Problems with xx1/x01 rear mech shifting?

Anyone had/having similar problems to me with the xx1/x01 rear mech, it basically really doesn’t want to shift into 11th gear, it hesitates for ages and goes in eventually or you can shift quickly down through 3 or 4 gears and it will engage 11th but just cruising along or in work stand it doesn’t want to, once it goes into 11th it doesn’t jump or skip

I put a new chain on today thinking it would just be that, and exactly the same thing, it worked flawlessly the first two months, and now it’s started doing this, lbs took the mech apart and it seems like the pivots is stiff when it’s at it’s slackest (11th gear) so it’s not pulling across

It shifts absolutely flawlessly in any other gear and shifts up from 11th fine just will not go down smoothly into 11th

Any one else had similar? Shop reckon it will be a warranty anyways but intrigued as to why!

Presuming your cable is tensioned correctly, appropriate chain length etc, have you checked the B screw? I just wonder if the upper jockey wheel is a bit low?

Wild guess, in some respects, although I’ve experienced similar on 9 & 10 sp and seem to recall, once I had cleaned and lubed the cable, I would set about resetting the b-tension and limit screws which must have fixed the issue. After all, a derailleur is a derailleur.

Funnily enough my mates having the exact same problem with the xo1 set up on his stumpy evo so will keep an eye on this. He’s tried the obvious limit screw, cable tension etc

I found that with my XX1 and it was down to the b-screw being set incorrectly.
I’ve also found that the index in is very sensitive to cable tension but once set it’s spot-on.

I originally had this when I first set it up 2 months ago.

It was chain growth on my Remedy.

Had to set chain length and all tension screws with no air in the shock.

If it is too tight and the tension of the mech isn’t right the cage at the top pulley can catch the large gear on the cassette while moving. Slightly longer chain and more tension to pull the mech back and down abit, sorted the clearence issue out for me.

Never seen it on other sram set ups. I put it down to the larger top pulley on the 11 speed set up.

Slackalice nope lbs are proper good mechanics first thing they thought maybe a kinked inner cable, but no different at all

It wasn’t until he took the cable off completely to find it still wouldn’t fall into 11th, which obviously then suggested it was the mech itself not springing further enough out to go to 11th

He’s ringing sram tomoz for me and dependant on what they say he thinks it will just get warrantied

Steve at least it’s not just me, tell your mate to get into sram something isn’t working as it should be on the mech either the spring or the pivots and one side of the pivots felt very stuff compared to the other

It’s defo the mech to some extent though everything else shifts perfectly , so chain/cassette / setup just something not springing properly in the mech

Extremenik even with the cable out the chain wouldn’t shift down into 11th? This was in a work stand too so can’t see how chain growth would cause this?

It’s also been fine for the first two months it was silky going into any gear, which it still is bar 11th

Will keep updated as they are speaking to sram tomoz

Will keep an eye on this. My X01 mech went off to SRAM Tech today for the same reason. No end of adjustment and cable tension, or new cable & outer, would get smooth shifting. Occasionally 10th is a struggle, let alone 11th.
It’s 5months new and I’m wondering if winter slop has something to do with it. No matter though, it’s a mountain bike component. Should work in all conditions!!

Added this to my favourites as i am picking up my 5 spot tomorrow with X01 groupset fitted finally.

Will be good to see the long term niggles and their solutions.

interesting to see its not just me then, ill report back when i’ve heard from the shop, the mechanice at the lbs is a pretty awesome mechanic as is the other one who set it all up for me, it had him stumped yesterday, all the usual things were to no avail, everything was setup right and shifting in every other gear was spot on, just 11th

he’s sure its to do with the mech its self and the movement of the derailleur not physically having enough pull/or to little stretch to get across to the 11th gear, if you manually move the cage by hand to 11th (to sort of help it on its way) its goes in fine and then stays in fine (no jumping/skipping)

stany as you say its a bit worrying its not making it through winter, i can vouch for mine been perfect from day one of picking up, it defo shifted into 11th then when i had it in october, so maybe your right, grit/wet/mud may have got into it somewhere and slowed down the action…luckily its not the end of the world as it still shifts in every other gear like new and if i fast shift 3 or 4 gears right down to 11th (from say 8th) it goes in fine too, so shop im guessing will just speak to sram, get a warranty and be a straight swap, not sure what else the mechanic could have done as he took the mech apart and took the pivots out to and cleaned them, still the same, though it was slightly better it did eventually shift in after doing all that, but it was anything far from instant like before, so they agreed its just faulty really!

i do think its the winter if im honest though, as when he released the cable completely from the mech (it should automatically then fall into 11th by default), it didnt, it stayed in 10th, so was absolutly nothing to do with tension/b-screw etc, something on the spring/or cage itself

I have had the same issue.

