biketampa

I have a sram rival 1 long cage rear derailleur. front is 1x. I'm having the biggest issue getting it to shift into the biggest cog. rear cassette is sram 11-42 which is what came with bike. I was putting on a larger front chainring so I replaced the chain and am certain it's correctly sized. I even started out to big and just slowly removed links. I've adjusted the limit screws. as far as I can tell the derailleur hanger is straight. I've tried undoing the cable pinch bolt and manually pushing the derailleur to get the chain up to the largest cog and that works. The only barrel adjust for rear shifting is at the rear derailleur. I removed all tension and pulled the cable tight before tightening the cable pinch bolt. I will add I feel like it was finicky before my chainring switch. This bike is 1.5 years old so I'm not sure at what point it become a bit finicky.

Is there anything else I should test? Is it likely it's some sort of shifter cable issue? I'm no expert so I'm sort of at my limits of knowing what to check

Iride01 

Did you size the chain length to the old chain?

Adjusting the limits first is always wrong if the bike was shifting correctly before the chain change. Now you really need to start from square one, unless you take it to someone that has experience or will be happy fumbling and guessing.

cxwrench

I'm guessing b tension is part of your problem. You say you 'removed all tension and pulled the cable tight'...did you make sure the shifter was all the way in high gear position?

biketampa

no. I did not size from the old chain. and I don't feel like adjusting limit screws is rocket science.

biketampa

yes. shifter was in high gear position. But b tension is one thing I have not checked. thanks. I will make sure to check that next.

blamester

Make sure you test the limit screws before you ride it. When you do get the rd to shift in to the low gear(which you will) push the derailleur towards the spoke. Pedal it make sure it cannot go beyond the gear.
Is it at least trying to get into the gear when you shift to it. Or is it a full stop.
Lube the able ends and check the routing. As well as the b screw. Use small turns on the bolt.

biketampa

I’ll definitely check the b screw.

the high limit screw seems fine. I just follow a park tools video where you make it too tight so it starts pushing chain into next cog making noise then back it out. It does try to make the jump into big cog. Another thing that makes me think it might be some cable issue is I feel like for the small cogs and moving up before I get to the last two big cogs that I just do some minor barrel adjuster turns. But then I seem to need to make a bunch of turns for the last two which doesn’t seem right. Maybe it’s sticking someplace I’m not noticing. I’ll fiddle with it a little bit more and then take it to the shop for the experts if I can’t get it worked out

Iride01 

Well did you size the chain in any way or did you just put on the new chain without removing the extra links they give you?

I know adjusting limits isn't rocket science, but even rocket scientists have messed up every now and then.

Once DR limit screws are set initially, they are seldom the issue with shifting problems.

biketampa

i sized the chain. I actually sized it too big to start. Then removed a link to get it where I wanted. I have different wheels and when I change them I need to adjust the limit screws slightly. And for the low limit screw I unscrewed it pretty far so I could make sure I could manually push the derailleur onto the large cog. I’ve only eyeball the derailleur hanger but I only wrecked on this bike once and didn’t have shifting issues after that. I have a new hanger so I could test that theory out.

rydabent

The "B" screw IS NOT a "tension screw" it is an adjustment between the jockey pully and the largest sprocket of the cluster.

cxwrench

You can trust me when I say that I know exactly what it does. No need to get worked up about it.

biketampa

Thanks for the input all. At this point I’ve only made things worse. Maybe the cable or housing needs to be replaced which I don’t feel like doing so I’m going to take it to the experts to sort out.

biketampa

Dropped it off for service at the shop and mechanic did suspect the cable is sticking someplace. So we shall see if it’s just that.