A client arrived today for a weeks biking with his new Specialized SX Trail. After he reassembled the bike he rang me saying that he was having problems with the shifting. On having a look there is something weird going on and I’m just not sure what the cause is as everything looks to be set up and assembled OK. But I’ve not seen this Spec rear end before, so not sure if there is a trick to it.

Basically, the problem is that the rear mech is reluctant to drop into the smallest cog, at first I thought it was cable tension or maybe the stop screw, but I disconnected the cable and slackened the relevant stop screw. Then I noticed that the body of the X9 mech actually touches the new “Bridgy” type “strengthener” or what ever it is which is stopping the mech giving that last millimetre or two and allowing the chain to drop into the smallest cog. You can see this on the following picture…

The chain can be persuaded to drop in to the smallest cog if you “block shift” down 2 or 3 gears, but if youjust want to drop down one it won’t have it.

Any ideas anyone??

It’s this particular flavour of SRAM X9, mine is the same.

IIRC you can swap the spring…

The mech doesn’t look right – looks like it needs to be loosened and rotated CCW before being tightened again.

2010 model x9 mech i bet. do a search and there have been a lot of warranty claims. Some say its down to stiff rivets on mech body.

Cheers guys, I checked the positioning of the mech and it’s correct. I also tried adjusting the B screw to see if I could get it to clear but no joy.
Looking on the guys mates bike, also with the same X9 mech, it would appear that he would have the same problem on his Canyon if it had this odd doofa bridge thing fitted.

But sounds like its not something I’m gonna cure on the work stand.

Just a quick bump for any last minute ideas before I drift off into the land of zeds……

Mine is doing the same, I think it’s down to the stiff rivets? My plan is to soak it in white spirit and re-lube it, see if I can get it shifting.

Not sure about this stiff rivet thing as the body is physically resting on the mech hanger, preventing it from moving any further. Plus it moves through all the other cogs perfectly. Although the guy swears that it was working before he packed the bike up for the flight 😐

PJM1974… I’m assuming you mean a weaker spring to stop it compressing the mech so much?

sounds like a bent mech hanger then? If it’s actually being physically stopped from making it into bottom cog, then its bent.

If it’s just not returning like it should then its a tension problem.

I’d ring specialized as i think thats a slightly bizarre problem that could be a setup issue? does that part ever change orientation?