As others have said XX1 seems particularly sensitive to exactly the right cable tension but that is a separate issue.

Are you able to adjust the limit screw enough to get the jockey in the correct position? The centre of the top jockey should be just to the right (when looking from the back) of the centre of the smallest cog (i.e. different to a traditional mech). On my frame I am not able to adjust it enough as turning the limit screw more doesn’t move the top jockey outboard any more beyond a certain point. I can’t get them much beyond being in line which isn’t enough according to the SRAM instructions. I put this down to the frame getting in the way and not being designed for such an outboard mech position although I haven’t taken any measurements to confirm this

danw – did yours do that from day one though?

see mine worked properly for the first 2 months, it went into 11th as smooth as the rest, cant really understand why it would suddenly stop now? if the b screw had taken a knock etc surely the other gears would be out of sync? especially the biggest 42t? but again absolutely smooth as can be

plus they make my frame from factory with the ability to add xx1 to the build kit, so its not a frame issue either

i just think its the mech not springing across far enough, really as simple as that, but not sure whether its the pivots/spring or just grit and mud like said above slowing it down

Exact same problem here, (as mentioned by steved)
Tried everything as mentioned above, its as if the spring doesn’t have any tension left once it gets to 10th gear, mine struggles to get into 10th and 11th if i shift one at a time, but it will go if I shift down quickly. Sounds like an identical problem!
Ive changed the inner cable, had the mech off and given it a good clean, everything looks straight etc. Let us know what sram have to say.

I think it was like it from day one. In the biggest and smallest cog the mech seems to sit wherever it wants to sit almost regardless of the limit screws. The limits affect the shifting between gears in the cassette but doesn’t seem to change much at the extremes of the cassette.

Sounds like this below:

its as if the spring doesn’t have any tension left once it gets to 10th gear, mine struggles to get into 10th and 11th if i shift one at a time, but it will go if I shift down quickly. Sounds like an identical problem!

My mech also seems to have some play side to side even when the cage is locked out which I initially thought way a dodgy mech hanger. I think this lack of side to side stiffness contributes to the troubles getting in to the 11th gear and might explain why adjusting the limit screws doesn’t help and the mech just sits in the same place each time.

plus they make my frame from factory with the ability to add xx1 to the build kit, so its not a frame issue either

I don’t think a frame is necessarily designed for XX1 just because it is sold with it. I feel that the wider cassette challenges the chainstay clearance and mech hanger position and also challenges the chainline chainline is a PITA for me at the moment too). Some frames seem fine while others seem less than ideal

diggerythedog – thats exactly 10000% the same as my problem, i think it develops over time (due to grit/mud/general winter!), its defo nothing you can do cable wise, nor is it gonna be b-tension etc, its literally in the mech itself, like i said good test is to see if the mech automatically goes down into 11th with no cable in, that was the final test for the mechanic yesterday and it was like a lightbulb went on in his head, as he was baffled before that

he said its the mech itself and its something with the pivots or springs themselves

DANW – see yours may have had the problem from day one? was it new or second hand mech? any miles on it etc? its not something you are doing setup wrong (unless your frame is actually incompatible?), its in the mech

luckily the lbs got to the bottom of it within a hour of being in the workstand, if it was left to me i’d have been changing the cassette/cables and just about everything else

will defo report back, maybe sram have a fix for it? ive no idea how the person would be able to keep on top of it mind, i wash mine pretty much spot on now to keep it clean, theres defo a design fault somewhere with it

DANW i also do wonder about what you say about side to side play, its very apparent without the cable in on mine, but both myself and mechanic thought it was a bit odd to have the play in the lower 10th/11th gears (coincedence?), but again were not sure if its a design of the XX1 stuff??

DanW – Member
plus they make my frame from factory with the ability to add xx1 to the build kit, so its not a frame issue either
I don’t think a frame is necessarily designed for XX1 just because it is sold with it. I feel that the wider cassette challenges the chainstay clearance and mech hanger position and also challenges the chainline chainline is a PITA for me at the moment too). Some frames seem fine while others seem less than ideal

i know but i know of 2 guys with xx1/x01 on the same frame and they have had no issues at all, so i dont think it is the frame TBH, i genuinely just think its the mech, plus this is a swingarm too on a five so no chainstays etc to get in the way, i was running 1×10 on it before with no issues to chainline, and like i said ive run it for 2 months from new and its been fine and dandy, it wouldnt suddenly stop working due to the frame

