SRAM?!

[jamied]

All of my past bikes have had shimano kit on, not because I particularly like shimano just because thats what has come on the bike so I've stuck with it. My new bike has sram NX 11 speed gears and I really dislike them, the shifter button placement is so awkward to use its like they designed them to be finger and thumb buttons but disabled the finger operation.

Also the rear mech will jump sometimes when first pulling off when I've not changed gear. I'm a really stickler for having perfectly running gears and if my bike ever goes into the shop I tell them not to touch the gears as they will usually adjust my perfectly setup gears to be less than prefect. I've checked and recheck the gears at home and they run perfectly in the garage but out on a ride they will occasionally jump, everything looks aligned ok. Is this just what sram stuff does? I'm considering changing it for a shimano shifter and mech. If the shifter was nice to used I think I'd be ok with the occasional jump but as I really don't get on with the shifter I might need to make the switch.

 

[jamied]

Remove your jockeywheels. remove the bearing seals and re-fill with good quality grease.

I'll give that a try see if it resolves the issue. Should I need to be doing that on a bike thats only been on one 30 minute ride though?

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

I'll give that a try see if it resolves the issue. Should I need to be doing that on a bike thats only been on one 30 minute ride though?

Not at all. I have the NX on some bikes and they are fine. I think the issue is SRAM quality control. I rode a Kenevo that had shocking Code brakes, but my Levo are excellent. Both brand new.

NX should be good, not as smooth a shift and not as light, but definitely shouldn't miss shift or change gears randomly. Something is not right. Did you get the bike from a local bike shop?

 

[Taffyteg]

To be honest I have also always used Shimano and thought it was great, like you I also like my gears to run perfectly and with the SRAM setup on the Levo, I am always struggling to get them running right. Failing to change gear and then jumping is a regular occurrence, I also ease off when I change gear, so it's not as though it is getting any abuse.

I am running a GX rear mech and SRAM shifters, the shifter I find pretty easy to use however for some weird and bizarre reason when I am shifting up, now and then the lever gets harder to push - it's as though there is more tension being applied from the rear mech on to the cable which then causes the shifter to stick - it still works just a bit annoying.

I think I will go back to Shimano one day, probably wait for the mech to get trashed again first...

 

[eFat]

Should I need to be doing that on a bike thats only been on one 30 minute ride though?

No.

For the shifter, give it more than 30 minutes to become familiar with it.

 

[jamied]

NX should be good, not as smooth a shift and not as light, but definitely shouldn't miss shift or change gears randomly. Something is not right. Did you get the bike from a local bike shop?

No I ordered online, the only reason is I got the Focus SAM2 and it's out of stock everywhere, managed to find one place that had my size in stock so went with that rather than having to wait for ages to get one from the local shop. Not the best option but I was impatient as the rest of the fam have got new bikes and didn't want to be without a bike I can ride while they are off enjoying themselves.

The SAM2 has a weird mix of shimano and sram component, steps system, shimano hubs but sram shifter and mech.

If I was to swap it for a shimano electric shifter does anyone know if it integrates with the steps system and can run off of the existing battery? Also are the electric shifters worth the extra money over the cabled versions?

 

[eFat]

With a Shimano motor I would definitely upgrade to a Di2. It will integrate perfectly.

Also are the electric shifters worth the extra money over the cabled versions?

From a cost point of view, without front derailleur the expense is not that pertinent... But again with a Shimano motor I would do it.

 

[Kernow]

Start by checking the alignment of the durailure hanger , I have yet to find one that was perfect out of the box ., and even a tiny bit effects shifting . It’s well worth buying the alignment tool if you have a few bikes .
Scram also needs the b screw setting just right , shimano seems to run even with bad setup , same with cable tension scram is much fussier because they use a different ratio in the shifter .

 

[ccrdave]

The nx shifters have bushings rather than bearings and is pretty crap, i upgraded mine to gx which has bearings, much more consistent
The nx mech is ok for a cheap mech but its very sensative to cable routing. I always found sram gears a bit clunky compared to shimano but they work ok and as someone just said they are very picky about B screw setting

 

[jamied]

With a Shimano motor I would definitely upgrade to a Di2. It will integrate perfectly.

@eFat I may well go down this route. Would I be right in thinking that I would need the shifter, rear mech and a couple of cables? Would the shifter plug into the steps display, I'm not sure what the rear mech would get plugged into or how the existing battery comes into play, I'm finding it hard to find much info on how to integrate the di2 and steps systems.

 

[Kernow]

I think I jinksed myself today posting here , my scam shifter was playing up , on the morning ride so I took my hardtail out for the afternoon , That has Xt 8000 , it’s so much better .

 

[Japuserid]

Had a vey hard time transferring over to Sram from Shimano, new bike has EX1 8 speed, previously had an XT 11 speed setup. The EX1 has been a proper mare and I tried everything and could not get it shift properly and quite honestly I was ready to throw in the towel and buy Simano again.

But in the end, what it all came down to was very simply, incorrect B screw adjustment.

It appears that, on a full suspension bikes, Sram state that all thier 1x transmissions need to have the B screw set while at normal sag position and so has to be done with the suspension loaded and not unloaded like Shimano, Who knew Having corrected this it now shifts every bit as as good as my XT did and responds normally and predictably to adding and removing tension to the cable.

The other thing I struggled with was the Code brakes, at first I felt they lacked power and felt kind of spungy, by comparison the Saint felt very powerful and had an instant bite, but as I get used to the Codes I am really beginning to appreciate just how well the Code units modulate and that they actually have more than enough power.

We all hate change and things that generally feel different, I'm glad I perceviered and although still very pro Shimano, Sram is definately growing on me.

 

[njn]

The chain gap spec is 22mm for EX1. SRAM 7, 11 and 12 speeds use a 15mm gap.

Hopefully the replacement derailleur will come with the gap gauge.

https://sram-cdn-pull-zone-gsdesign...-000_rev_d_1x_mtb_derailleurs_user_manual.pdf

 

[Seric]

As people above are saying, check your B-tention screw. It's the first thing and easy to check. Then your dropout and deraullier-allignment
As a third option, check that your gear cables/casings are long enough to handle the movement from the rearframe moving through its travel. If the outer-casing does noe have enough play-room, it will pull your insidecable, causing socalled "ghost-shifting)

 

[jamied]

OK, finally got around to adjusting the mech, the B screw was waaay off, about 60mm when the manual says it should be 15mm. Gave everything a check over and it's working much better going up and down the road. Hopefully it will work just as well on a proper ride.

Thanks for all the B screw suggestions. I'll see what these are like for a while, I may still switch them out for shimano at some point though.