[Closed] SRAM eagle problem any one experienced it?

Suffered from this recently, in fact managed to destroy a couple of cages/upper pulleys with some enthusiastic pedaling when I didn't notice it.

Resolved by changing the chain, apparently after 1500-600km it was worn out, stretched and then as a result dropping of the pulley.
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thanks for the reply stewart

hmmmm interesting! well that theory sadly goes out of the window for me, ive had a new chain on 2 rides now and its still doing it 🙁

ive got some new pulleys on order, thinking it was the play, but I'm not really sure it is that now...

or as I suppose, as the pulleys have got over 1100 miles on them, could the teeth be worn and not meshing with the new chain perhaps??

Well, my chain was dropping off the top pulley, I first thought it was the rear mech setup but after faffing with that it still kept on happening, after destroying the 2nd rea mech I then tried a new chain and that seems to have worked (fingers crossed, only be 100km of so).

If they are not meshing you should be able to see that by jacking up the rear and then rotating the crank, the chain should drop off on its own?

interesting will have to have a look at it then, seems it could well be the jockey wheels afterall....

wondered how long it would take before the long term'ness of eagle failed 🙁

hopefully when the new jockey wheels turn up I can report back, as then basically everything will be brand new bar the mech itself (Which is 8 months old)

I've had similar on other rear mechs, worn out pulleys - although there was some obvious wear on the teeth, they weren't ninja stars or anything (and other times I've run until they have been ninja stars no bother).

yeh cant say as the jockey wheels 'look' knackered, there is certainly a lot of side to side play though, but teeth wise they look fine, and it doesn't make any weird noises, just literally started to do this

fingers crossed its just the pulleys, and the rear mech hasn't suddenly started to crap itself 😥

Exactly the same has just happen to me as happened to Stewartc.

Difference is, there's less that 50 miles on the transmission.

Pulled the upper pulley of its bearing, blew out the cage by shearing the inner cage off the pulley bolt. I assumed it was a rock strike, but now I'm not so sure!

That has happened on my gx mech a couple of times realised before any damage was done. Replaced the chain and not happened since.

Have you taken the jockey wheels off at any time to clean them? The top and bottom are specific on my Sram X1 so if you put the wrong one back it can cause the chain to drop off.

Hmmmmm quite worrying then its happening quite regular and on new drivetrains

I have had the jockeys out to clean them yes but i put them back in identical, with ths 'u' and the 'l' facing outwards away from the wheel, also the upper has 1 washer with a slight lip on it again facing out side away from the wheel...the lower just has two identical washers on with the same lip

So i did intially think i had done something wrong but its all been put in correct

Im surprised i didnt rip my mech off down one peak descent last week had to stop on a real rough bit to undo it, it slightly chewed the upper jockey wheel, so wonder if its the upper one causing it initially, but the chain drops at the lower jockey

Not sure but its obviously common and a design flaw somewhere

Note mine didnt do this from new i have over 1200 miles on it and its only just started doin it from about 1100 miles....ive had a new chain and chainring on and a new cassette so its none of those things causing it, it was doing it before the new stuff and after too

It tends to only happen in the really small cogs over rougher stuff, so at the min im avoiding descending in 10t and next one up just stop it happening

Ive also got new jockey wheels on route so will see if that cures it too

just a quick bump for anyone that missed

yes pretty sure the rear mech itself is causing the issue
the sram mechs get a bit funky inside quickly and ive just had a similar issue that ive now resolved
I tried a chain & jockey wheels before seeing whilst my rear mech seemed fine it was actually quiet stiff when on leats tension nie on last 2-3 small cogs

here is what to do to see if yours is the same issue
put in lowest smallest cog
remove chain
then push the btm cage forward towards frt of bike and it will feel quite sticky and notchy mine also creaked which I thought was a separate issue
I stripped mine down by going in from behind (no s****ing ) I took the back plate off emptied the rusty liquid out cleaned lubed & rebuilt and its not done it since .

apologise for the grammer....I have boxing gloves for fingers

is that on eagle bigbud? I thought theyd sorted all the issues on the eagle mechs

I will check out tonight see if I can replicate what you said, from memory it seems ok, don't remember it feeling awful when ive put the cage lock on

I took a look at mine during lunch time.

