Mountain Biking - My new SRAM XO's are on!

Man, these things are smooooooooooooooooooth!! The shifts are fast and crisp.. I couldn't be happier. Once I figured out how to set it up, it was easy. It was my first derailler install, so I think I did pretty well. It's fairly easy to set up, and the directions are pretty good... I suggest that you read them to make the install go smoother. I'm really pleased with this shifter/derailler combo. I'm having one hell of a time setting up my front derailler, however. I guess that's to be expected.. since it's SHIMANO!! :D

congrats on the X.0. i dont know but if its like any other gripshifters then the front should be very smooth as well!

Front derailleurs are a pain to install correctly no matter who makes them! Here is a couple of tips: (This is how I do Rapidfire, realize that Gripshift has micro shifts between gears, so when shifting, into middle chainring, line up shifter to 2 gear indicator (middle))

1) Set proper height. I set it about a penny width gap between top of chainring and bottom of derailleur. This seems to work pretty good as an initial position.

2) Looking straight down from the top, I align the outside plate parrallel with the large chainring.

3) Connect shift cable snuggly, w/barrel adjuster all the way in, then out 3/4 to 1 full turn.

4) Set my inside stop. (screw on top of derailleur). I put the front in granny gear, and the rear in the largest (inside) cog. This puts the chain in it's furthest inside relative position. The I set the stop so there is tiny .5 mm to 1 mm gap between chain and inside plate of deraileur.

***Problems***** If the chain rubs the bottom of the derailleur when in small/small, your derailleur is too high. Start over and lower it a bit.

***Note**** I've got a small 22 tooth chainring and a large 46 big ring. No matter what I do, I get rubbing on the bottom of the front derailleur when in small/small. This is no big deal since under normal riding, you should never be in a cross chaining situation like this! I've minimized it, but there is always a bit of a compromise when making these type of adjustment with a custom set-up like mine.

5) Set my outside stop. Likewise I shift into large chainring, and small cog to get chain in furthest outside relative position. Set the stop, so there is a bit more gap, like 1 mm to 2 mm. I set a bigger gap on the outside, because when your torquing in a big gear, you tend to flex the crank/bb area more, and there is nothing worse than hearing the chain rub when really hammering.

6) Once stops are set. I loosen the cable and remove any slack caused by setting inside stop!

7) Shift into the middle chainring (front), and inside cog (big in back!). Using the barrel adjuster, adjust the cable tension to move the front derailleur so there is a gap between the chain and inside plate. Then shift into the small cog (outside in back) and verify it's not rubbing the outside plate of the derailleur. This centers the derailleur.

8) Shift through all the gears and purposely cross chain to see if there is any rubbing. In cross chaining, there may be a little! Use the barrel adjusters on the shifters in small 1/4 turn increments to fine tune.

9) Also, keep shifting the front from middle to large chainring back and forth. Try to overshift to purposely force the chain off the outside of the large chainring. If you can't, the stop is correctly set. If you CAN, give the outside stop an 1/8 of a turn and try again!

This should do it for you!


L8R

NICE! Man listen to a2psyknt ..... I couldn't have said it better myself, hell I'm glad you did, wwwwaaaaayyyyy to much typing for me! Keep us informed on how the X.0 works through the months! I'm sure it'll do just fine...it's SRAM! (ha ha ha, I'm just waitin to get a remark about that one.):beer:

Thanks for the info on setting up the front derailler... I'm gonna do that today.. just got frustrated with it last night. I'll be sure to update everybody on how they perform long term, too.

Originally posted by slcpunk21
I'm sure it'll do just fine...it's SRAM! (ha ha ha, I'm just waitin to get a remark about that one.):beer:

I'll comment on that.

SRAM rocks.

I converted my XLM to a singlespeed and in the process of tearing down the drivetrain I was shocked at how much crud and gunk had built up in the cable/housing and derailleurs. But the bike shifted very well and smoothly.

SRAM rocks.

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