Tandem Cycling - Is my derailleur toast?

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jnbrown
05-25-09, 08:52 PM
I still have the original XTR rear der that came with bike.
Its probably about 15 years old and I have never lubed it.
Lately its shifting like cR@p. Sometimes it won't shift up, sometime it won't shift down.
sometimes its in between and makes ugly noises.
I lubed the cables and made sure the cable was not getting hung up.
I have bar end shifters, The cassette is only a few years old and does not have that many miles on it.
The der feels like it has a lot of play in it compared to my road bikes.
I am looking at replacing it with a RD-M771-GS (medium cage, capacity 33T)
I think the medium cage will work with my 30/42/52 front and 12/30 rear.
When I am on the 30 in front I never use below the 4th cog (21T) in the back.
Any ideas?

Thanks

zonatandem
05-25-09, 10:52 PM
Its not so much that der. is 15 years old . . . how many miles on it?
Regular maintenance, cleanup and lubrication extends component life.
A clean/lubed tandem is a happy tandem!
justcrankn
05-26-09, 06:27 AM
That sounds like the derailleur I just replaced. It took two shifts up and one shift back to shift one cog. Shifting down to the larger cogs worked okay. I would suggest first replacing the cable and housing. Sometimes cleaning or replacing just the cable is not good enough.

jnbrown
05-31-09, 10:36 PM
I replaced the XTR derailleur with a new XT.
Went for a 46 mile ride today with some hills and it shifted flawlessly.
A huge improvement over the worn out XTR.
The new XT looks nicer and weighs the same at the old XTR.
First time I wore out a derailleur in over 30 years of cycling.