Definitely the same problem, worked fine until a few weeks ago, Ive had the bike since October 13 (a stumpy evo 2014) it still shifts perfectly through 1 to 9, I personally think its the spring, the mech seems smooth and quiet through its range, not notchy or sounds of grit etc, just doesn’t seem any tension in the spring as it gets to gears 10 and 11.
Oscillate wildly, who are you contacting? SRAM direct?

diggery – ive just had word from shop, theyve told me to take it in and they will send it off to sram, so sounds like a warranty job i guess, didnt say what it could be, i guess maybe sram are hard to get hold of?

interestingly though at dinner time and this is very very very very very very bizzare, but before i left with the lbs last night it was very very slow to engage into 11th (better than when i went in, it would evenutally go in, where as riding along before it wouldnt), so the mechanic just said you’ll have to shift from 3 or 4 cogs up straight into 11th (like i have been doing to get it into 11th straight away)…..

well ive just checked it at dinner and although its not in a workstand, just picking the bike up and shifting into 11th from 10th and its working like new!!!!! huh??? last night when i left the lbs in the workstand it only eventually shifted into 11th, today at dinner time ive just shifted numerous numerous times and its shifting fine and smooth now into 11th in a one gear change at a time format!

i have no idea but i can only now assume that maybe just maybe the disc brake cleaner (sprayed loads and loads into the mech) and stripping it apart including the pivots, its some how loosened it overnight and now shifting as i remember when new into 11th gear

still skeptical wont be riding till tomoz/thursday now so ive no idea if it will actually work when pedalling or not

but all i can say is yesterday it wasnt/taking ages to shift in, they took it apart in the evening for me as i watched, sprayed loads of brake disc cleaner and blew out any grit muck hanging around, and lube on the pivots before reinstalling them, put it back together and it was marginally better in the workstand……then left it overnight, came to check at dinner and its totally shifting into 11th no problem, no delay, no messing, in any cog right across the range! again this isnt in the workstand just lifting the bike up spinning the cranks (not that should make any difference!)

seriously WTF????

will report back after ive ridden it properly

may just need a total stripdown every month 🙁

ive had mine the same length of time as you diggery so pretty disappointing if it is due to grit/mud/seizing etc

I found the xx1 rear mech is extremely sensitive to the upper (low) limit adjustment. I initially set up as per any other mech – i.e setting stops before installing cable and chain. This didn’t work as well as it ought – with the issue of not up shifting to largest sprocket.

I then re-read the SRAM installation guide and realised they recommend setting the stops with the chain installed. I re-adjusted with zero cable tension and found I needed to adjust the upper limit nearer to the spokes. This then worked perfectly.

jamj i dont think the isse is with setup in that sense, all the guys above who have had the same problem as me suggest it was working fine and then suddenly went like that, its something to do with the mech itself, my lbs did all the checks last night (bscrew, limit screws, new inner/outer), and dismantled the mech completely, it was then fully cleaned and any trace of grit/grime etc was erradicated too, it still didnt shift into 11th after doing all this last night

then dinner time today and its shifting fine, i have no idea how/why or if it will even last, but it is definitely shifting from 10th to 11th just fine at present

ill see how it goes, just means im going to be off the bike for 4days plus if i send it in for repair/warranty replacement, and at the minute even if i couldnt shift into 11th i could by shifting 3-4cogs at once to get into it…..

will see how it goes and if its similar or not right in another gear now, it will be sent back

and diggery if you did all the above, the only thing extra the lbs did was strip the pivots out, cleaned them all and dropped abit of lube in before putting them back in

if that has cured it i have no idea, but it certainly shifts into 11th at the moment

very strange!

No worries. Fingers crossed for you.

I think there is definitely something funny going on in getting an XX1 mech set up.

I found exactly the same thing as jamj1974 when setting the limit screws and needed to have the mech move quite a large amount towards the spokes more than I would when setting up any other mech.

Weirdly, I fiddled with the mech and haven’t had any further issues getting in to the 11th gear since increasing the cable tension. This seems counter intuitive and I’ve no idea how this has helped. Cable tension seems to be much greater than other mech to keep everything smooth.

I really don’t understand this mech! 😀

Yep it seems an odd one, defo weird from last night not working to doing nothing over night and it working?!

who know maybe it just didnt like the workstand last night

Big thanks to all the early adopters!
…discovering all the hidden gremlins so that when the rest of us join the party in 2 years time we can enjoy functional, reliable kit 🙂

+1

Fookin nora !!!… I thought this same problem on my X01 was down to me.

Out on the trail, no problem. Get home, clean bike, lube up, checks and measures on work stand…no drop into 11th. Try adjusting cable tension in work stand, no 11th. Ride bike around block adjusting cable tension in the dark and get 11th just about dropping in but only if you put some tension in the chain…. leave bike over night on the naughty step to have a good think about what it’s just done and **** me next morning… all’s fine again !!!