Despite following the instructions for chain fitting, the chain is loose when the bike is unsagged and in the smallest two cogs. That means on rough pedally stuff there will be points where there the suspension is fully extended and there will be no tension on the lower part of the chain to keep it under control.

This is my prime candidate at the moment. If the big sproket allows, I'll remove a link and see what happens.

it does make sense to be chain length, agreed, logically....

but ive always ran exactly the same chain length on mine from day one (just measured the same side by side each time), and it never used to do it, it definitely never did it in the first 1000 miles once...

infact I buggered a new chain a few weeks back, nothing to do with this problem tho, pure rock strike, so to salvage the new chain I removed two inner broken links, and put back on, thus in total removing 2 inners and a outer (quick link for extra outer to pin together), and it still did it, that was about as tight as id dare go for the 50t as it looked slightly stretched in the 50t

it does make sense to be chain length, agreed, logically....

but ive always ran exactly the same chain length on mine from day one (just measured the same side by side each time), and it never used to do it, it definitely never did it in the first 1000 miles once...

infact I buggered a new chain a few weeks back, nothing to do with this problem tho, pure rock strike, so to salvage the new chain I removed two inner broken links, and put back on, thus in total removing 2 inners and a outer (quick link for extra outer to pin together), and it still did it, that was about as tight as id dare go for the 50t as it looked slightly stretched in the 50t

Just destroyed another one today!
Shuttling day, so some energetic rocky trails with lots of bouncing around, half way down one stage went to pedal, felt resistance and then crack, upper pulley disintegrated.
Guessing it disintegrated as I could not find it after, the inner bearing was left and the cage seemed OK bar the upper bearing bolt being unscrewed.
This is the 3rd time now in 2 months and the LBS seems to be making no headway on this, going to give it another try and then go back to 1x11 as I really don't know what to do next?

A mate had a new bike a couple of months ago with Eagle XX1 Gold. The shop had fitted the banana-shaped connector link upside down which caused a skippety-skip on the smaller sprockets.

This does not bode well for Sierra Nevada.

Feel your pain stewart mines has done it again today down 2 descents very annoying luckily felt it both times and again chain wrapped inside lower jockey wheel and no way of pedalling it out, you have to fully stop its that jammed

Obviously not catastrophic loke yours but its the same failure 100%

What the ****s goin on?!

I have a new chain, cassette and chainring as well as new cable

The only thing thats remained is my eagle x01 mech that has 1100 miles on as do the the jockey wheels so it has to be something to do with the mech and wear...my jockeys have so much play sp could be them or could be the clutch i didnt have this for first 1000 miles and it did right before i changed the cassette chain and chainring too on old stuff so new stuff hasnt cured it..

Stewart how old is the mech????? Wondering if the mech develops something, as thats the only original bit left on my drivetrain

Stewart is my buddy here in Hong Kong. As far as I know the mech he wrecked today was no more than a couple of weeks old.
I'll not be going that expensive route. *waving at Stewart from Morgan*

Well then i have absolutely no idea whats goin on then

If hes had a new mech it blows out all thoughts of it being wear on the mech or jockey wheels given mines is 110 miles old and everything else is new

Why on earth mines has suddenly started doing it ive no idea

The only thing ive changed is going back to a normal round ring from oval, from 53mm (boost absolute black) chainline to 51mm (raceface ring )

But i really cant see it being that at all

I really have no idea but god its annoying and clearly costly if i dont manage to stop in time to pull it out the lower jockey

It's past midnight here in HK and Stewart is probably kipping . All I know is he's had a horrible run of busting eagle stuff.
He does ride hard though without compromise

Yeh i understand, its onyl happened to me on jumpy or rockier descents, all i can say is it seems to happen when its in 10t ive not had the chain do this unless ive been right down the lower cogs

