9 speed gears and mud

-liam-

Getting a lot of skipping and slipping of the chain on the bigger cogs when the mech/chain/cassette is clogged with mud and I'm climbing. Now I know this comes with the territory and perhaps I should try and keep it all cleaner but crap seems to effect the gears more than they did when I had an 8 speed rear cassette and a slightly wider chain. It doesn't help that the jockey wheels get all crudded up meaning there is no float in them from side to side. Got really frustrated today until I got away from the muddy sections then it was all good.

Any advice ? Perhaps there is something I can do with the set up to improve the performance ?

nicklouse

sounds more like poor alignment.

and what was the front cog you were using?

-liam-

Deore hollowtech. problem was occurring on the small cog.

stumpyjon

Doesn't sound like mud, I generally have no problems even in bad mud unless either the indexing is out or somethings worn or stretched. Might be cables glooped up as well.

Vivid

Stop screw in too far pushing the chain onto the lower gear, it may explain the skipping.

Using Large/Large, Small/Small?

-liam-

stumpyjon wrote:

Doesn't sound like mud, I generally have no problems even in bad mud unless either the indexing is out or somethings worn or stretched. Might be cables glooped up as well.

Cables are xtr and only a couple of weeks old. I'd agree though, it does seem unusual.

I've set the gears up and they work fine when dry. Perhaps need to adjust the stop on the smaller cogs.

-liam-

Vivid wrote:

Stop screw in too far pushing the chain onto the lower gear, it may explain the skipping.

Using Large/Large, Small/Small?

Tends to be on the top three rings. Would the stop have an effect that far down ? and no, its only using the most sensible ratios.

Vivid

-Liam- wrote:

Vivid wrote:

Stop screw in too far pushing the chain onto the lower gear, it may explain the skipping.

Using Large/Large, Small/Small?

Tends to be on the top three rings. Would the stop have an effect that far down ? and no, its only using the most sensible ratios.

That cancels that out then.

Try when clean and relubricated and see if you get the same results.

How old is the drivetrain?

-liam-

Works perfectly when clean. Only starts messing about when(or after ) I hit the gloopy stuff.

The rear mech is 3 - 4 months old
The chain and cassette(both Sram) are 2 months old
The front chainset is a month old

There is a very slight and I mean slight play in the freehub, although it operates absolutely fine. Would this cause any probs? The LBS said it wasn't a problem when they fitted the external BB.

johnsav

wouldnt have thought so, when my last one went it was pretty bad and it shifted ok ish

-liam-

I've re tensioned the cable and reset everything. Can anyone see anything in these at all ?

allthegearnoidea

if it is a lot of mud build up thats clinging onto the gear cogs then one possible soloution maywell be to give a liberal coat of silicone spray over the cogs, jockey wheels and chain, (just make sure not to get it onto the disc! ) should make it a little more slippy as such and the worst of the gloop should fall off??

swagman

Change to 8 speed,9 speed keep to the road bikes.

jayson

swagman wrote:

Change to 8 speed,9 speed keep to the road bikes.

Why not go to a single ring at the front and a 5 speed freewheel while ur at it :P

ride_whenever

It could be that the mech isn't quite set up right, another 1/4 turn maybe so the changes are really slick and the mech is perfectly aligned. Alternatively, lube the mech pivots so it can move really freely, could be some gunk is fouling it in the three largest gears.

johnsav

deore rear mech isnt the best in the world - get a new one for crimbo!

ride_whenever

deore is solid and reliable, I very much doubt it is the (unfixable) source of your problems, whilst lubing the mech I'd pop open the shifter and check that too.

johnsav

i was kinda joking...

supersonic

Is that mech hanger bent a little inwards? Doesn't look flush either in some of the pics.

-liam-

supersonic wrote:

Is that mech hanger bent a little inwards? Doesn't look flush either in some of the pics.

I wondered about that, but I think it is just the angle of the frame because when you eye up the hanger with the cassette, it appears parallel. Might just take it off and check it anyway.

johnsav

if its only slight you can bend it back in situ with some grips