# Looking for a Sram "Miracle Worker"



## eggdog (Jan 20, 2011)

Which shop/mechanic out there can help me get my Sram Force set up to shift half way decent? I have taken it to every possible bike shop in Boulder, have had Sram Support look at it at CX races, and they do their best, but still shifts like crap. ( goes down the cassette fine, but terrible going up the gears to the larger cogs..) It has been like this since day one.

 It has a new Sram 1070 cassette, new Sram 1091r chain, new Sram cables( non gore), new 2011 Force Right Shift lever,( Sram sent me a new one to see if that helped..It didn't ) RD hanger has been checked and double checked for alignment, cable length is proper, no cable hang ups at all... I have also tried it with a 10sp DA cassette ( new) with same results.. So if anyone has any ideas or can recommend a shop that might be able to help, I am all ears... If not its off to Ebay!:mad2:


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## cycocross (Dec 11, 2011)

I've noticed shifting "improved" with a wipperman chain but it wasn't night and day. When the chain is on the smallest cog how much slack is in the cable?


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## eggdog (Jan 20, 2011)

Have checked the cable tension ( as have the bike shops) and it seems proper in its smallest cog.. Pretty much "hand tight". I have been told from one shop that it might be the spring in the RD not being strong enough...


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## cycocross (Dec 11, 2011)

I agree, it's the only culprit left to blame. sorry couldn't been more helpful, good luck.


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## draganM (Nov 27, 2001)

have you tried lubricating the ratcheting mechanism in the shifter, the one you actuate when you flip the levers. These mechanisms are very delicate and are easily compromised by friction and dirt and are prone to picking it up from your hands and sweat. 
The more gears they add the worse this gets and Shimano is just as bad. When my STI starts "half-shifting" this is always the fix. So roll those rubber hoods back and do it, they need to be oiled and cleaned of dirt at regular intervals, lots of friction here.


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## taralon (Sep 1, 2011)

My Apex rear really snaps fast when moving into the larger rear cogs, and even with the barrel adjuster set the lightest I can I often get double shifts when trying to move into larger cogs if I'm not really light on the shifter. I would suspect that either the rear derailer/spring is hanging up, or the shifter itself isn't racheting right. Unfortunately I haven't found anyone in a shop that knows more than I do from reading the manual on the SRAM setup which is really frustrating sometimes.


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## sbsbiker (Mar 29, 2008)

You have done everything else, swap out the rear deraileur, and see if it helps. if so get SRAM to warranty.


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## eggdog (Jan 20, 2011)

It has a new shifter ( warranty from sram) with the same results.. I have Sram sending out a new rear der and see if that helps.. That is the only thing that has not been changed.. Maybe it just had a weak spring..I will keep you all posted


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## cycocross (Dec 11, 2011)

I have the apex and force and jumping to lower gears is not an issue, jumping too many gears sometimes is . . .


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## arkitect (Apr 25, 2011)

Have you tried Boulder Cycle Sports? Stephen Salazar works up at their North store and has been a miracle worker for me. Truly wants to solve bike issues and wont give up. Hope you get it fixed soon!


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## draganM (Nov 27, 2001)

Just because it's new from the factory doesn't guarantee it's lubed properly. I've seen many types of bearings delivered completely dry as an example.
On the original 8 speed STI Shimano provided instructions on complete dis-assembly of the STI lever, cleaning, lubing, and re-assembly. IT was not for the faint of heart and even a mechanically inclined person could wind up in a situation where you remove a c-clip and KABOING, little springs, washers, and plastic bushings went shooting all over the room. I think they meant well but I'm sure it was a disaster for their warranty dept. The instructions provided now simply deal with correct assembly and the SRAM stuff is rather funny, looks like Lincoln Log diagrams.


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## eggdog (Jan 20, 2011)

*Update !!*

Well after trying everything recommended here and then some, I came to the conclusion that it had to be the hanger flexing.. When the shop checked the hanger alignment we noticed how "flexy" the hanger was. All modern hangers are kind of like a pasta noodle anyways but we figured it might be that..So I drove over today to Wheels Manufacturing Inc in Louisville and picked up a nice CNC hanger for the BMC.. , bolted it on, took it out for a ride and PERFECT shifting!! 
I can't believe that the flex in a hanger could alter shifting that much, but that fixed it.. So if you ever need a solid replacement hanger for just about any bike check out Wheels Manufacturing. Now I just need some warmer weather !!
Thanks for all the suggestions


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## eggdog (Jan 20, 2011)

Wheels Mfg is a pretty cool place! Only a few miles from me so I just drove over there.. Much bigger place than I thought !! Really good people there so just give them a call and they should be able to help you out w/ your hanger.. As for the double tap, I am glad it works like it should ( finally!) but think I like DA a bit better, But it does shift very nice!


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## lonefrontranger (Feb 5, 2004)

for anyone reading this thread after the fact I have 2 things to note:

1) Stephen Salazar is absolutely a miracle worker. Prior to Brandon snagging him at BCS, he worked for Excel for 15ish years and is the only mechanic I will take my bikes to when I can't fix something by myself. He's solved Campy problems that Vecchio's couldn't, or wouldn't. He's a darned good massage therapist too (former pro team soigneur in fact).

2) This thread is why, when the OEM Apex on my Specialized cross bike dies, I am switching it all out to Campy. Tired of craptastic shifting on it, but since I don't race it I'm not inclined to deal with it until the rest wears out. After chasing similar gremlins to the OP and verifying my hanger was solid, I just have to assume the rear mech has worse return spring basically straight out of the box than a mid-90s Ultegra after a hard season, and that is saying something. My husband runs all SRAM stuff and his bikes are always making some species of horrible noise. But he likes those doubletap shifters, so oh, well.

bonus round: Wheels Mfg is indeed awesome. They solved a fiddly non-standard seatpost issue for me on an old Morgul Bismark frame that I love, and it kept me from craigslisting it.


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## Samadhi (Nov 1, 2011)

eggdog said:


> Well after trying everything recommended here and then some, I came to the conclusion that it had to be the hanger flexing.. When the shop checked the hanger alignment we noticed how "flexy" the hanger was. All modern hangers are kind of like a pasta noodle anyways but we figured it might be that..So I drove over today to Wheels Manufacturing Inc in Louisville and picked up a nice CNC hanger for the BMC.. , bolted it on, took it out for a ride and PERFECT shifting!!
> I can't believe that the flex in a hanger could alter shifting that much, but that fixed it.. So if you ever need a solid replacement hanger for just about any bike check out Wheels Manufacturing. Now I just need some warmer weather !!
> Thanks for all the suggestions


I had a problem with the hanger on my new GT GTR S2 (Apex) a couple weeks ago. Rode downtown to have coffee at Paris on the Platte with friends and the the rear derailluer was shifting beautifully.

When I came out from coffee the bike was shifting fer [email protected] Only the 1 andf 10 gears were engaging correctly. Took to Performance in Littleton (I bought the bike there) where they look at it and pronounced the hanger bent. I looked at it and it didn't look bent to me, but let the mechanic realign the hanger and shifting went back to normal.

Somebody must have bumped the derailluer because I didn't drop the bike.

I was surprised that something as slight as the bend in my hanger would cause as much problem as it did. For as hard as it looks to change out the hanger, I'm thinking that having a spare hanger in the tool bag might be a Good Thing to have.


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