SRAM Apex front mech

Kieran_Burns

A bit rubbish isn't it?

Mine is as stiff as hell, and has been since day 1. Is there anything I can do free the thing up, or should I just get something better? What would be better / compatible?

jonomc4

probably cables - I have had Apex, force and red - no major difference in front mechs in terms of smoothness.

meanredspider

Does it have "Microshift" (or something like that) written on it? If so, I have mine off my Boardman that you're welcome to have - not entirely sure why I still have it. It was almost brand new. I'm sure someone on the Boardman thread swapped the spring for a Shimano spring or something to lighten it up.

Kieran_Burns

jonomc4 wrote:

probably cables - I have had Apex, force and red - no major difference in front mechs in terms of smoothness.

I checked everything the night before and found that I have push it in to move it when 'half' clicking (to stop chain rub)

It's fine when shifting all the way down but takes some effort to shift back to the big ring.

I'll drop some more lube down the cable and see.

and MRS - thanks I'll check and see!

mudcovered

Kieran_Burns wrote:

jonomc4 wrote:

probably cables - I have had Apex, force and red - no major difference in front mechs in terms of smoothness.

I checked everything the night before and found that I have push it in to move it when 'half' clicking (to stop chain rub)

That sounds like the pivots themselves being stiff rather than a cable problem. I had that happen to a shimano 105 mech after a year of day to day muddy use. Took a lot of flushing of the pivots with WD40 followed by regreasing to get it smooth again.

If its always been that way perhaps its faulty?

Mike

CRAIGO5000

I've got Force and Apex. My Force shifters are sooo bloody stiff compared to the Apex. I think my Ribble Stealth with Force has been poorly set-up by Ribble (evident that they didn't even index the gears or touch the B-Screw upon install). My Dolan is silky smooth and very precise. I want to get my Force set-up like this for Sumner. I may even take it to Dolan to sort out.

It'll be set-up related.

desweller

mudcovered wrote:

Kieran_Burns wrote:

jonomc4 wrote:

probably cables - I have had Apex, force and red - no major difference in front mechs in terms of smoothness.

I checked everything the night before and found that I have push it in to move it when 'half' clicking (to stop chain rub)

That sounds like the pivots themselves being stiff rather than a cable problem. I had that happen to a shimano 105 mech after a year of day to day muddy use. Took a lot of flushing of the pivots with WD40 followed by regreasing to get it smooth again.

If its always been that way perhaps its faulty?

Mike

As Mike says, try unclamping the cable so you can operate the derailleur by hand. If it's stiff you can try flushing it through with WD40 or some other gentle solvent (don't use anything really aggressive like IPA) and then run some heavier oil in to the moving parts.

SteppenHerring

Why would you want to change off the big ring?

Kieran_Burns

It very much looks like it is the derailleur itself - I loosened off the cable and it is REALLY stiff to operate by hand.

I'll need to get it off the bike to do the job properly. In the meantime I've dropped light oil on the moving parts to see if this helps