Sram XO1 rear derailleur problems

I’ve been having a number of problems with my sram rear XO1 derailleur lately and I can’t seem to establish the source of the trouble.

The derailleur shifts fine from high to low but when shifting from low to high it pretty unresponsive. I can shift the lever from lowest to highest gear and the derailleur doesn’t move unless I physically push it or it takes a knock on bumpy ground.

So far I’ve replaced the gear cable and chain, but this hasn’t made any difference. I thought it could be the cable housing but the derailleur movement isn’t jerky or sudden its pretty much non existent and now it can’t even reach highest gear.

I’m starting to think something could be up with the actual derailleur. I’ve checked the alignment on the P screw and high and low limit screws as well as the derailleur hanger, they are all fine.

Any help would be much appreciated.

I had this on my first 1X11 set-up, with a XX1 rear mech – it was the b-screw/mech-tension adjustment. Took quite a bit of trial and error adjustment but cured in the end.

If it’s not shifting up then it’s likely that the cable isn’t pulling somewhere where it should do along its length . If you push the shifter while watching the mech closely and you don’t see any movement in the cable then the problem is along the cable somewhere or in the shifter.

How long have you had the setup for ? It may be time to change the outer because the cable could be sticking on a section where it’s clogged or rusted up.

I’m always overly generous with some chain oil on the cable before I thread it down the outer. Helps keep it moving, especially in the crappy weather.

Some other daft causes… is the pulley wheel on the back of the mech moving freely ? Have you pushed the cable housing one way or another creating a bend it doesn’t like some where on it’s route ? Did you leave the barrel adjuster a full clockwise turn before adding the new cable ? and did you pre tension the cable ?

Sorry if the last paragraph is a bit grandma suck eggs but I find all these things make a difference on the 1×11 setup.

Hi there, had this issue with mine last year only not as extreme wouldn’t shift on road but was fine on bumpy ground but still wouldn’t go onto ten toothed cog. replaced inner and outer cables to no avail then blew rear mech out with an airline making sure all pivots were clean and spring as well hey presto everything was fine.
Apparently SRAM think we all have weak thumbs and the return spring is not really man enough for the job, they even recommend you leave it parked on the ten cog overnight so as not strain it. I have found that doing so and lubing the pivots every couple of rides has ended all my problems. Hope this is of help to you.

Thanks guys all excellent stuff. I will double check the cable housing and get straight on works 100psi airline tomorrow.

leave it parked on the ten cog overnight so as not strain it

This I do to, and also clean the rear mech down with a hose, towel off and spray the spring pulley and with pivots etc with GT85 after every ride.

When it was new and without doing this it would often stall in either direction but got into this routine and it’s been fine for 18 months now.