Shimano GRX chain issue

[Dakrisht]

A 12spd XTR chain (CN-M9100) would be also an improvement in your situation.

Interesting - curious why the XTR chain would quiet the drivetrain?

I believe this bike came with a stock Ultegra chain but interested in why the XTR will perform better

Edit: sold out everywhere of course, but am I going for the 116L for the XTR chain?

[Hexsense]

CN-M9100 and CN-M8100 have extended inner plate and some other custom stuff on the chain geometry.
Shimano officially said it need to work in conjunction with Hyperglide+ cassette. But we found the chain alone also improve (front) shifting quality and reduce the noise on regular 11 speed bike.

[Dakrisht]

CN-M9100 and CN-M8100 have extended inner plate and some other custom stuff on the chain geometry.
Shimano officially said it need to work in conjunction with Hyperglide+ cassette. But we found the chain alone also improve (front) shifting quality and reduce the noise on regular 11 speed bike.

Interesting. Good to know.

Should I be looking at the 116 or the 126 link chain, not that I can find a single one available online anywhere

Edit: 116L should work given that I'll be down-sizing anyway but alas, impossible to find this chain at the moment! Search goes on.

[Asetek]

Hello,

I have a Diverge Expert with a 2-by GRX DI2 ( taken from my previously owned Canyon Grail).
When I used the 11-34 (Cs-hg800) cassette I had same issue on both bikes.
I guess the Cogs have a quality or tolerance issue.

You may also read here:
https://forum.bikeradar.com/discussion/ ... 0-cassette

Now I switched to a 11-32 Ultegra and everything is fine.

[Dakrisht]

Hello,

I have a Diverge Expert with a 2-by GRX DI2 ( taken from my previously owned Canyon Grail).
When I used the 11-34 (Cs-hg800) cassette I had same issue on both bikes.
I guess the Cogs have a quality or tolerance issue.

You may also read here:
https://forum.bikeradar.com/discussion/ ... 0-cassette

Now I switched to a 11-32 Ultegra and everything is fine.

Wonder why going down to an 11-32 vs. 11-34 would eliminate the clink/noise. Clink generally is an indexing issue. But the reply to the above thread says the KMC chain fixed the issues.

Which seems to be similar to recommendations here stating that the XTR chain swap would alleviate the issues as well.

[szazbo]

I have had 3 different 11-34 Shimano cassettes that there was a clicking noise only on the 27t cog. Sounded like the indexing was off. So how can only the 27 be off? With the bike in the stand, turning the cranks very slowly on the 27t, I could see the chain catching on 2 different teeth. It would lift the chain slightly and then pop back down into place. I marked those 2 teeth and upon closer examination found putting tension on the derailleur with my finger, that the noise would stop. Turns out that when manufacturing the cog, something must have happened during the stamping causing a burr on the back side of those 2 teeth. Fixed it by taking a slim file to the back of the tooth and removing the burr until it was quiet. Wear gloves as those teeth are sharp if you slip. Frustrated me for a while trying to figure out, but now all happy

[Discodan]

A 12spd XTR chain (CN-M9100) would be also an improvement in your situation.

Interesting - curious why the XTR chain would quiet the drivetrain?

I believe this bike came with a stock Ultegra chain but interested in why the XTR will perform better

Edit: sold out everywhere of course, but am I going for the 116L for the XTR chain?

It's because the 12s chain are around 0.3mm thinner than 11s so seems to rub less on adjacent gears and allows for more silent cross-chaining

[Dakrisht]

A 12spd XTR chain (CN-M9100) would be also an improvement in your situation.

Interesting - curious why the XTR chain would quiet the drivetrain?

I believe this bike came with a stock Ultegra chain but interested in why the XTR will perform better

Edit: sold out everywhere of course, but am I going for the 116L for the XTR chain?

It's because the 12s chain are around 0.3mm thinner than 11s so seems to rub less on adjacent gears and allows for more silent cross-chaining

Nice. Good to know.

CN-M9100 is simply unavailable anywhere so going with the CN-M8100 instead. Seems to be more or less the same chain, less 10g weight difference due to solid pins rather than hollow pins.

