XTR M9100 derailleur – clutch lever snapped

Hi all

I’ve somehow managed to snap the clutch lever off my XTR M9100 derailleur.

It snapped in the “on” position, so I’ve just been riding it for a couple of months like that.

At the weekend I was popping a wheelie and cranked down hard, then there was a bit of a gears crunch and the chain went all floppy.

The jockey wheel mount is basically not where it should be with only a little movement.

I’m trying to get the what’s left (not much) of the lever out, but I can’t turn it to the “off “setting due to the lever now being a flat stub – therefore I can’t remove the clutch (I assume that’s why anyway).

I’ve removed the cover to the clutch, but the clutch itself won’t pull out. It’s stuck fast.  I assume because of the pressure on it from the clutch being “on”.

Anyone have any idea how I can turn the clutch off without a lever, or how I can remove the remains of the old lever and/or the clutch.

Thank you all in advance 🙂

The clutch tension is adjusted by a bolt that squeezes the teardrop shaped clamp around the roller bearing assembly. The bolt is accessible with the cover on through a small hole covered by a rubber cap. With the cover off it’s going to be visible. The whole roller bearing assembly is attached to a the mech via a spindle that undoes from the back of the mech and then the whole lot comes off. The lever itself has a circlip holding it in place which is tricky to get to but accessible with the cover off. Be warned though, the lever presses against a small lip on the housing to apply tension to the clutch bearing and the lip is made of plastic and if it snaps it’s new mech time as it’s a part of the main body – well it is on the XT version…

I found a pic of the insides of my XT one with the roller bearing assembly removed. Looks like the spindle undoes from the front actually and there’s a cam that operates the clutch which is not in the pic – this is where the adjustment bolt sits. I’ve highlighted the circlip that will allow you to remove the lever from the back. You may have to undo the jockey wheel plates to get it out…

Also, to the left of the clutch lever you’ll see the “[“ shaped  plastic bit that if it snaps off will mean a new mech….

Thanks Skip

Really appreciate this.

I’ve removed the tensioning bolt completely (the bolt<span style=”background-color: #595959; color: #ffffff; font-family: Roboto, ‘Helvetica Neue’, Arial, ‘Noto Sans’, sans-serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ‘Segoe UI’, ‘Apple Color Emoji’, ‘Segoe UI Emoji’, ‘Segoe UI Symbol’, ‘Noto Color Emoji’;”> that squeezes the teardrop shaped clamp around the roller bearing assembly.)</span>

I still can’t lift out the teardrop clamp though. It’s stuck tight.

Thanks again.

Probably all gunked up. Get some GT85 in there and try to prize it up gently with a screwdriver, it should all lift out and end up looking like my pic…

Post a pic of what it looks like currently…

I found a replacement clutch lever for my mech at SJS Cyles for a few pounds. If you look up the Shimano tec document for the part number you can enter that as a search. I seem to remember it was reasonably easy to sort – as per oceanskipper’s excellent information.

Thanks both.

I will do when I get home.

and will try a bit of solvent!

Cheers guys.

I’m surprised these don’t break more often, some seem quite flimsy to me, the gold ones on Saint mechs look a lot more burly, now I’ve said that I’ll probably snap one of mine. Luckily they’re surprisingly cheap to fix.

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/gear-spares/shimano-xtr-rdm9100-switch-lever-unit-fixing-plate-y3fa98040/

That should save you searching OP.

https://postimg.cc/gallery/33zQ3Jj

Thanks all

Can’t fathom how to post images but have added a link with images of the clutch and the area where the lever has snapped off.

Appreciate your kind help good people 🙏

All of that should lift straight off leaving just the spindle.

Clutch Service

See the link from Mister-P for the part you need and I think from memory you will need to take the cage off to get the lever out as it is inserted from the back…

Thanks again Skip.

I’ve tried and it’s stuck fast. I’ve tried pliers and it won’t budge.

Is it anything to do with the clutch lever being broken in the on position.?

Thanks 😊

Can you give the cam a whack from underneath to try and turn the clutch off? I pulled a clutch mech apart a few months ago and I’m pretty sure it came apart quite easily.

Thx DC

I’ve tried but it’s so awkward to access and has snapped off almost flat. Will try a bit more force 🙂

Hi all.

OK so with a mallet and a screwdriver I.managed to turn the clutch off.

Still had to get a screwdriver to prise the clutch bearing out…always looks so easy in the videos!!!

But I’m there.

Thank you all so much for your help.

I so appreciate you all taking the time to help.

🙏 🙏 🙏