Adjusting SRAM Red Yaw Front & Rear Derailleurs

Back by popular demand, the general all-things Road forum!

Moderator: robbosmans

drainyoo
Posts: 789
Joined: Sun Jun 17, 2007 6:56 pm

by drainyoo

I just installed SRAM Red Yaw front and rear derailleurs and I can't for the life of me get them adjusted properly. I've followed info that I found online, and also videos on YouTube and still nothing. I'm stumped.

With the front, no matter what adjustments I make, the cage rubs against the chain. If I adjust it while in the large chainring, it will rub when in the small ring. If I then adjust the spacing while in the small ring, it then throws off the adjustments in the large ring and rubs. I made sure to align the marks on the top of the cage to the center of the large ring, before making any adjustments.

With the rear, I can't get it to shift to the largest gear. I've pulled the cable as tight as possible, but it still won't shift. I removed the cable completely, and I can push the derailleur all the way and have it shift into the largest gear. I assume the issue here is cable tension, but no matter how tight I make it, it won't help.

Any help will be appreciated. Thanks.
Last edited by drainyoo on Tue Jun 17, 2014 6:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



eric
Posts: 2196
Joined: Tue Nov 11, 2003 9:47 pm
Location: Santa Cruz, California, USA
Contact:

by eric

Which Red? Yaw FD?

For the Yaw FD I found that following the directions helps a lot. Because the angle changes it's not like normal derailleurs. You need to set it when in the large ring and set the lines on the derailleur to line up like they say. From there it was close but not quite right so I observed it in both positions and made tweaks from there.

For the rear it sounds like you're one click off. Undo the cable and pull on it while shifting up until you're sure the shifter is in the small cog position.

drainyoo
Posts: 789
Joined: Sun Jun 17, 2007 6:56 pm

by drainyoo

Yeah, it's the YAW. I tried following the SRAM directions, but they're so confusing and almost useless.

I will try that with the rear derailleur. Thanks.

rijndael
Posts: 402
Joined: Tue Sep 20, 2011 12:54 pm
Location: Haines, AK - Temporarily

by rijndael

drainyoo wrote:With the rear, I can't get it to shift to the largest gear. I've pulled the cable as tight as possible, but it still won't shift. I removed the cable completely, and I can push the derailleur all the way and have it shift into the largest gear. I assume the issue here is cable tension, but no matter how tight I make it, it won't help.


Use your hand to work the RD while turning the cranks. Does it go in to that final gear? If not, you probably need to adjust the limit screw.

Regarding the FD, make sure you're not confusing derailleur rub with chain & ring rub. Sometimes, in 34/11, the chain can rub the large chain ring with a 50/34 setup.

drainyoo
Posts: 789
Joined: Sun Jun 17, 2007 6:56 pm

by drainyoo

Yeah, did that already with the RD. It will shift into the final gear when I push it by hand.

aaric
Posts: 430
Joined: Thu Jun 09, 2011 4:10 pm

by aaric

rijndael wrote:Regarding the FD, make sure you're not confusing derailleur rub with chain & ring rub. Sometimes, in 34/11, the chain can rub the large chain ring with a 50/34 setup.


I find this occurs with non-Sram yaw rings pretty regularly, and more so if you are running a 36/52.

User avatar
VeloScaper
Posts: 543
Joined: Sat Aug 13, 2005 5:20 am
Location: Sitting over the center of the Earth.

by VeloScaper


drainyoo
Posts: 789
Joined: Sun Jun 17, 2007 6:56 pm

by drainyoo

Those are the two videos that I followed.

indywagon
Posts: 71
Joined: Wed Nov 11, 2009 11:53 pm

by indywagon

I had similar issues with the Sram Red Yaw FD with a Rotor 3D+ crankset - nearly drove me nuts - took it in to a trusted local shop and they actually made it worse! Then I found the "Ask a Mechanic" video on the installation that is done for Velonews.com by Art's Cyclery. It contains a couple steps that I think are overlooked in the SRAM company vidoes. It certainly helped me. Give it a shot!

numberSix
Posts: 124
Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2012 1:53 pm

by numberSix

I watched those videos and I'm not surprised you're having problems. The below assumes you don't have some crazy crank setup that's not really compatible with the frame, making for odd chain lines.

Front D:
- positioning: The right-side/outer cage needs to clear the tallest big ring teeth by ~2mm. Easier to do/test without the cable attached. I'm assuming you're more likely to want BigRing-bigCog to be noise-free, than small-small. When the front alignment line is over the big ring teeth C/L, the rear line is slightly (0.5mm?) inboard/left of the big ring C/L. (C/L = center line)

- limit screws: should be obvious but; the lower limit is set while the chain is on small Ring-big Cog, the upper is set while on big ring-small cog.

- cable tension: If there's a inline cable adjuster tighten it down to the shortest position then unwind it ~1 turn. While on the small ring and with the shifter clicked to Small, pull all of the slack out of the cable, tighten the cable bolt. Unfortunately this step is hit or miss. An in-line adjuster helps.

- Test: if shifting to the big ring barely makes it or doesn't move fully to the outer limit screw-set position, the cable is too slack. If while shifted to the small ring it's not resting on the lower limit screw it too tight. The cable should be taut. Any slack makes for poor shifting.

