I repair cars for a living, so I’m fairly handy with tools and mechanical things. After years and years with Shimano 3x7 and 2x8 groupsets, my new favorite bike (a pristine Surly Wednesday) came with a 12spd SRAM SX rear derailleur. Even worse 😁 it was so far out of adjustment that it only worked in 4, or 5 speeds maybe.
I’ve only recently learned to adjust derailleurs and I’m okay with old Shimano stuff. But this SRAM thing. Goodness! I finally dialed it in after 3 hours. At one point, I was fairly certain I broke the shifter, but it’s fine.
I know I’m new to 12 speed, but is it really that much harder to dial in? Totally worth it, now that I’ve had a few rides. But damn.
Anyone have to adjust SRAM parts regularly? Any horror stories?
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anyway, that’s why I ride a single-speed
Oh look, a hill.
Perhaps it’s perverse that I’d rather sweat over a hill once a day than a derailleur once a month, but that’s who I am.
Plus I live in Chicago.
In theory it should be exactly the same as a Shimano derailleur, you have the same things to adjust:
- Cable tension
- Derailleur distance from cassette
- Limit screws
However 12sp functions in the same width cassette as 7sp, there’s just almost double the number of cogs there, and a narrower chain, so the shifting must be adjusted a lot more accurately
I watched some videos later which reinforced what I had learned the hard way; the B screw setting is critical for SRAM. There’s a template, even. I don’t think the B screw setting matters much to my old 7 and 8sp Shimano derailleurs.
It’s SX so its probably out of spec out of the box. GX and above (or whatever they’re calling it this week) works like you’d expect.
Bin it and replace with Shimano CUES.
12 speed should not be that difficult to tune in. Given how hard it was to get it articulating, double check your derailleur hanger alignment. Especially so if your limits are at their extreme settings.
