[NoCanSurf]

The background:
I’m riding 60 miles a week. All paved roads. The getting out into the woods and onto the gravel hasn’t manifested liked I had hoped. I’m way to busy being a single dad and college students.

The bike a Niner RLT RDO. I love the bike and it makes a fine commuter.

The RLT comes with a Shimano GRX800 GS11SP Shadow Plus (with a clutch) rear derailleur. I’m pretty sure that “Shadow Plus” means that when I’m not riding it the rear derailleur turns into a ninja and fights crime. (Don’t quote me on that.)

My question:
Is there an advantage to having the clutch engaged (or disengaged) for the type of riding I’m doing (road)?

I recently cleaned my chain, and while taking of the read wheel turned disengaged the clutch, and never re-engaged it for the next few rides. Up until now I’ve left the clutch engaged. Because… Well… It came that way. I understand the point of the clutch, but my riding is on pavement, and I thought maybe there might be some benefit for disengaging the clutch, like maybe it will shift easier (it shift amazingly already) or maybe there would be some increase in power (like a fraction of a watt or something). Maybe the turning if off reduces wear and tear on the derailleur. I’m not sure. So, I’m asking.

 

[ljsmith]

If you don’t mind the sound of chain slap over rough roads and you don’t ever drop the chain then you can turn it off. It will take a little less effort to shift.

 

[127.0.0.1]

turn off clutch on road

it causes more drag when on

never had chainslap I can recall on any roadbike in over +40 years
even hopping RR tracks which I do all the time, or hopping up on sidewalks

shadow is a term for tucking der body closer to cogs to reduce hitting rocks on dirt (mtb)

 

[jrob300]

turn off clutch on road

it causes more drag when on

Bingo. You don't even need it most of the time on an MTB unless you're one of those guys that banging his chain into the stays and need a chainguide in front to keep it on. My wife (who is NOT a shredder) has clutched RD's on both her MTB and gravel bike. They've never been turned on and she's never had an issue. It is more difficult to shift with it on.

 

[FrankS29]

Bingo. You don't even need it most of the time on an MTB unless you're one of those guys that banging his chain into the stays and need a chainguide in front to keep it on. My wife (who is NOT a shredder) has clutched RD's on both her MTB and gravel bike. They've never been turned on and she's never had an issue. It is more difficult to shift with it on.

I went on exactly one ride on my Ripley without a clutch on my derailleur (the clutch broke on my XT 12 speed). It was awful!

Tons of noise and chain slapping all over the place.

Climbing it was fine, but once the bike picked up speed, it was like I was right back to 2006. Might be because of the North East trails that are littered with rocks and roots.

On my gravel bike, I honestly rarely turn the clutch on since I'm usually on road or pretty smooth gravel.

 

[Simplydown]

I have the clutched RX800 RD on my road bike. I keep the clutch on because I'm running an oversize 11-36T cassette with 50/34 rings and this slightly exceeds the chain wrap capacity of the RD. So the clutch helps prevent chain drop if I inadvertently find myself riding the smaller cogs while on the small chainring (roads here are terrible). Other than that, I don't really notice any difference shifting with the clutch on or off so it doesn't bother me to leave it like that all the time.

 

[127.0.0.1]

^that makes sense if you run pizza cogs. the drag really is 'while shifting' as the chain pushes harder to get the cage moving to lower gears/bigger cogs. if running typical road cassette range clutch not needed ime

 

[Rod]

turn off clutch on road

it causes more drag when on

never had chainslap I can recall on any roadbike in over +40 years
even hopping RR tracks which I do all the time, or hopping up on sidewalks

shadow is a term for tucking der body closer to cogs to reduce hitting rocks on dirt (mtb)

I completely agree with these statements.

 

[J.B. Weld]

Even the best road racing derailleurs have clutches now. Properly tuned and maintained they're a good thing overall and they won't steal any precious watts.

 

[Taroroot]

Even the best road racing derailleurs have clutches now. Properly tuned and maintained they're a good thing overall and they won't steal any precious watts.

