Have you checked the B tension adjustment and made sure the stop on the hanger is butted up against the stop on the derailleur?

Yes, I've checked that.


Some photos. Not the best ones, but it might help?

Those small photos aren't of much use.

Looks like the derailleur is no longer on the bike so we can't even see if there's anything wrong with the setup.

Did you see post #20 about the model numbers?

If this is a secondhand derailleur the 'Bracket Axle Unit' on it might be bent, a bent 'Bracket Axle Unit' will have the same effect as a bent derailleur hanger.
*The 'Bracket Axle Unit' is the link that attaches the derailleur to the bike.

People often attach Shadow rear derailleurs incorrectly with the 'Bracket Axle Unit' in a near vertical position, it needs to be in a horizontal position to work properly.

Is there a barrel adjuster for you to adjust the cable tension after the cable is attached to the derailleur ?


You might be able to see where the problem is if the bike was on a work stand, you could turn the crank slowly and look closely at the chain, cassette & derailleur.

I'm reviving this thread for the purpose of consolidating issues with this derailleur. Today at the bike shop we had quite a time with a brand new bike and this derailleur with Alivio 9-speed shift triggers. I could adjust it to shift up, but not down. Or I could adjust it to shift down but not up. We tried three different 9-speed Shadow mechs (another M592 and an older SLX) and replaced the cable and housing, checked the wheel hub, freewheel, cassette, derailleur hanger, frame alignment, cable routing, chain type, limits, B-tension, indexing, absolutely everything and could not get it better than 80% accuracy.

I had the same experience with our school's fleet of rental bikes. All eight of them had SLX 9-speed Shadow mechs and Alivio triggers. I did cable and housing and the whole shift-tuning shabang on every single one and they all behaved inconsistent in an identical manner.

Also sold a brand new bike last year with the new Alivio Shadow in 9-speed and it had the exact issue. Inconsistent.

With all of these, it was never bad enough to make it nonfunctional, but bad enough to where a customer would notice and it was never satisfying in the workstand.

And yes, the cables were routed on the proper side of the clamp.

I had similar issues with a Shimano shadow derailleur, 10spd SLX shadow+. Confirmed with someone else that some of them are just off. On the other hand my SLX 9spd setup as 8spd works really well.

I'm convinced at this point it's the derailleurs and not shifters, but it's only some of them. The only thing I can think of is the stamped steel piece that forms the back of the derailleur and cable fixing arm is not being consistently manufactured.

Will 8 speed RD's work with 32 tooth 10 speed cassettes like the 9 speeds are suppose to ?

For the record I'm having no trouble at all with the 592 on my Shimergo bike, now. I wasn't at first. I blamed it on my 27t bottom far below the rated minimum (36 coming soon, one thing at a time), and maybe a bent hanger. I did replace the hanger and it seemed to fix it. So maybe it's finicky about alignment. Its b-screw is all the way out to get the clearance close as I could, but it's still pretty far away.

if there really are any differences between 8-9-10 speed SIS, they're likely to be pretty subtle.

I ordered a 12-32 cassette but haven't decided on what RD I will use yet. I have an extra 8 speed MTB RD that I planned to try when the cassette comes in. I have 5700 on it now, thought about buying one of the RoadLink extensions and continue using the one I have now instead of buying a 5700-GS or one of the MTB 9 speed people are often using.

Depends on whether a road, or a MTB shifter is used. With a 10 speed road shifter it will work fine.


4) Compatibility - rear derailleurs - Cycle Gremlin

Disconnect the cable. Set the limits. Reconnect cable. Adjust.

Since you said it works with the old derailleur use that on your bike and put the new derailleur on her bike. If it still doesn't work on her bike then the problem is in the derailleur. If it works you are done. Roger

If you're running a compact crankset, there's a good chance your existing 5700 rear derailleur would work with a 32t cassette, it would pretty easy to check out. You need to have enough chain length to run the big/big combo.

Yes compact crank set (50/34) and standard 5700 not the 5701. What I'm finding is the 5700 max cog is 30 and a chain wrap of 34, I'll have a 12-32 and a 50/34, so I'll be be a little too big at 32 and 36. I might work though, I will try it first. Here is some pictures of it on the 50 and 25 now, there is some room. What's your prediction?

I'm running a 32t cassette and a 6700 rear derailleur (not 6701) on several different bikes, custom steel, production carbon and custom aluminum and all work well, the B-screw is run nearly all the way in. The 5700 rear deraileur has the same geometry as the 6700.

The correct way to check the clearance between the upper pulley and large cog is with the gears on the small ring and big cog (see pic) not the way you've shown. The correct chain length I've found is enough to allow you to just to be able to shift safely in the big/big combination which, according to your pics would mean a new chain or add enough links accordingly. I'm not a proponent of adding links.

Thanks for the guidance, I did not know all of that. I don't like adding links either, a chain failure leaves one stranded.

How many links more links do you think I'd need? I'll be sure and post back when I get it on the bike. And thanks again.

I don't count links, I buy chains in 114 link packages and cut them to size. Each bike has different length chain stays so sizing is different.

Oh, no. I was asking you how many more links would you think I'd need looking at the current chain. This is a 114 link chain and I've got the piece that I removed cutting it to size which I think was 8 links. If it would take more than 8 links to cover the 12-32 cassette then I would need more than 114 links.

You won't need more than 114 links, unless you have something like a touring bike with long chain stays. I'm *only guessing* that you'll need maybe 3 or 4 links more than you have now. So buy another 114 link chain and cut it to fit when you have the new cassette installed, not before.

It's hard to believe a bike can get that dirty that quick. I washed it THOROUGHLY 2 rides ago (about 100 miles). I didn't take the chain off but I did have it pretty clean, where does it come from?

I hope this chain is long enough to test the current DR with, if it doen't work I'm sure that a different DR will require a unique chain length.

[MENTION=3949]Davet[/MENTION]

You were right, the 105 5700 rear derailleur does work with my 12-32 tooth cassette. I put it on today, even with the chain I was using on the 11-28 worked. On the 50 tooth chain ring and 32 tooth the RD was at about a 30 degree angle, it was loose enough to not concern me but I've got another chain ordered. I will leave it a couple links longer and see if the cage is long enough to maintain the tension. Here is some pictures, wanting to get some key words in the post so search engines can better fine it for others to reference.

Great! Glad it worked like you wanted.

Bumping this because I'm having some issues with my M592 as well.

Started with inconsistent downshifting. There was a lag and sometimes it would not shift to a smaller cog at all. I've changed cables and housing multiple times as well as using two different shifters. I'm wondering if there is an issue with the Bracket Axle Unit, does anyone know if these are sold individually for a reasonable price? I can't seem to find one specifically for SLX M592 either?

All I could find were kits that are $15-20, when the whole derailleur is $37 from the UK I'm wondering why bother? Should I just get something else? Anything good that's compatible with 9 speed shimano and can take a 34t cassette cog with 44/32/22 triple?

M591 - rated 34T max cog and has a cable adjuster.