But as his is all new mech wise im really at a loss now as regards to where to go now lol

Hooefully someone figures somethif out soon or back to shimano ill go 😆

This has now happened twice to me, totally smashed the derailleur to bits when the chain jumped off the lower jockey wheel

Going back to 11 speed as its way more bombproof

Wow so this is pretty bloody common then jeez i thought it was a freak occurance when mine did it the first time

But seems like a fair few are having exactly the same...as soon as it rips my mech to bits ill be going back to sram 11 speed cassette and xtr 11 speed the resr 🙄

There's me thinking going 12 speed would soon be in the pipeline for me but reading this thread I'm having second thoughts.

Mines gas been faultless up to this point and its not something i had till over 1110 miles so got no idea at all what the cause is if its happening on new drivetrains too

Certainly would put me off buying again i must say if it carries on

Hope you get it sorted.

I've a grand total of two spare eagle mechs for a week in Spain next week. Apart from being deeply concerned I won't get through the week, I won't be subsidising SRAMs r&d.

I still have my 10speed transmission, if it comes to it I'll swap it out and put a shimano freehub back on it.

Fitted Eagle late Feb and done around 1400km before the first upper pulley blew, taking the cage with it, the mech that went yesterday was only about 150km in.
Now on my 3rd mech, so its either just bad luck/clumsiness on my part, some issue with Eagle & the TR Patrol or they really are stretching the design of rear mechs to accommodate 12 speed and make it durable?
I do hit things hard and have cracked frames (admittedly a Yeti so not hard to do), carbon rims and snapped chains (once memorably in two places at the same time!) but this is getting very annoying especially as friends I ride with don't seem to have any issue, on other bikes though.
Thinking of going back to XX1 11 speed as that seemed bulletproof.
Have a Chiang Mei trip at the end of October, If this mech survives the up to then I will probably take a spare just in case!

Strange you got it to 1400km unscathed and thats about where mine started to do it

Can you think of anything youve changed gear wise/chainring or anything around the time it started to happen the first time?

I dont think its bad luck nor setup or how hard you ride ive taken mine down everything ive taken other gearing down some really rough and never had this issue

Yesterday when it happened twice it was on a smoother section with a few jumps but i was defo in 10t for that i do think its down in that cog causing the issue somehow but its not chain length as ive triple checked and its fine

I would say it was my worn pulleys at a guess as theres play, but your new mech happening the same blows that theory out the water

Infact your new mech blows everything out the water as its not a wear issue then

Has anything been setup differntly?

Im on a santa cruz so its not the brand/frame causing it

That's two new rear mechs at around 150-200km each, the very first time the LBS rebuilt the rear cage.
I have recently put a Push Eleven6 on but the first two blowouts happened prior to fitting this.
Between the 1st and 2nd time I also installed a new hanger as the original one was slightly bent.

I am stumped but it only seems to happen at on certain area I ride, where the trails are more geared towards the DH grade, all the other places I ride are more XC/Trail type areas.

Its really odd, looking at the cage/jockey wheels/ chain when its in position of 10t it bloody hard to see how there is space for the chain to even get off the jockeys even with play in mine

Everything seems taught and tight theres hardly any space for it to fall off in the first place but clearly it is, totally stumped

Im gonna test it by not descending in the 10t down some rough tracks and see if it does it, im still 99% sure its only happened when in the smallest cog for me

But even then its very hard to see on cLose inspecion where there is even space on jockeys/cage etc for it to even come off

Wonder if its the narrow wide profile on the jockeys causing the issue and perhaps them not meshing properly as you go into rougher stuff????

I'm pretty sure I am down the cassette when its happened to me also (i.e. on a DH trail) but not 100% sure but I would say the 2 most recent cases have happened when I have gone through a rough section of trail and then changed up to go over short climb.
So, plough through a rough section, change up to go over a slight climb, applied some mustard and then crack!
I will maybe try to do shuttles again next weekend and just see if I can catch the chain drop prior to pedaling.

