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SRAM NX gears dropping on its own.


NeverNotRolling

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So my chain seems to be slipping to a higher gear upon pedaling in roughly the following gears: Second, Third and Fourth.

 

New to the NX 1x game and put some nice mileage on the new bike until this started happening, I'm thinking it might just be from cable stretch.

 

I figured I'd just take it to the shop and have them look at it but seeing it's a lockdown perhaps I should get my hands dirty and attempt it myself as the bike doesn't really need a service. Anybody have any suggestions on where to begin or a really good troubleshooting guide you'd suggest?

 

Cheers.

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I had/have a similar problem with my NX groupset, only difference is that it did not slip while pedalling, but rather while shifting...it would not slot nicely into the higher or lower gear, but somewhere inbetween. I had to then either shift up or down again and back up/down to get it into the right gear. 

 

In any case, took it to the guys at Hotspot Cycles (Atterbury) to have a look, and they made some

adjustments which seems to be holding up, but every now and then changing gears is still problematic. I think SRAM has got a 1 year warranty on the hardware, so my advice is to take it to a shop and ask them to return it to SRAM (this was the advice from the Hotspot guys as well).

 

Hope it works out, nothing worse than having slippy gears!

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How many miles does your drive train currently have on it? If you do have a chain measuring tool measure the wear on the chain. What you're describing normally happens when either the cassette or chain is worn.

The rule of thumb is that you look to replace a chain before it goes from the 0.75 mark to the 0.5 mark on the measuring tool. A worn chain eats into your cassette and chain ring and causes them to get worn as well. You then end up having to replace everything. 

 

A chain normally lasts around 2000 - 4000 km before giving some issues (the wide range is due to the quality of chains on the market). I have heard folks having to replace an NX chain when its closer to 1500 km. 

 

My suggestion would be to get a higher quality chain next time and not the normal NX. 

 

So my chain seems to be slipping to a higher gear upon pedaling in roughly the following gears: Second, Third and Fourth.

 

New to the NX 1x game and put some nice mileage on the new bike until this started happening, I'm thinking it might just be from cable stretch.

 

I figured I'd just take it to the shop and have them look at it but seeing it's a lockdown perhaps I should get my hands dirty and attempt it myself as the bike doesn't really need a service. Anybody have any suggestions on where to begin or a really good troubleshooting guide you'd suggest?

 

Cheers.

 

Yes your issue is due to the tension on the cable and or derailleur - some adjustment and the issue will be sorted. 

 

I had/have a similar problem with my NX groupset, only difference is that it did not slip while pedalling, but rather while shifting...it would not slot nicely into the higher or lower gear, but somewhere inbetween. I had to then either shift up or down again and back up/down to get it into the right gear. 

 

In any case, took it to the guys at Hotspot Cycles (Atterbury) to have a look, and they made some

adjustments which seems to be holding up, but every now and then changing gears is still problematic. I think SRAM has got a 1 year warranty on the hardware, so my advice is to take it to a shop and ask them to return it to SRAM (this was the advice from the Hotspot guys as well).

 

Hope it works out, nothing worse than having slippy gears!

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How many miles does your drive train currently have on it? If you do have a chain measuring tool measure the wear on the chain. What you're describing normally happens when either the cassette or chain is worn.

The rule of thumb is that you look to replace a chain before it goes from the 0.75 mark to the 0.5 mark on the measuring tool. A worn chain eats into your cassette and chain ring and causes them to get worn as well. You then end up having to replace everything. 

 

A chain normally lasts around 2000 - 4000 km before giving some issues (the wide range is due to the quality of chains on the market). I have heard folks having to replace an NX chain when its closer to 1500 km. 

 

My suggestion would be to get a higher quality chain next time and not the normal NX. 

 

 

Yes your issue is due to the tension on the cable and or derailleur - some adjustment and the issue will be sorted. 

 

Hi Robert, 

 

The bike has only done 130km, bike is new. So wear would not be the issue, it must be setting. 

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So my chain seems to be slipping to a higher gear upon pedaling in roughly the following gears: Second, Third and Fourth.

 

New to the NX 1x game and put some nice mileage on the new bike until this started happening, I'm thinking it might just be from cable stretch.

 

I figured I'd just take it to the shop and have them look at it but seeing it's a lockdown perhaps I should get my hands dirty and attempt it myself as the bike doesn't really need a service. Anybody have any suggestions on where to begin or a really good troubleshooting guide you'd suggest?

