks like it's going behind itself.

 

[noddy]

scarface is on it.

saint's have a removable piece of alloy (black) on the later mentioned gold thing used to make the derailer run well on mtb mech's, if you have a road mech you should remove this piece (and store it somwhere safe)

adjust the b tension screw, its the one which contacts the gold hanger attachment point (i think, long time since i've seen a saint derailer up close), you want to make the lower idler wheel closer to the mech, this will make the chain angle more and hopefully shift.

there is a limit, if you go too far the idler will rumble on the large cogs when your shift to them. its a ballancing game.

ps; shortening the chain also affects this, so investigate that too. just make sure that when shortening the suspension won't pull the chain tight. take out your shock, remove the spring then put it back in (just the bolts, no need to tighten) then get the chain around your biggest cog and push the linkages to full bottom out point, ow you can take out any slack (if any) in the chain without worry of taking out too much.