You know what your right...thinking about it yesterday i was in 10t and shifted up to pedal and thats when it did it!

And thinking about it happening in the past im now sure its when ive attempted to shift up over rougher terrain whilst in smallest cog, as in you need to pedal a bit shift up, pedal and then bam, nothing just jammed...if i leave it in the gear to to do a full descent till flat it doesnt seem to budge as i did a few descents in small cogs yesterday over rough and it didnt move but at same time i never shifted up...

So there you have it, its something to do with shifting up in smaller cogs whilst descedning thats causing it, but why?!?!?

Incorrect chain length or the clutch not working correctly, I'm no bike mechanic but I though the idea of the clutch is to retain tension?

Chain length is spot on on mine 100% ive also run it with 2 inner and 2 outer short (as i trashed a few links on a ride) and still the same so its not that

Clutch im wondering if it could be but your mech is more or less brand new

I think your onto something when shifting up over rough ground, it makes sense with when its happened to me maybe worth just not shifting up from smallest cogs under load or when its very rough and the chains slapping about

I have defo got down some rough tracks fine with not doing this and i can only think back to not actually shifting up whilst descending

Have done about 1000 miles on my xx1 eagle,No problems yet, But did notice you have to grease the jockey wheel bearings regularly or they start to wobble a lot.
Not had any problems with few other sets i have fitted.

my jockeys have stupid amount of wobble, side to side, not sure if its that though given stewarts above is more or less brand new

wondering perhaps if its duff jockey wheels that are causing on some mechs, ive felt a brand new mech and the jockeys in that are solid and don't move at all really

Have just joined single track due to spotting this post I've got a new Whyte s150 and having the same problem re shattered upper jockey wheels. It's done two in 3 weeks and it's back at the shop yet again where I'm now getting a new mech! Any tips on avoiding this would be much appreciated.

When going through rock gardens or our rough ground try not to change gear and possibly have the chain somewhere in the middle of the cassette.
If you feel resistance, stop pedaling!!!

Thanks Stewart, will have to change my style as I love this bike I also wanted to do some enduros on it so I need it to be reliable. 3 weeks old and it's already spent a week in the shop.

Same here, chain dropping out of bottom jockey wheel getting trapped on Eagle X01 and ripped the top jockey wheel off destroying it along with the inner cage. Happened twice now, not happy downgraded to GX, less of my hard earned cash to flush down the toilet which is where these mechs should go

not limited to Eagle, happened to me last year on my road bike running 105 and 10 speed block, and a mate of mine on his hardtail mob, not sure what he was running but definitely not Eagle.

I never sussed out what it was in my case, however I had just done some last minute maintenance on the drive train so assumed it was my fault.

My mates mtb was a carbon hardtail and the rear mech was rotated around the cassette and snapped cleanly through his seat stay. He got the frame repaired at a local carbon frame repairers but he commented that it was by far the most common repair he has to do, so clearly not just a problem with Eagle, alot of people out there suffering this issue.

Wobbliscott - Last one sounds like a split chain jamming in the cage which tears mech/hanger off and through seatstay. Different issue altogether.

My rear Mech is going back to SRAM they just provided new jockey wheels before but it damaged the mech this time, always on a downhill trail as everyone else's, Mine is happening mid range been told to change gear slower so will see what happens when it comes back next week.

I sent mine back for warranty. They've equipped it with new jockey wheels and inner cage.

I've just spent a week in Sierra Nevada with Ciclo Montana and the aftermarket spare I had worked flawlessly. That said, we were riding a lot of slow and technical stuff, so I guess the conditions where the first one blew up didn't arise that much.

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must admit, mines hasn't since does this now (about 5 rides in, tried and tried to fast shift in smallest cogs, up and down, down and up), since I put some new pimp alloy jockey wheels on and/or a new cassette

so it appears the problem for me was one of the above, a new chain DIDNT cure it.

