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  • Shimano Warranty – 2 x bent Zee Mechs
  • philwarren11
    Free Member

    First one lasted 8 months, second one bent in three rides. Do I have to go through the seller?

    Seems like the main metal body bends, cage and all other bits are fine, hardly any marks on either. I hit the clutch housing and its not pointing away from the bike. And before anyone asks, its not the hanger. lol.

    trail_rat
    Free Member

    the mechs not designed to be hit at all….

    the forecast for this claim is cloudy with a chance of meatballs.

    cookeaa
    Full Member

    “Warranty” doesn’t actually mean free replacement when you **** it on a rock….

    Or does it? Have I been missing out on loads of free parts all these years?

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    philwarren11
    Free Member

    Yeah i thought as much, I’ll have a go at bending it back into shape as i got one to practice on.

    Northwind
    Full Member

    Shimano did warranty a bunch of these early on as they had a really bad failure rate, never did see any concensus on why (I think it’s just what happens if you stick the bottom half of a saint mech on the top half of an SLX… Then release it into teh wild where it meets 1) people who’ve got the chain length wrong on their 1×10 and 2) people who think it’s as strong as Saint.)

    hora
    Free Member

    I ran my beloved 2002 XTR mech up until last month. I changed my rear shock to a shorter one and…… tore my mech apart.

    I replaced it with a new SLX- 2 rides later it was twisted/mangled.

    Answer = chain growth.

    The new SLX has lasted since.

    honourablegeorge
    Full Member

    I had a Zee mech fail, the cage just came apart, on the first day, no impacts or weird chain lengths or anything. I beat it back into shape with a claw hammer, couldn’t get it shifting smoothly again, and dumped it ina box and replaced with Saint – same bike, chain length, the low, worked perfectly.

    Six months later I sent it back for warranty, and they replaced it.

    BoardinBob
    Full Member

    Bent my Zee mech with a really minor scuff on the side of a rut on its 3rd ride. Cage was fine but the mech was bent in the main body. Luckily the guys at the Shimano tent at the EWS replaced it free of charge after much begging due to the fact Alpine bikes weren’t stocking any rear mechs and the other bike shop in Peebles doesn’t open on a Sunday!

    philwarren11
    Free Member

    3rd Zee mech bent, only slightly tweaked outwards but its killing my lower jockey wheel. Its clearly down to the chain growth so im going to change it to a medium cage.

    Looking at the SLX it looks indential to my zee on the front and rear body parts. Should i not bother with this as i keep bending these and look at the different Deore or step up to XT?

    BoardinBob
    Full Member

    CRC are replacing or refunding them without any questions. My last one exploded and launched itself into the spokes when I was pootling at <3mph on a flat fireroad. Just using deore now with no noticeable difference in shifting.

    Northwind
    Full Member

    The top end of SLX is more or less the same as Zee (the front knuckle is Saint, for some reason). I reckon maybe the toughness of the old Saint cage is too much for the SLX top, something’s got to give… Could be wrong. Zee is definitely borderline for cage length on chaingrowthy bikes.

    XT seems tough to me, yet to kill one and both mine are absolutely mauled. But maybe tomorrow I’ll destroy one.

    philwarren11
    Free Member

    Thanks for the info, if it wasnt for Merlin doing the SLX for 29 quid I would just go for XT.

    I’ll try my luck with CRC.

    nevermindthebutter
    Free Member

    My medium XT has twisted it’s cage out, purely from the effect of chain-growth and the clutch. Chain is plenty long and it hasn’t ever been hit (most hits have the opposite effect anyway). LBS wrench says it’s common, as is the lower jockey wheel unseating it’s bearing causing the chain to contact the cage. All down to the clutch being too strong for the design of the mechanism.

    bruneep
    Full Member

    The clutch strength can be adjusted.

    [video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wV6W4PKDUrU[/video]

    nemesis
    Free Member

    indeed it can but you shouldn’t have to do that from new, should you?

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 15 total)

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