Hey Went to my shop to fix a transmission problem on my bike. Mechanic says I need a new XT derailer since it it somewhat bent and a new XT cassete since some of the small cogs are loose and grinded. He says it is because I didnt shift right and or had the gears set in a way that the chain went from the inside of the front rings to the outside the outside of the cassete cogs (causing the chain to be sort of bending or pulling across). Is he right? Did I get enough use of my XT cassete and rear derailer? I had the bike for 1 year 2 months now.
it sounds like you used your big ring, with your easy gear in the rear, or your small front ring with your hard rear gear.. if that makes sense. commonly knows as crosschaining.. a little over a year sounds right to me, assuming you ride quite often?
How many miles/ride have you been on? If you have XT cassette and XT RD they normally last a very long time. People have been known to put well over 1000 dirt miles on XT cassette and chain. Do you have a picture? What was your shifting problem? Some time all it takes is some minor adjustment. Maybe take it to another shop for second opinion before you spend the 200-300 dollars to replace the drive train. Is there a STR workshop coming up soon?:?: If you come out to Sunday fully loop ride then some of us can take a look at it for you.
If you are not selecting your gears wisely, then it sounds like its possible for your cassette to be worn. as for the bent derailleur, if you lay your bike down, be sure to lay it down on the non drive side to avoid bending it.. also have them check that the hanger is not bent, which is sometimes hard to spot with the naked eye. Do you think you are possibly cross chaining?
No pics, i took it in to fullerton bikes and they did a tuneup, but i still have a ghost shifting problem. I did notice the derailer was bent since the mechanic at Buena Park bikes showed me the bends and areas where the derailer took some bangin. The small cogs on the cassete have some play and look a little worn. I had another mechanic friend look at it saturday and he couldnt figure it out. I left the bike there so I have to pick it up. I am guilty of cross chaing in the past. He said the chain is fine though.
For sure there's always gonna be a little bit of cross-chaining even with the best riders, but with that said, and me using a 1x9 for most applications these days, it's nothing BUT cross-chaining! For me the trick is when to cross-chain, not the actual cross-chaining. The same would apply for a 2x or 3x setup. So far for the past three years on my two 1x9 setups, I've only had to replace two cogs and one chainring. On the other hand, I've gone through nearly eleven chains. I'm not sure my cycling of chains has really be the trick to preserving cassettes or rings, but I'm sure that my maintaining the chains after everyother ride has significantly improved the life of both. In anycase, whatever you choose, keep up on your chain maintenance, fine tune when necessary, and mind yo bad self!
