Shimano M1800 Rear clutch sticking

Hi all,
Has anyone else had any issues with the XT 12 speed rear mech clutch sticking?
I have done less than 200 miles on my new groupset and its not been wet but the clutch seems to be sticking in the middle gears and meaning the mech doesnt spring back

I have to swtich the clutch off and on to get it to tighten up again.

Any one else had these issues and know of a quick fix as well as solution?
cheers

Mine’s just started doing exactly the same, On mine it appeared that the rollers inside The clutch were seized, I’ve cleaned them up and replaced them, applied liberal amounts of gt85 and it appears ok. Only did it last night though so I’ve not tested it yet. Probably only a temporary fix so I’ll get a new one ordered. Mines done a few more miles than yours but not many.

Mine did this. I did the same as Tish and took it apart, spring and all and lightly greased it all. Its been fine since.

There is a service guide for 11 speed clutch mechs, might be handy if it doesn’t exist for the newer ones yet

good to know im not alone! this will be a lunchtime project today for me.
Just found this video:

Dont be surprised if it doesn’t fix the issue. It’s the rollers inside the clutch that stick not the friction band. The friction spring isn’t involved in the return and the grease he’s applying wont really get in there enough to fix it. A light oil etc. might do a better job.

Might be wrong in your case but Ive tried similar and results don’t generally work out. Replacing the friction unit is normally the only fix for a mech once its properly not returning. Intermittent return can be sorted with a service though.

Yep, Bens right, I took the little spring clip off the clutch and the internals press out. Once out there is 8 little rollers held in with springs, thats what I cleaned and lubed, grease would be too thick. As I said before it’s probably only a temp measure till I get a new one.

I’ve had this in the past with M9000 mechs, but the mechanism is probably nearly the same. To be fair, I’ve only had it due to corrosion on the internal needle rollers caused by water-ingress over time, rather than a new mech and in both cases, I had to replace the tension kit using the aftermarket service pack.

I’d probably strip it down and re-lube and then ship back to Madison if it’s still playing up. IIRC, you’ll need two types of grease for the service – a white lithium grease for the clutch and a light machine oil for the rollers. As others have said, it’s an easy enough job.

really useful thank you

i will take it apart again today and see if i can do that. Also sent Madison a quick email to see if they can source a spare mechanism. Unfortunately the shop I bought it from, Vanilla Bikes, seems to have disappeared.

Unfortunately the shop I bought it from, Vanilla Bikes, seems to have disappeared.

Ah yes, sadly they went bust earlier this year. Hopefully Madison will still help you out, but I’m not sure if Vanilla were selling UK-sourced stock through the distro or not. My guess, if they were cheap, is that they were sourcing outside of the UK and Madison may want nothing to do with it.

The stabiliser unit isn’t expensive anyway. SJS would normally supply, but seem out of stock at the moment:
https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/gear-spares/shimano-grx-rdrx812-stabilizer-unit-y3gf98040/

Yup – I had this issue on the Identiti Mettle test bike ( http://www.singletrackworld.com/2020/03/evolution-not-revolution-identiti-mettle-mk-2-review ) and after a quick clean and grease it’s been fine ever since

Has anyone got a view on Shimano clutch mechs and oval rings? I had a ‘dead spot’ on one point of my crank rotation, particularly during steep climbing at slow cadence. This sent me on an extended fault hunt, looking for stuff like bent axles, bottom bracket problems, but it seems to boil down to some issue with the mech not coping well with the repeated tiny movements caused by the oval tightening then slackening the chain. Adjusting the clutch has improved it slightly.

Anyone else had similar?

that is a shame, they had good pricing and service. Im sure they sourced from Germany or something but hey! at least it was a small local shop i was helping.

Just found that part on ebay – will give it a go.

Cheers all

I have an oval ring on my hardtail and the clutch on an older XT rear mech works just fine. maybe look at chain length, it could be too short?