Cable tension is obviously very sensitive on the 1×11 set up and now we just leave each other alone and I don’t have any problems.

Bizarre, but that’s Sram for you !!!

Haha sounds exactly like my experience! What the hell?

So excitable1 has yours been fine since you out it on the naughty step? Ha

I’m hoping by some strange weird thing it just didn’t like being in the work stand once it had a new cable and such like then when it was on the ground it seemed fine?

Why on earth would being in a work stand not allow it to go into 11th?? Figure that out and it could be the answer

Not had any problems for 2 months now because I think I’ve found the sweet spot on the cable tension but I’ve never had any problems out on the trail, it’s always been post ride and faff.

There’s no tension in the chain and frame when the bike is in the stand and no sag on the suspension resulting in a bit of extra frame length etc compared to when you’re sat riding around, add that to a sticky cable from washing and lubing and an overly sensitive set up and I’m guessing it all results in misbehavior (best guess !!!)

I have had these issues in the workstand, on the turbo and on the trail so am not sure about the change in chain tension being a factor. I think your main point about it being very sensitive to changes in set up and the odd change in grit or lube being enough to throw everything out of whack is probably the cause of the issues.

All I know is that the cassette is not a factor since I have had similar variable ability to get in the 11th gear running an Ultegra 11 speed cassette on the Turbo (with the same XX1 mech, chain and shifter). At the same time as the XX1 cassette shifting sorting itself out everything worked fine on my Turbo/ Ultegra set up too.

I have stopped setting up XX1 using instructions or any previous experience setting up mechs and instead fiddling with everything that can be adjusted until it works correctly (and crucially not touch anything after it works well)!

I have stopped setting up XX1 using instructions or any previous experience setting up mechs and instead fiddling with everything that can be adjusted until it works correctly (and crucially not touch anything after it works well)!

….I’d agree with that. I’ve also found standing in the corner of the garage and sulking, screaming into a towel and the dark art of VOOOOODOO works just as well !!!

Doesn’t bode well for long term reliability though does it? F**kin sram, come on shimano get your house in order and get on the 11 speed band wagon. Keep us posted on your progress oscillate, I think I’ll hold off sending mine back just yet.

Why on earth would being in a work stand not allow it to go into 11th?? Figure that out and it could be the answer

Peddling the bike puts power through the wheel – the reactive force from this can flex the frame/wheels slightly – It could be that this flex is enough to twist the mech or cassette a gnat hair causing the shift to happen if the tolerances are uber tight (which they will be for 11 speed).

I agree to a certain extent ndthronton and this is true for most gear set ups. What works perfectly on the trail can often look slightly sub par in the workstand. However, many of us seem to be having the same issues on the trail too and I certainly have them on the trail and turbo (i.e. with forces going through the frame and drivetrain).

I’m not in any way a fan of SRAM but I do like the wide range gearing on a 1x drivetrain. In fairness to SRAM, Shimano also have ongoing issues with people snapping the clutch section. Maybe it is user error in over tightening the clutch on Shimano mechs but neither are flawless yet. I always thought SRAM have great innovation executed poorly (materials etc), whereas Shimano are behind on innovation but what they do produce is usually pretty damn flawless. Given the choice I would go for a Shimano version

Surprised nobody’s mentioned it yet, but sounds like exactly the same issues that Sram X9 mechs suffered with a few years back.

What issues did X9 have coatsey? I haven’t come across this before

Have people measured the chain wear?

Yes, my chain is showing fine on the chain o meter and I believe oscillate has tried a new chain, I also tried the mech without a chain and its still not dropping into the last position, you have to push it the last little bit with your finger. Its like the spring has lost tension/stretched.

It’s not the chain wear toon mine was replaced from brand new at .50 on a park tool a bit too early really but I thought that could have been the cause!

Maybe just maybe with explanation of the work stand it will work out of it now it’s been setup again? Very strange a few of us have said it didn’t shift down in the work stand but out on the trails it is doing after a fettle and clean?

I’m really not sure but it’s defo shifting like new again now into 11 gear

Maybe like said previous the force under load helps it slip it into 11th a bit easier? But in a work stand you don’t get that?

Very odd indeed! Still sure something’s not quite right with the mech but who knows maybe the clean /rebuild/ new cable has actually worked in the real world just didn’t appear so in the stand as per others

Diggery has it spot on really I think the spring has lost it’s required tension for last gear, but all I can say is give it a proper good degreasing and clean get into the spring area give it a clean and give it a pull by hand to get the movement going maybe even drip some lube into it

I’m not really sure it’s a long term cure but out of the stand mine does seem to be back to normal/new again

If it happens on the next ride it will be going back to sram defo