SRAM X9 10-speed rear mech with 9-speed parts

garethrl

Senior Retro Guru
Hi folks,
I spent a few hours last night overhauling the drivetrain on a 1x9. The new setup is:

- SRAM X9 9-speed grishift
- SRAM X9 10-speed short cage rear mech
- Shimano Dura-Ace 9-speed cassette 12-21T

The bike is rigid and mainly carbon and is built for speed and flat singletrack. However, it's quite fundamentally compromised by the fact that I can't get the shifting dialed in! When it's crisp at the top of the cassette it's sloppy at the bottom, and vice-versa.

The previous setup was with an XT rapidfire and Dura Ace 7700 rear mech and that worked perfectly. What's the likely issue? Are there any standard tips for setting up a SRAM rear mech? Or is the mix of components I've chosen a non-starter?

Cheers,
Gareth.
 
Did you cha.ge the jockey wheels in the mech? 10 speed stuff is narrower than 9 speed, so that might be causing some issues.

I run X9 stuff on both my bikes and find it easier to set up than Shimano...there seems to be a bigger margin of error with the adjustments.
 
Ok, according to this post then it's a no-go from the start due to sdlightly different cable pull between SRAM 9 and 10 speed. I'd heard that about the road stuff but not the mtb range. Having said that, now that I actually look for that particular snippet of information ...

Ah well, lesson learned! The XT shifter and Dura-Ace mech are earmarked for other projects so I'll have to look for a 9-speed rear mech for this one I think. Who knows when the 10-speed one will find a use?!

Cheers,
Gareth.
 
I had just assumed that it was like it was previously, that as long as the jockey wheels were correct you could use any mech on any gear number set up because the shifter would determine the cable pull for the shifts.

Mountain biking and its standards is getting beyond a joke now.
 
If I've understood correctly then the trouble I'm having arising because of the difference in cable pull between what the gripshift provides and what the mech needs. If the cable pull differs between the two then problems are pretty much bound to occur, especially considering the increasingly fine margins as you add more sprockets. The float in the top jockey wheel can cater for a bit of slop, but not that much it seems.

I agree, let's not spoil the weekend by getting started on bike standards!
 
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