Flatballer

Alright mechanical gurus. I've reached my limit of skill and patience.

Force 10 speed, KMC gold chain.

I'm getting some overall noise, and in the smallest cog especially the chain is clicking over the lower jockey wheel I think, from what I can tell in the stand.

Started after I replaced both cracked jockeys and changed cassette. I've rechecked chain length, b screw, high low limits, straightened the hanger a touch with the actual tool. Replaced the wheels with the SRAM rival/force ones. Bottom one is definitely in the right direction. Top isn't marked.

Is the cage bent? What else could it be?

dsbrantjr

Did you change the chain when you changed the cassette and jockey wheels? A worn chain on a new cassette (and perhaps jockey wheels, I suppose) can cause noise and skipping.

I tend to only change one thing at a time since if you do a bunch together and there are problems it is much harder to sort out what caused the problem.

trailangel

I don't know, but looking at the pic of RD, shouldn't your shifting cable be secured on the other side of the fixing bolt? The top side instead of the bottom.

andrewclaus

Some RDs use different wheels--the upper one is a jockey wheel, the lower is an idler wheel.

Try reversing yours, see if it makes a difference.

fietsbob

Nylon Tacx pulleys are quieter, than those using a harder plastic..

but the Proprietary upper pulleys may be incompatible Which I think Sram is..

Flatballer

I did violate the rule by changing two things, for sure. Didn't change the chain, not a bad idea, but the chain isn't that worn, and the way its jumping on the wheel isn't under load or anything, it's just not aligned. It just occasionally clicks over as the teeth miss.

Good catch, you're right. Certainly not helping things.

The one marked lower is in the lower idler position, and the marked arrow spins the right way. The idler is the one that's clicking as it misses and then slides into the chain I think.

ronin4740

Since the upper one isn't marked for direction you might try flipping it around and see if that makes a difference. If it's only missing in the smallest cog on the cassette maybe it's a B screw issue? Is the smallest cog on the cassette the same number of teeth as the previous cassette?

Flatballer

I think I already tried flipping it.

For the B-screw, that's possible, something did seem off. When I had the chain off to initially re-set everything, I could get the b-screw perfect on the big cog, 6mm or so, but when I would pull it down, I could never get it quite that close, more like 9mm maybe. So I left it as close as I dared in the big cog, but on the small it's not as close as I would like. Not sure what could cause that though.

Previous was 11-25, this is 11-28, so no change other than spread at the top half.

Flatballer

Fixed the cable routing, no change. Replaced the 11,12,13T cogs with the old ones, no changes.

I did slow down and see what's happening. Occasionally when the chain comes off the top pulley, the plate or rivet hits the next largest cog tooth instead of slotting in properly.

Looking at it again, I think the wheels I bought might be for 07-09 Force and I probably have 2010 or newer maybe, although I'm not sure. I'm thinking the wheels aren't quite right. Going to put the old ones on and see if that fixes it, then maybe go to a shop to make sure I buy the right ones.

Flatballer

Old wheels no change. If I move the derailleur slightly outboard by hand I can quiet it, but I can't shift it into that position. It's like the indexing is ever so slightly off at the final shift for some reason, not releasing enough tension. Maybe need to clean the shifters and the derailleur internals, maybe need new cables.

Troul 

Is the journal bearing as well as the bearing plates on there respective sides?
You said you flipped the cog, but have you just tried swapping the sides those plates are on.

The center bolt goes thru the one half of the cage, thru the bearing plate into the journal bearing, securely screwing into the other side in the cage. Some plates are deeper grooved than their other partner plate.

Flatballer

The only difference I noticed with the plates is that some have larger holes for the larger bolt. I'll double check. I'm thinking it's not the wheels though, it's just where the derailleur is ending up. I think it's a symptom of tension in the shifting maybe. The bike sat for almost 2.5 years until I started riding again recently, so new shift cables isn't unreasonable, plus a good cleaning of the shifters and derailleur itself.

Troul 

Including this information means a lot imo.

Flatballer

I had ridden it a month before I noticed this issue, but it also hadn't been in the stand yet, so I may just not have noticed.

Troul 

Change the chain with a new chain & see what it does. Best for preventative maintenance whether it cures the noise or not.

Flatballer

Yeah, I'm ordering new chain and new cables and housing to see if sitting maybe got some stuff rusty or dirty a bit.

Flatballer

New chain, new cable and housing. Something is still off. I think it's just the time and crashes have taken their toll on the rear mech. The spring doesn't seem very springy.

Bought a new old stock off ebay for $40 that they had listed incorrectly, we'll see if that does the trick.

Flatballer

New rear derailleur seems to have mostly solved it. Haven't ridden yet, but was much better on the stand last night.

Hanger was slightly bent again, so I fixed that. Not sure how it keeps getting bent. No drops, not leaning the derailleur on stuff. Perhaps the old derailleur being a bit messed up was pulling on it weird under load.

TimothyH

The force exerted by a derailleur against the hanger under normal riding conditions should not be able to bend the hanger.

Pro cyclists producing hundreds of watts and beating the crud out of their bikes during races should not be able to bend the hanger.


-Tim-

Flatballer

I think it certainly could if it jammed or something though, which it did a couple times because it wasn't shifting right.

Troul 

A weak/broken der spring might be the cause. I've had one der that lost its "edge" after a few months of use. Replaced it with an identical model, it provided crisp shifting & has been going for over twice the amount of use.