Cannot Index R9000 Dura Ace Cassette

mugensi

I recently bought a lightly used Dura Ace 11/28 cassette (probably less than 200kms on it) for my bike, purely because I got it cheap and weight saving etc The 6800 11/28 cassette was perfect and shifting was perfect and precise however I cannot get the Dura Ace cassette indexed properly, when the top gears (biggest cogs) are shifting properly then the smaller ones aren't and vice versa. I spent over 2 hours at it last night and even micro adjustment of the barrel adjuster wont cure the problem. I refitted the Ultegra cassette and had it indexed within 2 minutes.

The chain is a few years old but has no more than 2500kms on it, the 6800 cassette was fitted at the same time as the chain and so they've worn together, could it be the problem? Anyone any suggestions on what it could be? I have the Ultegra cassette back on the bike again as i'd rather precise shifting than the 60g weight saving.

pippi_langsamer-2

Have you checked the carbon cassette body on the DA? Renowned for cracking and falling to bits (hence why nobody really bothers with them anymore I think, and reason I would never buy one even at half price).

If that's gone, I imagine it may prove difficult to index, and might be a matter of time before it fails completely!

mugensi

Yes, I am aware of the stories of DA cassettes breaking and checked that before buying it and the two jointed parts seemed solid with no broken rivets but I will check it again more closely later.

I think i'll buy a new chain and try it and if its still the same then i'll bin the cassette, it only cost €25 so didn't exactly break the bank and at least i'll have a nice shiny new chain.

Alejandrosdog

STOP dont buy an new chain yet to check the cassette,

1 the symptoms of a broken carrier are A that you can depress some of the rings (the bigger ones and in places they will move B Visually, the cassette might not spin true when viewed from the rear. use a tyre lever to press and push gently

2 if youve done 2500k on one chain check that the current one hasnt exceeded .75% on the wear gauge. You might find replacing it leaves you with a skipping cassette. If it has exceeded .75% you need to decide if youre going to run the cassette / chain into the ground or replace the chain with a chance of having to change the cassette as well. Obv this does cause extra wear on the chain rings but theyre much bigger so not as pronounced.

3 refit the DA casette just in case you fitted it incorrectly. Also i think the screw top is different on 12 and 11 speed DA. is it the right one? Youre not using the ultegra one? in any case it should just drop onto the freehub body and not need much if any adjustment. Was the wheel fitted in the frame properly?

I know these things sound pretty basic, im not inferring you dont know what youre doing , merely that sometimes the simplest most obvious things are just assumed and a relaxed re visit sometimes works wonders.

mugensi

Alejandrosdog wrote:

STOP dont buy an new chain yet to check the cassette,

1 the symptoms of a broken carrier are A that you can depress some of the rings (the bigger ones and in places they will move B Visually, the cassette might not spin true when viewed from the rear. use a tyre lever to press and push gently

2 if youve done 2500k on one chain check that the current one hasnt exceeded .75% on the wear gauge. You might find replacing it leaves you with a skipping cassette. If it has exceeded .75% you need to decide if youre going to run the cassette / chain into the ground or replace the chain with a chance of having to change the cassette as well. Obv this does cause extra wear on the chain rings but theyre much bigger so not as pronounced.

3 refit the DA casette just in case you fitted it incorrectly. Also i think the screw top is different on 12 and 11 speed DA. is it the right one? Youre not using the ultegra one? in any case it should just drop onto the freehub body and not need much if any adjustment. Was the wheel fitted in the frame properly?

I know these things sound pretty basic, im not inferring you dont know what youre doing , merely that sometimes the simplest most obvious things are just assumed and a relaxed re visit sometimes works wonders.

1. I'll double check the cassette just to be sure before doing anything else.
2. I will check the wear on the chain also, never thought to do it last night while trying to index the gears.
3. I refitted the DA cassette 3 times and went for a 10km spin to see if it might bed in better when used properly on the bike and still no joy. I was using the correct cassette locking ring. Both the DA and Ultegra have an 11T small cog so either should work fine.