The Bicycle (Specialty) Tools Thread

[duneslider]

Have been on my 1x XT + 105 frankenstein on my gravel bike for almost a year now. So far so good. Derailleur has only taken one decent hit where the hanger sacrificed itself. No clutch to service. I am a bit more risk adverse vs my younger days so might not be as rough on equipment.

Curious how you are breaking the derailleurs? Traumatic? Just riding along and bam? Sticks and debris?

There is no question we are hard on the equipment. This is on an enduro bike, my son's tend to have the shortest life and he is the fastest/hardest on equipment. So, in no way am I saying I expect anything to last for 10 years but 3 derailleurs in 7 months is a lot. Last year was 2 that ended life early but it seems like I have to rebuild an XT derailleur after about a month of riding. This is Utah, so not really any mud and rain, just dust. The clutches are generally the problem and it requires a full tear apart and lube to get them working correctly. Most of the issues I am finding that trash bin them is the plastic piece in the middle is cracked, I find this when I do the tear down. The picture above is the first time I have had one break in half. In this case, we was on a casual ride with a kid and said it wasn't shifting very well (when cracked they flex a lot and don't shift well) and then he shifted and it snapped off.

I assume the damage comes from impact but that said, I have never had to replace his hanger, so he isn't hitting stuff so hard its breaking/seriously bending the hangers. I do throw the hanger straightener on there and it needs a minor tweak but really nothing that would make me think he was hitting it really hard.

Other than occasionally lubing the jockey wheels on the GX 12spd derailleurs I have never had to do anything to them. I much prefer the shifting of the Shimano 12spd, it is incredibly smooth but man maintenance is killing me. I am to the point I just keep several spares and swap them out and rebuild several at a time.
Picture from last night. Yes, we got some rain and it was hero dirt.

 

[Odd-job]

There is no question we are hard on the equipment. This is on an enduro bike, my son's tend to have the shortest life and he is the fastest/hardest on equipment. So, in no way am I saying I expect anything to last for 10 years but 3 derailleurs in 7 months is a lot. Last year was 2 that ended life early but it seems like I have to rebuild an XT derailleur after about a month of riding. This is Utah, so not really any mud and rain, just dust. The clutches are generally the problem and it requires a full tear apart and lube to get them working correctly. Most of the issues I am finding that trash bin them is the plastic piece in the middle is cracked, I find this when I do the tear down. The picture above is the first time I have had one break in half. In this case, we was on a casual ride with a kid and said it wasn't shifting very well (when cracked they flex a lot and don't shift well) and then he shifted and it snapped off.

I assume the damage comes from impact but that said, I have never had to replace his hanger, so he isn't hitting stuff so hard its breaking/seriously bending the hangers. I do throw the hanger straightener on there and it needs a minor tweak but really nothing that would make me think he was hitting it really hard.

Other than occasionally lubing the jockey wheels on the GX 12spd derailleurs I have never had to do anything to them. I much prefer the shifting of the Shimano 12spd, it is incredibly smooth but man maintenance is killing me. I am to the point I just keep several spares and swap them out and rebuild several at a time.
Picture from last night. Yes, we got some rain and it was hero dirt.

Ouch that sounds like an expensive derailleur habit. Take it chain length and b-gap are all within spec? With so much clutch maintenance I would almost consider going old school and running it without the clutch and dealing with the chain slap.

Derailleur breakages can be pretty freak from personal experience. I once snapped the metal arm on a road derailleur just pulling away from a stop light.

The new DI2 XT has a lot of plastic too IMHO. The spot where yours broke (B knuckle?) is much beefier though like double the girth of a DEORE 10 speed.

I tried taking a pic for you



Now because I am old I am trying to now remember when Shimano made those out of metal - I think circa XT/LX 9 speed?

 

[duneslider]

Yeah, chain length and b screw is correct. I do back off the clutch tension a little, or if it acts up during a ride we turn it off completely.

I may just try swapping him to sram and see what happens. I just don't have any super boost wheels with XD drivers but running sram on an xt cassette is probably not an issue.

 

[Damon L.]

I am running a SRAM cassette on an HG freehub on my fatbike. NX 12 speed. With XT derailleur and shifter.

 

[CallumRD1]

Previous generations of SRAM 12 speed were compatible with shimano drivetrains, but the current transmission (T-type) generation is not. It uses a larger roller diameter than prior generations.