Really? I dont keep up much with road stuff, but afaik DuraAce doesnt have a clutch. Most recent i heard bout DA was its going semi wireless. anyway, with clutch on on road, there is a little bit of difference in shifting, mostly to lower gear on back. Its a little chunkier. I have Di2 so there is no diff in shifter lever effort for me. I leave mine off until i hit trail. Despite much of our roads being almost offroad, i find it fine without clutch.

 

[J.B. Weld]

Really? I dont keep up much with road stuff, but afaik DuraAce doesnt have a clutch. Most recent i heard bout DA was its going semi wireless. anyway, with clutch on on road, there is a little bit of difference in shifting, mostly to lower gear on back. Its a little chunkier. I have Di2 so there is no diff in shifter lever effort for me. I leave mine off until i hit trail. Despite much of our roads being almost offroad, i find it fine without clutch.

Not positive about the new Shimano DA but sram red (and other models I think) has a hydraulic clutch.

If you adjust the GRX clutch right you can't really feel any difference at the shifter whether it's on or off. At least I can't.

 

[FrankS29]

It would be my assumption that road racing derailleurs having a clutch would be of little consequence as pretty much every racer is riding electronic drivetrains.

When an electric motor is doing the shifting, lightning quick, the extra resistance from the clutch is realistically a moot point.

Plus you get the benefits of a more stable chain.

 

[J.B. Weld]

It would be my assumption that road racing derailleurs having a clutch would be of little consequence as pretty much every racer is riding electronic drivetrains.

When an electric motor is doing the shifting, lightning quick, the extra resistance from the clutch is realistically a moot point.

I was sort of responding to this-

turn off clutch on road

it causes more drag when on

Plus I'm, not feeling any extra shifting drag on the GRX which is what the op has.

 

[FrankS29]

I was sort of responding to this-




Plus I'm, not feeling any extra shifting drag on the GRX which is what the op has.

I have the GRX rear mech on my RLT 9 RDO and Ultegra 8000 hoods, I notice a slight bit more resistance when shifting and slightly slower shifts but nothing worth writing home about.

I noticed the clutch much more on my mountain bike. I think the huge levers on the road/gravel hoods negate a lot of the extra shifting resistance.

I choose to keep my clutch off a lot in the RLT because I simply like fast shifts, but the clutch is certainly not a bad thing to run if you want.

 

[sa12]

You probably won't find a huge improvement when disengaging the clutch. But give it a shot and see how it goes. You can always turn it back on if you find you're having issues.

The GRX800 on my bike has performed well with the clutch on and off. Not enough performance difference for me to fret about. But I'm just a dude that just wants to ride my bike, not a scientist or racer or nothin. If you do 100 miles on your bike regularly then I'd suggest doing your own testing, but for a 30 mile ride I doubt you'll be bothered much.

 

[noapathy]

Bingo. You don't even need it most of the time on an MTB unless you're one of those guys that banging his chain into the stays and need a chainguide in front to keep it on. My wife (who is NOT a shredder) has clutched RD's on both her MTB and gravel bike. They've never been turned on and she's never had an issue. It is more difficult to shift with it on.

I don't need a chainguide on my MTB because of the clutch. Without that, a guide would be an absolute necessity to avoid dropped chains let alone the horrendous racket. I'm by no means fast or anything, just average and we're talking mostly easier blue trails so not even all that chunky.

For gravel, it'd makes things quieter but I still have a non-clutched RD on that bike and the only chain drop was when the FD was out of adjustment.

 

[749800]

Coincidently, I just got back from a ride with my wife. She has a new drivetrain with a clutch and a 2X front. I had set the clutch on and she was complaining bitterly about how the drivetrain upgrade made it worse. I turned the clutch off and forgot about it, and I didn't tell her. She thought I had done something major to improve the drive-train.

My "all-road" road bike has a pre-clutch era Ultegra derailleur and a 2X. It works perfectly without a clutch, even with an 11x36T cassette. (The derailleur is officially specced for 32T max.)

The main use of a clutch is to keep the chain on a 1X ring. It has a side-benefit of reducing chain slap. But it does cause rougher shifting, especially on a 2X. Fortunately, you can turn them off or just pull them out if they are causing more trouble than benefit.

They also wear out fast, and the Shimano kind that has the compression screw seems to need to be relubed and reassembled quite frequently, and has a propensity to slip.