Has anyone been riding the X-Gen front derailleur with an Epic? I'd love to get some feedback as to ease of installation, performance etc. I rode 3 hours yesterday plagued by my Shimano XTR 952 ghost shifting in the rear and not shifting onto the small chainring at all at times in the front. I've had the drivetrain adjusted by two different mechanics without luck and keep my drivetrain very clean. When it does work it only does so for one ride then it needs readjustment. I have the correct amount of cable housing under the BB. So I have made a decision to switch entirely to SRAM XO with the X-Gen up front. I need more reliability from my shifting and am willing to pay a slight weight penalty. I have a 2003 Epic Disk. Thanks in advance.
X-Gen front derailleur w/ an Epic
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I like the X.0 rear over the XT rear that came stock on my '03 epic, but I haven't had any problems with any of the Shimano front deraileurs (LX->XT->XTR) needing constant adjustment every ride. Is your front shifter indexing properly? Grit build up in the cables causing bad shifts? Mechanics can make mistakes but you have tried two. On my '03 XTR cranks the front deraileur has to shift all the way to the seat tube to get a proper shift. Check your low stop screw?
There's nothing "magical" about sram that is going to fix the problems that you are describing. The problems are indicators of an improper setup, where there's either a whole lot of drag in the housings, a kinked cable, jammed ferrule, or some other similer problem.
What, you think shimano components just don't work on your bike? Someone may have their preferences, but both components will work, there's no doubt.
Anyway, enjoy your 200g front derailer and most riders should know that when you DO repalce a bunch of things to nail down a shifting problem (like replace cables and housings) the little ends where you cut the housings will compress, the cables will stretch a bit, and it will need a bit of remedial tuning, but your problem isn't because shimano components are "flawed" or something. You might even have a bent derailer hanger or loose cassette.
What, you think shimano components just don't work on your bike? Someone may have their preferences, but both components will work, there's no doubt.
Anyway, enjoy your 200g front derailer and most riders should know that when you DO repalce a bunch of things to nail down a shifting problem (like replace cables and housings) the little ends where you cut the housings will compress, the cables will stretch a bit, and it will need a bit of remedial tuning, but your problem isn't because shimano components are "flawed" or something. You might even have a bent derailer hanger or loose cassette.
Sorry if I say that is the stupidest thing I've heard. There is NO reason for your XTR parts to be malfunctioning and its a waste of money to think switching to sram will solve your problems. XTR parts work just fine on that bike. If the mechanics you take the bike to are incapable of getting it to work right they are going to fare no better installing and adjusting the sram parts. The front derrailleur is obviously not aligned correctly and the cable tension is not right. What makes you think an X-gen would do any better? An X-gen will shift just as badly if set up like that. The rear derrailleur is probably just poorly adjusted. This is usually pretty easy to fix. Turn the barrel adjuster in the shifter a turn at a time while you ride until you hear no skipping or grinding. If the places you take the bike to are incable of getting it right perhaps its time you learn to do things yourself. You should also make sure the derrailleur hanger is not bent. Depending on how old the cables and housing are it might also be a good idea to get a new
Thanks for the heads up regarding the X-Gen front derailleur. I'm wondering what size Epic frame you have? As far as my rear derailleur, turns out after taking it apart the hanger for the b-tension screw is cracked creating all kinds of movement in the shifting. I don't think It's fixable. So at this point it looks like I do NEED a new rear derailleur.Mo-Tay said:
No, ask your shop to look in their QBP catalog. If this is a fairly new XTR derailer, it's worth it to just get the replacement parts, and I do believe that part is replacable. I have personally replaced such a part in an XTR derailer, although I can't remember the particulars. BTW, that b-tension ring that goes on the SRAM rear derailers; I've cracked many of them, in fact SRAM used to send them out to people in bulk because they failed so much. I still have a few of them left around. You should be able to fix that rear derailer.floydg68 said:
BTW, if you want to switch to a SRAM rear derailer, you "get" to buy sram shifters too, you also get to have them installed. Lots more fun.
Go to your bike shop and have them look up the QBP catalogue. The upper assembly with the b-tension hanger, spring, bolt, and seals is $12. There are also a few online shops where you can order direct from the QBP catalogue. Sure beats paying for a new derrailleur.floydg68 said:
http://aebike.com/site/page.cfm?PageID=30&SKU=DP8368
Thanks to all for your thoughts. I have taken the rear derailleur to a shop that will replace the b-tension hanger, bolt and screw. Thanks for the advice. It helped me to save the XTR derailleur. I have still ordered the SRAM XO shifters and rear derailleur to try them out for my own comparison.
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Not a big deal installing sram shifters. I just did this last weekend and it was a doddle. Switching the entire system from XTR to X0 does seem a bit overkill though!!Jm. said:
Having seen loads of broken ones, I'd definitely choose the more robust X9 over X0. The X0 rear mech is ridiculously over-priced too. Check out some of the other posts on this matter.
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