Sram Red 22 Lazy Rear Shifting Solution

[Mr.Gib]

On some of my bikes but not all, I have noticed with 11 speed Red and an 11-28 cassette, that in the middle of the cassette (14, 15) sometimes the chain will not move up to the next largest cog unless I give the lever a little extra push beyond the click. The problem seems to be that the large gap between the upper jockey wheel and the cassette allows too much lateral slop of the chain. The consequence is some shifts just don't happen without a little extra help. Unfortunately while there is lots of b-screw adjustment available, setting the upper jockey wheel closer to the cassette result in a completely loose chain when on the 11 tooth cog. A shorter chain is not an option because the big-big combo (50-34 compact crank) gets pretty dangerous.

Then I watched a GCN video tour of the Katusha team truck and the mechanic pointed out that most of their cassettes were 11-28 and they only used wifli (medium cage) derailleurs. I installed one and problem solved. I can set the b-screw where I want and the chain is taken care of on the 11 tooth cog.

Never a problem with any of my 10 speed Red equipped bikes. I guess the 11 speed tolerances are just that much more demanding.

All of the above was tested with brand new chains and cassettes as well as with some with 50% wear. Problem gets worse with wear but is far from perfect with new parts. Also derailleur hanger perfectly straight.

As a side note, there has been talk of chains slipping off the bottom jockey wheels when in the small-small combo. I attribute this to chains that were too loose. This issue is also resolved with the medium cage RD.

I hope this helps anyone with issues.

[asiantrick]

Damn, I have the same problem with brand new bike on Sram Red. Might need to get this fixed because it drove my nut.