 

Cheers.

 

 

First check the cable. adjust the shifter's cable adjuster anti clockwise to tighten the cable. If the problem persists then it likely the jockey cage

Check the rear derailleur Jockey cage mounting and pivot bolt. It appears the factory doesn't locktite that in place either. If the cage is migrating outward then the cage will twist leading to the guide pulley pulling the chain down to higher gears. 

You can check it yourself. Just remove the rear wheel and then remove the inner jockey cage plate. This will give you an opportunity to check that the pulley wheel bolts have locktite (unlikely)

If the jockey cage pulley bolt is loose it will explain your problem.

 

PS: I really disappointed with the build quality of the SRAM NX rear derailleur. SRAM deserves a proper reaming over how long issues with this mech has continued.

Edited by DieselnDust
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First check the cable. adjust the shifter's cable adjuster anti clockwise to tighten the cable. If the problem persists then it likely the jockey cage

Check the rear derailleur Jockey cage mounting and pivot bolt. It appears the factory doesn't locktite that in place either. If the cage is migrating outward then the cage will twist leading to the guide pulley pulling the chain down to higher gears. 

You can check it yourself. Just remove the rear wheel and then remove the inner jockey cage plate. This will give you an opportunity to check that the pulley wheel bolts have locktite (unlikely)

If the jockey cage pulley bolt is loose it will explain your problem.

 

PS: I really disappointed with the build quality of the SRAM NX rear derailleur. SRAM deserves a proper reaming over how long issues with this mech has continued.

 

Okay I'll troubleshoot those options this evening, appreciate it.

 

Yup it's disappointing... 

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Is your "B" screw set correctly?

 

I had a similar issue on my 11 spd NX groupo. Just made sure my "B" screw was adjusted properly, and my downshifts improved and the "searching" on those three gears disappeared like mist in the sun.

 

 Do yourself a favour and search on youtube, there is a number of videos describing the installation and setup of the NX groupsets.

 

If this is a NX Eagle, do yourself a favour (as a precaution only) and remove the bolts on your jockey wheels, put a dollop of "Locktite" on it and reinstall. This will prevent the bolts working loose and possibly destroying your derailer. 

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At 130km on the bike .... the cables are settling in, a SMALL adjustment at the trigger shifter to take up slack should do the job, try ONE click at a time.

 

PS - MOST bike shops do this type of fine tuning, ie first service, for free .... when there is no lock down ...

 

 

 

 

with higher kilos .... those bushes on the hanger cause "Drag" and then all bets are OFF ....

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At 130km on the bike .... the cables are settling in, a SMALL adjustment at the trigger shifter to take up slack should do the job, try ONE click at a time.

 

PS - MOST bike shops do this type of fine tuning, ie first service, for free .... when there is no lock down ...

 

 

 

 

with higher kilos .... those bushes on the hanger cause "Drag" and then all bets are OFF ....

Hopefully it's that easy, worth a try, so just loosen the cable to the left one notch at a time correct?

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wind the barrel adjuster out (anti-clockwise) one index at a time

And you do this while cycling .... best way to fine tune the system.

 

 

DONT be tempted to do three or four clicks at a time .... ONE CLICK, then test through all the gears...

Edited by ChrisF
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just one more thing to check .... is the through axle TIGHT ?

 

 

If the axle is slightly loose it also causes issues with gear selection ....

 

 

Learnt this lesson the hard way ...

Edited by ChrisF
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RD may also have taken a knock, hanger alignment is crucial on 12sp.

 

But check that all your bolts are tight first.

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So it looks like the adjuster had to be turn anti clockwise quite a significant amount. I was pretty happy with how the bike was shifting on the bike stand, then took it for a ride and in the first few mins it felt fine but sometime after that it was acting up. When I say acting up I mean it was skipping gears or trying to go up 2 gears instead of one and then returning to the the correct gear.

 

It's at a good place now, however not perfect. Seems there's a definitive hard "clank" noise when going up a gear, although it's not skipping. Might try and fine tune it a bit more.

 

Thanks for the shifter adjustment advice guys, it must have been from new bike cable stretch.

Edited by NeverNotRolling
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Once the bike shops open ... let them check the hanger allignment !

Yes I'll do that. Thanks again Chris. Looks like the alignment is spot on when I did some inspection, however I could be wrong. Might try and tinker about today. If I don't get it perfect I'll just take it in. Would be lekker to get it sorted with all this time at home though..
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