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Same happened to me on Sunday. 4 week old gx eagle mech. Low down the block pedalling hard and boom. Dead mech and sore plums!
Hoping sram can sell me top jockey and new back plate.as it's ripped the thread clean out the back of the cage.

^
It's due to the metallic purple cable end.

Your gx couldn't handle the embarrassment of the colour clashes on yer bike and killed itself.

Same happened to me on Sunday. 4 week old gx eagle mech. Low down the block pedalling hard and boom. Dead mech and sore plums!
Hoping sram can sell me top jockey and new back plate.as it's ripped the thread clean out the back of the cage.

I wouldn't be asking them to sell you anything, id expect a full warrantied mech, its a joke that this is happening, its clearly a design fault somewhere, its the same thing I keep hearing now, pedalling hard over rougher ground in the smaller cogs, once you start chaning gears around it cannot cope at all, so a clear design fault

the only option is to try and stay in the same gear when over rough ground, which is pretty impossible, and pretty shit that you should have to do such a thing

My lbs has spoken to sram tech and basically they didn't seem interested, but due to its age, to send it to them to inspect.
I personally want a new mech out of them, but how long does a sram warranty claim take??
Did you deal with them direct?

Himm this thread (and some others on pinkbike and MTBR) is worrying. I'm off to Ciclo in a couple of weeks with my Eagle x01 equipped thing. Reckon I should purchase & pack a spare mech?

My lbs has spoken to sram tech and basically they didn't seem interested, but due to its age, to send it to them to inspect.
I personally want a new mech out of them, but how long does a sram warranty claim take??
Did you deal with them direct?

they will say that, its usually srams response to anything, 'oh we know nothing about it' (they said the same to me about 3 pairs of creaking pikes I had some years ago), I believe they do, if its happened to just a few of us on STW forum, imagine how many else its happened to in the world that just haven't reported it....

I woudlnt settle for anything less than a new mech tbh, and Id argue all day long that its a design fault, point them to this thread!

also I haven't actually warrantied mine, mines is 9 months old but only started doing it a month or so ago, ive replaced the jockeys, which touch wood so far has cured it for me, but obviously if your mech is 4 weeks old then it kinda blows the new jockey wheel theory outta the window...

if mine does blow up like yours has, I WILL be taking it back to the shop to warranty, if they don't warranty it, Ill be going back to shimano 11 speed

Typically, I have just fitted GX Eagle Dave 🙂

also I haven't actually warrantied mine, mines is 9 months old but only started doing it a month or so ago, ive replaced the jockeys, which touch wood so far has cured it for me, but obviously if your mech is 4 weeks old then it kinda blows the new jockey wheel theory outta the window...

I got spanked £50 for a set of sram jockey wheels on my xo1 11 speed mech, god knows what they charge for the 12 speed ones, especially as it says 'eagle' on it!!

Typically, I have just fitted GX Eagle Dave

😀 kev you'll love it, aside of this problem mines was absolutely spot on for the 1st 1000miles! shifting went a bit slow down the cassette, but a new cassette and jockeys has sorted it

I cant fault the feel of shifting etc etc, its really good when it works well

just be very very very careful to change up gears when you are in the smallest cog (shifting up to next one) over rough ground at speed

other than that you'll love it kev 🙂

also I haven't actually warrantied mine, mines is 9 months old but only started doing it a month or so ago, ive replaced the jockeys, which touch wood so far has cured it for me, but obviously if your mech is 4 weeks old then it kinda blows the new jockey wheel theory outta the window...

I got spanked £50 for a set of sram jockey wheels on my xo1 11 speed mech, god knows what they charge for the 12 speed ones, especially as it says 'eagle' on it!!

the official eagle ones (which are shit and have shift life in the bearings!) are around 70 quid! ive got some rather nice pimp alloy ones that feel totally solid for around 50 euros (proper eagle sized ones)

Himm this thread (and some others on pinkbike and MTBR) is worrying. I'm off to Ciclo in a couple of weeks with my Eagle x01 equipped thing. Reckon I should purchase & pack a spare mech?