Rear D:
- positioning: I run more B-screw tension than the videos recommend. In short, the upper pulleys and cage should easily clear the biggest cog on the cassette.

- limit screws: Big cog; the upper pulley C/L should be directly under the big cog C/L. Small cog; the upper pulley C/L should be slightly to the right/outside of the small cog C/L; again 0.5mm-1mm. The second video illustrates this.

- cable tension: Again, the amount of slack is critical. Wind the barrel adjuster fully clockwise into the rear D, then unwind in 6-8 clicks. It pays to have adjustment for both tighter and looser. While the shifter is set to the small cog (and rear D is on the small cog if the chain is installed), pull the cable taut and fasten the cable bolt.

- Test: Shift to the big ring in front. Shift repeatedly from smallCog to smallCog+1. Then back to the small cog. If this is perfect, then the High limit screw is good and the cable tension is close. Proceed to move up the cassette one cog at a time. Then back down. If there's chattering, slow or missed shifts in the middle of the cassette, then the cable is too slack while on the small cog. A work stand really helps here, being able to watch the chain you can see if it's snagging/rubbing on the next cog up or not fully getting on the correct cog. Again, turning the adjuster CCW adds cable tension, CW reduces it. Be sure to check if the derailleur hits the limit screws as expected.

hope this helps,
6

drainyoo
Posts: 789
Joined: Sun Jun 17, 2007 6:56 pm

by drainyoo

Thanks, dude! I will go through all of your advice and see how it turns out.

My guess is that cable tension is what's causing my issues for both. I'm running Aican Bunguras, not sure if that makes a difference.

On the FD, I do notice that when I shift into the big ring, the FD shifts out so that the ring is centered in it, but then when I release the lever, it moves back in, and that's when I get the chain rubbing. According to the SRAM video, this movement shouldn't happen. To me this tells me that it's the cable tension, but the only way for me to get it tight enough is if I push the FD out, and then tighten the cable. Haven't had luck doing this because it requires 3 hands. The FD did come with a barrel adjuster. Should I install this midway through the housing up by the bars?

For the RD, no matter what I try, the pulleys won't move to largest cog with the cable. I have to push it by hand. If I do hold it there with my hand, and remove the slack from the cable and tighten the bolt, the cable it too tight to move back down to the smallest cog.

I'm stumped. Hope your tips help.

numberSix
Posts: 124
Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2012 1:53 pm

by numberSix

Front: yes the adjuster is the easy way. Add it into the housing before the headstay cable stop. Test carefully the bars spinning all the way around to frame contact. If the cable housing is too short bad things happen if you crash. The grams saved aren't worth it. Make sure the adjuster won't get bent across the head tube.

Front Tension: What you describe is too little tension. Follow the above step-by-step. Shift to small ring, loosen the cable bolt, pull taut til like a loose guitar string, tighten the bolt.

Rear D: Again, cable tension is set while shifted to small. The barrel adjuster allows both slack and tighten if you do what's outlined above. The small cog / pulley offset might be more like 1-2mm to the right. Once that offset is right, and the starting cable tension is right, the small--small+1--small test will be perfect with no chattering. The real test is when you get to the middle of the cassette. If this is right you're home free.

It's very easy to not really be at the shifter's small cog detent. With the cable bolt released, hold tension on the cable while clicking down to the small cog. Check, and check again before you mess with tension/shifting.

Another common problem is the cable housing ends not being fully seated, and cables getting suddenly slack in the middle of testing.

One more issue. It's really tempting to use the inner cable routing, where the cable exits the hood and runs along the front of the bar. For some bar and hood positions, the cable drag is very high. I gave up on it, and always route SRAM shifter cables through the 'outer' cable stop at the hoods. Then around the back of the bar's 90* bend, then along the back/bottom of the bar toward the head tube. The drag is much lower, and the housing fits easier into the hood cable housing stop.

Gotta run, time to ride. Report back how you make out.

boots2000
Posts: 1393
Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2007 9:28 pm

by boots2000

I would say that you need more cable tension up front and less in the rear.
SRAM rear derailleur actually works best with as little cable tension as possible.

drainyoo
Posts: 789
Joined: Sun Jun 17, 2007 6:56 pm

by drainyoo

Ok, another question. When the tension is right for the shifter cables, should the housing feel loose like a noodle or should it be tight and stiff?

drainyoo
Posts: 789
Joined: Sun Jun 17, 2007 6:56 pm

by drainyoo

Sweet mother of god, I got the FD adjusted perfectly. Thanks so much numberSix. Your tips, along with some other things I did made it work. Here is what I did:

- I had the shifter cables running in front of my bars, and this caused friction, so I ran them behind instead which reduce the sharpness of the turn.

- With the cable disconnected, I lined up the center marks on the cage to the large ring, then backed out the inner limit screw and had it shift to the smaller ring, and adjusted the spacing for it.

- I then connected the cable with the FD shifted to the small ring, and made sure it was tight as a guitar string per numberSix's suggestion.

- I installed the barrel adjuster provided by SRAM, and increased the tension while in the small ring.

- Then shifted up to the larger ring, and adjusted the outer limit screw with the lever pressed all the way as per SRAM's instructions.

No longer getting that slop in the cage when releasing the lever, and no chain rub. The issue was with cable tension. Still need to try to RD. Hoping I'm successful there as well.

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



Post Reply