Hi, I have an XT clutch rear mech with an SLX shifter and it is very stiff to change gear, I am going to strip and regrease the cable but interested if anyone else is having the same issues?

I hadn’t really thought to much about it until I borrowed a friends ‘non-clutch’ bike and it was so light and easy to shift

Thanks

Need to rule out cables & outers first. The clutch mechs are a little stiffer I believe.

Cable runs smooth…no tight turns?

What’s it like if you turn the clutch off ? Makes a difference on my xt set up . Logic says it’ll be stiffer as you’re moving the mech against its clutch.

Doesn’t make a lot of difference with clutch off, at least no where near what I would expect.

No kinks in the cables, but a strip and regrease never hurt anyone!

Cheers

grease the clutch whist at it – do it regularly!

Logic says it’ll be stiffer as you’re moving the mech against its clutch.

the cable pulls the mech at right angles to the clutch – so the clutch has no effect on shifting force.

Its your legs that work against the clutch – during the pedal stroke after shifting up. Your leg pulls the cage forward via the chain.

“Logic says it’ll be stiffer as you’re moving the mech against its clutch.
the cable pulls the mech at right angles to the clutch – so the clutch has no effect on shifting force.

Its your legs that work against the clutch – during the pedal stroke after shifting up. Your leg pulls the cage forward via the chain.”

But as you change, the chain shortens and therefore the cage moves forwards against the clutch tension

But as you change, the chain shortens and therefore the cage moves forwards against the clutch tension

correct but its your legs that pull the cage forward not your thumb. If you shift up without turning the pedals does the cage move??

No , because you’re not doing a full change . Anyways I’m not here to quible only to help , how about removing the chain to see what the shift is like , that way it rules out the chain/leg question , I’m interested in the answer cos I like to learn .

Having just installed 2 clutch mechs recently i think i can help.

Without chain the mechs feel ‘normal’
With chain there is a noticable resistance.

The reason being the parallelogram action of the mech moves pivot of the mech cage in a downwards and rearwards direction, hence the cage does rotate (if only a small amount) against the clutch. When you pedal you move the chain across to a larger cog, so increased pedaling resistance during this change also.

Just as I thought , just haven’t got the vocab to describe it.

Update, finally got round to replacing cable and all is well with the world, regreased and lubed it and it is light & smooth. The old cable was actually fine so just some lubing required actually! Didn’t adjust clutch at all