MnBrent

I've got my new to me 2011 CAAD 10-3 with 10sp Ultegra everything, except brake calipers. It's in like new condition.

I've had shifting problems going into the smaller cogs on the rear cassette. Seems to be worst when on the large front chainring, but does give me trouble on the smaller one as well.

Had the rear derailleur adjusted ($15) and the mech told me:
1) Pulled out some cable stretch. (which I noticed as well)
2) Tweaked the rear derailleur.
3) Measured chain for stretch and it looks great.

The bike seems to shift well enough on the stand, and I didn't have the time to test ride it that day. Now that I have ridden it 2-3 times since the tune-up, and it still basically is doing the same thing, bad shifting to the smaller rear cogs and sounding like it is caught between gears, more so when using the larger front chainring. Mech told me the 10sp rear derailleur's are finicky to dial in on a good day and sometimes needs a complete redo to get it right, but thought that he had it adjusted good.

I also notice when I try to reverse spin the crank while riding it, the chain tends to catch up in the rear derailleur and not move smoothly through it, like all my other bikes like to do. I'm going to take it back in for another adjustment this week.

Question is:
Are the newer 10sp rear drivetrains really a PITA or do they perform flawlessly when dialed in correctly?
Do the chains wear more than just longetudinally? As these things really twist laterally from cog extremes, small front to small rear!!

Appreciate any replies.
Brent.

DannoXYZ 

First, DO NOT spin the crank backwards. This is a waste of energy and provides no forward propulsion power. It can also cause auto-shifting of the chain up the cluster and snag the derailleur. This can bend the derailleur-cages, derailleur-body and derailleur hanger on the frame. These misalignments can result in all sorts of shifting issues.

Yes, modern chains are laterally flexible, allowing them to shift between gears easily and smoothly. This does cause wear laterally from the yawing motions. It's a good practice to not "cross-chain" your gearing and keep your chain as straight as possible. So avoid using the big-chainring with big-cogs in rear and small-chainring with small-cogs. These gears have equivalents on the other chainring anyway. Chester Kyle & Edmund Burke, chief scientists at the Colorado Olympic Training Centre did some studies a couple decades ago and showed that the smaller cogs and crossed-chain gears have more friction.

redlude97

maybe check the b-screw adjustment? Shift to the smallest cog on the rear on the bid ring and see how close the upper pulley gets to the cog.

himespau 

Eh, if he wants to pedal backwards, what's the big deal? Who cares if it's energy that doesn't go toward propulsion?

bsektzer

My experience with Ultegra RD's has been that they are sensitive to cable tension, and the symptoms of maladjustment sound a lot like what you're describing. Even with the stop screws set perfectly, if the cable tension is too loose, you'll get poor shifting on the small end of the cassette and if it's too tight, the shifting on the larger cogs won't be precise. Try this. Put the chain on the 9th cog (second smallest), and adjust the cable tension until the derailleur just barely shifts cleanly to the next larger cog when the lever clicks. This should give you decent shifting across the whole cassette

Vince Canepa

Did the mechanic check the alignment of the derailleur hanger? Even new bikes sometimes are out of alignment.

Camilo

the guy you took it to is a professional bike mechanic, yes? If so, you paid him to do a job and he didn't do it. Call, make an appointement where he can re-do the adjustment and you can take the time to test ride it. If it doesn't work, have him fix it.

I could give you my opinion on what's wrong and how to adjust it, but you paid for it, you should get it done.

Al1943

Your symptoms are typical for excess friction in the shifter or shift cable housings.
Try hosing out the shifters with WD40.

You may need new shift cables and cable housings, especially the short housing at the rear derailleur. You can try lubricating the cables but more often if they are worn or very dirty the housings and cables will need replacing.

You can try adjusting the cable tension with the barrel adjuster at the rear derailleur. Try 1/2 turn +/- clockwise to slightly reduce tension.

ultraman6970

You can have two problems

1- friction somewhere

2 - the B screw needs to be adjusted. Many people dont touch it but sometimes depending on the bike is necessary to touch it. Probably the B screw needs to be adjusted to get the RD closer to the cogs.

MnBrent

I mechanic was Eriks here in Mpls. Ive had good luck in the past with a few jobs, but it wasn't my usual guy that really did a great job helping on my MTB, and adjusted my wifes R1000 to run like a top. All I needed to do was make a slight barrel adjustment to get the rear derailleur to get it to behave in all gears, but right now its working great. I think the problem was both loose cable tension from stretch and a slightly out adjustment that was easily remedied. so far I haven't found the time to lube the cables, but will do it soon this summer. Bike came from Phoenix and its dry down there

However, now that I have the rear behaving, I now have the front derailleur not making a full travel to go to the large chain ring. Im thinking WTH! It's slightly rubbing when on the large cog. I'll make this adjustment myself to the front adjustment travel screws and see how it goes. I must not have complained hard enough about the front derailleur!

Forgot to add, it looks like it was the combo of front derailleur rubbing just slightly, along with the rear adjustment issues, that was causing the binding feel when I would spin the crank in reverse while riding. It wasn't rubbing while pedaling fwd. Id notice it when reverse pedaling to keep the inside pedal up on a turn so it doesn't hit the tarmac. These derailleurs need to be very precise on their adjustments.

roomservicetaco

This video "Shimano Ultegra 6700 Installation & Adjustment Guide" is very helpful. It describes the proper method for setting up the shift and trim function of the levers and the rear der limit screws, B-screw, and cable tension:

Rabid Koala

I had recently replaced the cables on my 105 equipped Specialized Sequoia. I used what I thought were good cables, the black coated ones. I had difficulties mostly with the front derailleur and some difficulties with the rear.

Once I replaced them (cables not housings) with cheap normal cables, the shifting is better than it ever was. I did grease the parts of the cables that went into housings, as well as checked housing for kinks, particularly at the rear.

Sometimes it is that simple.

Camilo

Again, you paid him to do a job and he didn't. Why wouldn't you take it back and get what you paid for? We can teach you or direct you to websites or videos that can teach you, but you should get what you paid for and also learn how to do it yourself.

Pug

First, this is an excellent video. Thanks for sharing and I've bookmarked it for future reference.

Second, the audio dubbing brought back fond memories of the Godzilla movies I enjoyed as a child.

Kimmo 

Typical of excess friction in the housings yes, not excess friction in the shifter.

Excess friction in an STI shifter causes missing clicks. The WD40 flush will only help if this is the case.

MnBrent, as for excess cable friction, be aware lubing alone may not solve it - sometimes there are issues with the housing - wrong length, damage, poorly-finished ends. Also, it's not unheard-of for the cable to fray under the head inside the shifter, but this tends to be a bit more dramatic than your described symptoms.

KERT5691

I'm a newbie here and this is my first post/reply but I wanted to thank bsektzer because this really did the trick! In 15 minutes (max) my gears were near perfect. Compare this to the three hours or so I'd spent the previous day - and then they still skipped and jumped all over the place. Excellent advice!