[radiantRadish]

Had similar issues with the 105 11-34 cassettes. Cycling Tips also noted problems with the Ultegra 11-34 in their review:

https://cyclingtips.com/2018/03/shimano ... te-review/

"....In the early days of testing, I experienced a bit of unexplained roughness and noise in certain gears with both this and a new R8000 cassette. Frankly I can’t explain it, and even where everything was set up perfectly, one or two gears (typically around the 17T sprocket) made more noise than they should. Thankfully the cassette eventually wore in, and the noise soon disappeared..."

[ooo]

11-34T cassette uses same small cogs as 11-40/11-42 cassettes,
but guide pulley on road RD sits closer to cassette (vs mtb RD)

11-32T have similar problem on some bikes - rear cog ramps may have minor mismatch (with specific chain line, chainstay length and chain lengths)

[Erwin]

A 12spd XTR chain (CN-M9100) would be also an improvement in your situation.

Interesting - curious why the XTR chain would quiet the drivetrain?

I believe this bike came with a stock Ultegra chain but interested in why the XTR will perform better

Edit: sold out everywhere of course, but am I going for the 116L for the XTR chain?

It's because the 12s chain are around 0.3mm thinner than 11s so seems to rub less on adjacent gears and allows for more silent cross-chaining

That's it. Furthermore the chain quite durable. Have ridden 4300km and counting. Still good, riding it with DA chainrings, 1190 11-28 cassette and CS OSPW. Always had problems with Red22, KMC or Shimano 11spd chains. Some gears were always noisy. With 12spd Shimano chain everything is fine.
The XT M8100 chain is also a good alternative as you already mentioned.

EDIT: Certainly XT CN-M8100 and not Ultegra. Sorry for the typo!

[Dakrisht]

XT CN-M8100 on order, excited to try it out.

Very interesting that I'm not the only one with this weird rub / clink / noise on this setup. Would think Shimano would be wise enough to throw a MTB chain on these bikes with GRX vs. pure road Ultegra chains.

[pdlpsher1]

With regards to cassette cog alignment, I recently developed a special way when installing Shimano cassettes onto a freehub. Naturally the cassettes and the freehub bodies have a loose tolerance between them by design. This is so that the two parts can mate together without trouble. Before I install the cassette lockring I turn every cassette cog clockwise until it stops. Then I carefully add the lockring without disturbing the cassette which is in the most clockwise direction. I slowly tighten the lockring by hand while making sure the individual cassette cogs don't move. Lastly I tighten the lockring very carefully without disturbing the cassette. If you don't follow this specialy way then the cogs will be slightly mis-aligned. And if you have the lockring torqued to 40nm the individual cassettes may not rotate clockwise to the spline stops during normal riding. When using my special way every cassette cog/cluster is guaranteed to be perfectly aligned and remain aligned. It's free to try this out if you have noise issues.

[Dakrisht]

Happy to report that the new XT CN-M8100 I just installed runs smoother and quieter, even if you're cross chaining to extremes. Noticeable difference in noise levels across all cogs and rings.

Solid improvement!

Shimano should be putting these chains as standard equipment on GRX drivetrains, but oh well.

Thinking that a 12-speed XTR chain on my Ultegra might also be a good idea given that it's more or less the same gruppo as the GRX and will reduce noise.

I wonder if the Dura Ace chain vs. the Ultegra 11-speed I currently have is worthwhile or just go for the 12 speed.

[szazbo]

As posted above, the 11-34 noise solution was fairily simple for me. Based on this thread I installed a XTR 12 speed chain on my GB that has an electic drivetrain. Praxis crank with 48-32, Ultegra Di2 FD, GRX 815 Di2 RD and a 11-40 XT cassette with a Roadlink. Slowed the Di2 to "normal" speed. Shifting is perfect without compromises, and with the XTR 12 chain, super quiet and perfect shifts every time. I know you can skip the Roadlink but that required the B screw to go in all the way forcing the jockey wheels away from the cassette. With the Roadlink the B screw is almost all the way out and has a lot of chain wrap.