Mud and Shifting

[markyh990]

New bike is seeing its first winter and the silly amounts of mud on the trails at the moment. This is my first winter back on the bike after a few years off due to study, and really dont recall how well my old bike shifted in mud back then. But my new one, running a x9 rear derry, struggles to hit the bottom to gears after alot of mud, and only works againt after taking it off and cleaning it with some thoroughly and putting it back on.

Question I ask is, is that normal, or am I a prime candidate for a new rear derry?

 

[Slowman]

Assuming you bought this bike over summer the X9 components should still be fine. I've got some that are over 3 y/o and they are still fine. Try some new cables first. Mud typically gets into all those exposed outer cable bits so the best thing to do with the right hand shifter is to eliminate as many entry points as possible. I run continuous outer cable from the shifter to the rear derailleur (sorry I cannot under any circumstance bring myself to call it a ...that thing you said ). In addition I use jagwire ferules (even use Jagwire outer cables) which have some kind of wax seal around the inner cable. This way there is only one place the crud can get in and that is where the inner cable is exposed at the rear derailleur and with those wax barriers it is kept out for a long time. This helps a lot to keep the crud out and keep the shifting still crisp in bad weather.

 

[RangaRMX]

Is it only ever doing it in the mud or when it's gunked up with crap?

Reason I ask is that I remember my X-9 used to shit me occasionally not shifting onto the smallest gear.
I read up on it and found there was some sort of manufacturing error in a few and you need to grind down a little bit of the derailleur as it can occasionally foul it and stop it fully stepping down into the highest gear.

My net's been capped so you'll have to search yourself unfortunately, also try on http://forums.mtbr.com there's a whole sub-forum devoted to drivetrain issues and questions.

 

[outtacontrol]

My bike used to suffer from sticky shifting every couple of weeks until I ran full length outers on my gear cables.

Shifts better than brand new as been for a couple of months now.