I took a spare but mine survived. That said, we did a week of the slower techier stuff with little of the down the block high speed pedalling that seems to cause the problem.

Gonna see if I can source a back plate and pulleys. Seems they're about €70.

Riding down places like Arthur Skargill & the run into the Lanjaron 70 might do it in.

OMFG how much are the bananna connectors! What the hell have I bought into?

Eagle seems like one of the products that's great in theory, crap in reality. Unless you're a racer/sponsored/pro/obsessive fettler, seems to me like you're better off without it for hassle-free riding in the UK.

Thats a poor excuse for it not working reliably. XTR is aimed directly at those people & it just works.

Arthur Scargill and Lanjaron 70 were both ok, as was the Valeta run and Super enduro, but not really any cranking required on those.

Thanks folks. Was considering Eagle on my next build but this has been enough to put me off.

At my current rate they'll have moved on to 15 speed by the time I reach 1000 miles!

Been out on it today and it's spot on, very happy.

Offt getting the feeling I have dodged a bullet here!

Had this happen to me a couple of times, chain caught between the lower pulley and the cage. The first two times I was lucky to catch it. Not so lucky on the third , completely destroyed the derailleur and 2 two spokes. Good news is Sram warrantied it and the chain. I believe a design change is needed to the cage to keep chain from being able to drop to the sides of the pulley, especially in rough sections when the chain is bouncing like crazy.

yep I think there is too much space on the cage for it to bounce and wedge into the sides, not sure why where the jockeys sit, there needs to be excess space either side? it certainly doesn't need enough excess space for the width of a chain to sit perfectly in and get wedged

glad you got sorted under warranty, that's good to know

im not sure if its a combo of the play (very quick and very excessive side to side) in the jockey wheels themselves, combined with the space on the cage for the chain to fall into, it definitely needs redesigning

ive had some alloy jockeys in the since it kept happening (same eagle size ones), the bearing is still solid with no side to side play 1 month on, ive not had this issue once since, as hard as ive tried to replicate it, so its got me thinking the side to side play that comes from new in the jockeys is too much regardless (they almost need to not have any float which my alloy ones don't and it shifts perfectly), and then over rough ground, the side to side play allows the chain to move so much/ not mesh properly as its changing gear that it comes off, then falls into the dreaded excess spacing either side of the jockey in the cage

Good news is Sram warrantied it and the chain. I believe a design change is needed to the cage to keep chain from being able to drop to the sides of the pulley, especially in rough sections when the chain is bouncing like crazy.

I don't think anythings changed on them alex from what ive been told, maybe there is a design change for the future tho 😉

Holding off pulling the trigger on gx eagle for the fatbike.... Gx 11 has been faultless though.

Lower jockeys shouldn't float,only the top (i.e. side to side). That might be the issue thats been designed in, by accident.

There is definitely float in the lower pulley with the new derailleur. I am guessing that this is by design to ease the angle of the chain at the upper and lower end of the cassette. It would also reduce some noise and wear to the pulley, but it could be the root cause with chain jumping off the pulley as well.

My replacement non sram ones are rock solid both upper and lower

I think it may well be the culprit, even from new theres play in the sran lower one, enough to not sync the chain over rough ground side to side and bam into the cage

Ive tried and tried and tried down rocky stuff the other night and shifted gear and not one problem at all on the new non sram ones

Got a link to the after market jockeys then?

I have had 2 rides on my new bike fitted with GX Eagle.
Both rides have ended due to the rear mech spitting out the top jockey wheel.
Its back in the bike shop having mech number 3 fitted in 34 miles.
Both times it happened to me was at the same place on the same trail a week apart.
I thought it may be a bent mech hanger as the chain has been rubbing on my tyre (see pics) but the bike shop had it in the workshop while i was there and they said it was fine.
Be interesting to see what they say when i pick it up later this week.....

https://www.dropbox.com/sc/inkn076wikr53sx/AACU0XXYOsZfoRv43wf1Odtya