Xt, Slx 12 speed rear deraileurs not very strong.

[Johnny 55]

Good day.

 

Bought myself a titan cypher rs elite january this year, after 400km the clutch stopped working 100%.  After 800km the clutch became totally useless. Replaced the deraileur with a slx and after 20km same story, i tightened the clutch a bit, could only do a bit as it was allready almost at its tightest. I dont know what to do anymore, cant buy a new deraileur every month.  My previous bike had sram gx 12 speed and there was never a problem, just some shifting issues but the clutch never gave any problems. Me and the owner where i bought the bike dont talk to each other so i cant go back to the bike shop. Suppose i will just replace with sram after the slx finally dies on me. Not happy with shimano.

[Steady Spin]

SLX is particularly garbage. Mine lasted about 6 months before the clutch failed. Was correctly set but somehow the internals bent the lever would no longer stay in place.

 

Replaced with XTR and so far so good.

[Johnny 55]

SLX is particularly garbage. Mine lasted about 6 months before the clutch failed. Was correctly set but somehow the internals bent the lever would no longer stay in place.

 

Replaced with XTR and so far so good.

Glad to hear its not just me having this problem. Also think im gonna get the xtr next. Thanks for the reply.

[Johnny 55]

take it to a good mecg who can open the clutch , clean and lubricate it properly and the issue should go away 

 

 

there were alot of issues with some of the derailers out of the factory 

'

 

take the XT one in and you should be back up and running soon , the service will be much cheaper than a new derailer 

Thanks. I also think im gonna send the xt for repairs to have a backup. Thanks.

[gemmerbal]

installed my SLX in August, done about 1100km (I'm mostly on the roadbike these days) through all kinds of weather and it has not given me any clutch trouble (touch wood). the only issue I had was when riding in rain, the cables get a bit sticky as my HT does not have internal cable routing. I solved that problem by installing a continuous cable housing. clutch still perfect.

 

maybe I'm lucky...

[Mojoman]

Can you not just get the new internals for the clutch as a kit? But the price of parts I would have thought a RD would last at least a couple of years worth of riding...?
 

[Johnny 55]

Can you not just get the new internals for the clutch as a kit? But the price of parts I would have thought a RD would last at least a couple of years worth of riding...?

 

Cant find the parts anywhere. This is the 1st time that i had so much problems with any deraileur, sram gx was good, xt 10 speed was good but the xt 12 speed not so good. anyways i will ride it till it breaks again and then convert to sram.

[Johnny 55]

installed my SLX in August, done about 1100km (I'm mostly on the roadbike these days) through all kinds of weather and it has not given me any clutch trouble (touch wood). the only issue I had was when riding in rain, the cables get a bit sticky as my HT does not have internal cable routing. I solved that problem by installing a continuous cable housing. clutch still perfect.

 

maybe I'm lucky...

I mostly ride trails, not anything hectic but scary enough at times. Maybe the new 12 speed deraileurs cant handle the bumps, i dont know.

[Johnny 55]

okay but see if that works before you go to XTR , otherwise you're even deeper in a hole you might want to get out of completely 

Yes thats true as i also read bad reviews about the xtr, i suppose im gonna ride the slx till it breaks and replace everything with sram.

[Martin PJ]

Clutch can be serviced, there are videos on YouTube. Not difficult, seems the problem could be that water gets into the clutch assembly and causes rust, should not happen if the internals are sealed properly. Probably you can clean it and rescue the derailleur for a bit longer.

[gemmerbal]

on my HT i ride anything from gravel travel to trails (Dirtopia, Bottelary, Jonkershoek), like I said, no issues. There was a thread about some of the new Shimano derailleurs needing a clutch service as the factory grease was insufficient or something. I cant speak for the XT, only the SLX - mine works, no problems.

 

as mentioned by others, a clutch service is simple. Youtube is your friend. And its much cheaper than replacing or even getting a bike shop to "try and fix it" - I service my own bikes, lesson learnt.

 

 

I mostly ride trails, not anything hectic but scary enough at times. Maybe the new 12 speed deraileurs cant handle the bumps, i dont know.

[gemmerbal]

[ChrisF]

installed my SLX in August, done about 1100km (I'm mostly on the roadbike these days) through all kinds of weather and it has not given me any clutch trouble (touch wood). the only issue I had was when riding in rain, the cables get a bit sticky as my HT does not have internal cable routing. I solved that problem by installing a continuous cable housing. clutch still perfect.

 

maybe I'm lucky...

Maritz has more than 1 000km on his 11 speed SLX.

 

I am on 3 000km on my 11 speed XT.

 

 

We thought the SLX was noisy, opened it and serviced. Later found out the noise came from the pedals ... solved with a quick service of the pedals.

 

 

While working on his bike I checked the clutch on mine. Clean and relube takes a few minutes.

 

Both working perfectly

 

 

 

I do believe the clutch on the 11 and 12 speed derailures are exactly the same.

 

 

 

NOTE ... if you want to service it yourself, make 100% sure which surfaces to ghries and which NOT ....

[SteveFW]

I have done around 3600km with a secondhand SLX deraileur without any clutch problem, around 70% dirt and trails.  Wife has a secondhand XT which gave problems and I serviced it using a Youtube guide and it has worked fine for more than a year now. Both always stored with chain tension off the deraileur.

[Andy_P]

Can you not just get the new internals for the clutch as a kit? But the price of parts I would have thought a RD would last at least a couple of years worth of riding...?

 

You can get them yes. I got a kit from Cyclelab Lynnwood a couple of weeks back. About R200 for the kit if I remember correctly.

 

Some of these derailleur clutches are not greased properly when it comes out of the factory and the seal on the housing is not the best. Thus needs to be serviced every now and then.

 

If left too long the bearing can corrode from moisture getting in and needs to be replaced, just cleaning and lubing not sufficient.

[Wimmas]

Cant find the parts anywhere. This is the 1st time that i had so much problems with any deraileur, sram gx was good, xt 10 speed was good but the xt 12 speed not so good. anyways i will ride it till it breaks again and then convert to sram.

I have no experience with Shimano 12 spd. Had 11spd and it was great. My current bike came with a GX 12 spd setup. Took time and patience to properly index the gears but 1300km later and not a single issue.

 

Only thing I hate about SRAM is how expensive the cassettes are. Other than that I have no desire to switch my setup to Shimano 12 spd