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Shimano clutch service

6thElement

Schrodinger's Immigrant
Jul 29, 2008
15,825
13,054
On a scale of 1 to 7, how annoying is it to do?

Is it a one or three beer job?
I swapped the clutch on a Shimano 10 speed rear because the old one had failed. Super easy, nothing to it. No idea about 11 or 12 speed versions though.
 

canadmos

Cake Tease
May 29, 2011
20,188
19,155
Canaderp
Maybe... but this $70 Deore derailleur seems on par, if not better than the $135ish GX Eagle.


I'm not one to splurge on derailleurs, when I do they have a good track record of ingesting sticks.
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,225
20,003
Sleazattle
Had to disassemble the clutch in my Shimano derailleur when I had to replace the cage. The torsion spring on the cage was a PITA but the clutch was pretty straight forward if you take a picture of what it looks like before you take it apart.
 

Da Peach

Outwitted by a rodent
Jul 2, 2002
13,681
4,904
North Van
Had to disassemble the clutch in my Shimano derailleur when I had to replace the cage. The torsion spring on the cage was a PITA but the clutch was pretty straight forward if you take a picture of what it looks like before you take it apart.
Yes. "before" photo is key.

I installed mine so the switch only worked in reverse once back when the 42t cog upgrade was all the rage.

I fixed it eventually...
 

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,030
5,918
borcester rhymes
Oh btw, use good grease. I used something like slick honey the first time and it didn’t work, then my red Mobil 1 grease and it worked better and solved the problem
 

englertracing

you owe me a sandwich
Mar 5, 2012
1,573
1,069
La Verne
How to fix shimano components:

View attachment 183301
funny thats my procedure for sram.

bel ray waterproof grease is my favorite for this,
i have more preferred waterproof grease that contains moly, and genuinely shit talk the bel ray for its lack of moly... buttttt i still use it for ceartain things like overpacking things to seal them, or the clutch were the moly can be to slipery.
 

HardtailHack

used an iron once
Jan 20, 2009
6,627
5,441
When servicing there is a correct tension setting on the clutch. Best done with a beam style torque wrench.
Would it be different for different length cages? I guess almost everyone has a long cage these days.
My Saint hasn't needed adjusting at all but the Zee before it only went a few months before it needed adjustment.
 

englertracing

you owe me a sandwich
Mar 5, 2012
1,573
1,069
La Verne
I set my friction by hand-right-o-meter.
Its less than factory.

The amount you need is the amount that stops your chain from falling off without a chain guide up front when you quickly pick the back wheel up and slam it repeatedly.

Anything more wears out the pivots in the parallelogram faster than needed
 

canadmos

Cake Tease
May 29, 2011
20,188
19,155
Canaderp
With Sram they come worn out from the factory as a feature.

I should really get on with doing this, I've been riding with the clutch off or else the chain won't drop down the cassette.
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,225
20,003
Sleazattle
I set my friction by hand-right-o-meter.
Its less than factory.

The amount you need is the amount that stops your chain from falling off without a chain guide up front when you quickly pick the back wheel up and slam it repeatedly.

Anything more wears out the pivots in the parallelogram faster than needed
I start off a little on the loose side and cinch it up until I can't feel the chain bouncing against my ankle.
 

canadmos

Cake Tease
May 29, 2011
20,188
19,155
Canaderp
A good thread bump :brows:

My Deore derailleur went to shit again back in September. I thought it was just telling me it was time to replace it, as I had a large branch go into the cage in BC and basically opened it up like a fish. Bent it back and continued on.

But anyways, took the clutch assembly out, wiped it down and coated it with grease again. No more issues. :yes:

Just wish they were sealed a bit better...........or at all.
 

Milleratio

Chimp
Oct 24, 2021
80
60
Maybe the spring could be removed just by pulling it out but as highly skilled and too curios home mechanic there's a great possibly to fuck up almost everything and then I have to post to that another thread "What have you broken on your bike recently?"

1700068210900.png
 

Attachments

canadmos

Cake Tease
May 29, 2011
20,188
19,155
Canaderp
Maybe the spring could be removed just by pulling it out but as highly skilled and too curios home mechanic there's a great possibly to fuck up almost everything and then I have to post to that another thread "What have you broken on your bike recently?"

View attachment 203642
It kind of looks like there is a tab on the end of the spring, maybe you have to turn and then pull it out? Or maybe that tab is folded over on the other side of whatever its sitting on?

If you're digging into this far, isn't is already broken? :busted:
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
That is just a SRAM derailleur. They say "Clutch" on the side, but you will not notice any clutch like attributes.
They're also really easy to disable which is what I ended up doing.


I never had a single bike, trailbike or otherwise that didn't drop chains without a chainguide I'm just so god damned rowdy. That whole grooved chainring paried with a clutch deraileur system was for less bouncy people I guess. So most of the clutch 'benefits' I never got, they just made my suspension work worse
 
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Milleratio

Chimp
Oct 24, 2021
80
60
Why the Shimano Axle Unit for RD-M820 Rear Derailleur Bracket has kind of a o-ring groove but no o-ring? Have I lost something?


20240115_112813701_iOS.jpg


20240115_113028226_iOS.jpg
 

HardtailHack

used an iron once
Jan 20, 2009
6,627
5,441
Hmmm, I think servicing a Shimano reel looked like this with five times the parts. The clutch still worked afterwards but I shimmied it all wrong so it built line up towards one side of the spool.
I think all it really needed was a new bale roller thing but I ruined a nice reel.

The groove in your axle looks too deep for a normal O-ring, I'd think it might be more likely to be either empty from new or may have some sort of hard plastic band in it.
I can check mine.
 

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,030
5,918
borcester rhymes
Why the Shimano Axle Unit for RD-M820 Rear Derailleur Bracket has kind of a o-ring groove but no o-ring? Have I lost something?


View attachment 206382

View attachment 206383
Hey, I was just taking my stuff apart today and can confirm or at least verify that my bike did not have anything in this gap either. I swapped from the direct mount to the b-link hanger and had to pull the bolt. There was nothing visible in it.