Hi all,

I had to replace my old system and install a SRAM X3 7speed shifter set and an X4 rear derailleur. After setting the derailleur to the cassette and installing the chain, I now find I can only go from 7 to 3. Each shift clicks nicely to the next gear but the shifter will not go any further than 3rd gear. Is it defective or am I missing something? I was told the X3 and X4 play well together. Was I misinformed?

The obvious question is 'was the shifter in the high gear position when you attached the cable to the derailleur?'.

It was on 7.

It was on 7.

Hold the derailleur end of the cable in your fingers. Shift 6 times down then 6 times up. Confirm the derailleur will move from high to low gear w/o the cable attached. Make sure you're attaching the cable to the derailleur properly. There really isn't much that can go wrong here.

The early production of X4 shifters did have some issues that SRAM warrantied best possible. IIRC it was w/ the front shifter though, too long ago to remember well. Andy

The derailleur does swing the full width of the cassette as I set it to. There's nothing blocking it. And the shifter did work with the old derailleur (Shimano STX) though it skipped shifts a lot which is why I replaced it. I thought there might have been some kind of incompatibility between the SRAM shifter and the Shimano derailleur.

Once the 3rd gear is reached, the shifter trigger just plunges down to the bottom. When I release it, it rachets up, but doesn't grab to continue shifting.

The other thing I neglected to mention is that I've also replaced the cassette. I went from a 7 speed, 13-30 Shimano rear cog to a 7 speed 13-34 Chinese Shimano compatible something or other (cheap Amazon thing) cassette. I was told by the shop folk that it would handle the change just fine.

Obviously sounds like a shifter problem, but did you try undoing the cable from the derailleur and seeing how many clicks the shifter has?

Yes and it did go through 6 clicks.

I just disconnected the cable and checked the shifter again and it only gives 4 clicks now. I guess there's an issue with the ratchet system and I'll just have to take it back. That's too bad, it wasn't easy to find and the set cost just over $30. Now I'll have to waste yet more time and spend more $ no doubt.

It also gets progressively harder to shift with each click.

Try spaying the cr*p out of the internals with a spray greaser - like CleanShot - following with a light spray of light lubricant - I like TriFlow - working the lever up and down with hand tension on the cable while spraying. The old grease dies up and creates more friction than smooth.

Will the silicone based WD40 work?

Maybe. I won't do any harm to try. WD40 is not the be all end all that everyone thinks it is.

I know. It just happens to be what I have on hand at the moment and it's the one with silicone that dries quickly without leaving much of a residue while still lubricating. It's what I use for my regular chain lubricant.

I'm not sure how effective it will be against caked, dried grease. But WTH, go for it.

Well, the shifters are out-of-the-box new so they shouldn't have any built-up gunk other than the original factory grease that's on them which, come to think of it, may still be dries & gunked up.

Ok, so I decided to take the dive and see if I could find out what's going on inside the shifter to see if there's an obvious issue I could solve and get on the road.

I discovered the cable stop at the end of the cable inside the shifter was bent 90° not allowing the cable to be removed without taking the shifter apart. All the grease is new and still quite viscous with no caking or gumming. So, I don't need to clean anything out in there. However, a retaining spring popped out and I have no idea where it goes. I also can't find any interior diagrams online to help figuring out where it goes.

Help?

I don't know if they're identical on the inside, but here https://youtu.be/r7i8qfc43TQ you can see an X9. I used that video to reassemble an X9 trigger. I originally disassembled it because it rattled, but it was definitely not worth it.

I spent 3 hours to finally assemble it in working condition. There was a particular spring that seemed to require 3 hands with spaghetti thick fingers to be able to reassemble it properly.

After that, I never disassembled a SRAM trigger again and won't do it unless the only alternative is replacing the shifter with a new one.

I've had more luck reassembling Shimano Deore triggers though. They're far easier to rebuild, although, like with all shifters, there's always the possibility of a spring coming out of place and you having to guess where it came from.

I don't know if they're identical on the inside, but here you can see an X9. I used that video to reassemble an X9 trigger.

Here where?

did you screw in the adjusters , should be one at the shifter and mech ,

loose the cable , tighten both , then set your limit screws , use your hand to shift from the bottom cog up 2 cogs , tighten the cable , see if it shift normal .

you could have a mismatched part too , bent hangar or bent mech , should be an easy problem to fix ?

Well, I finally figured out where that "extra" spring lives in the shifter housing and I've done what I believe to be everything humanly possible to find the problem and fix it.

However, I've come to the conclusion that this is definitely a defective shifter and not actually repairable. It's just not worth any further time or effort to try and fix. Therefore, I'm just going to take it back where I got it, let them look at it so they know it's bad and get credit for something better.

Thank you all for your input and help. I do appreciate it.

Sorry, I forgot to paste the link. Here:

I returned to the store where I bought the shifter and as expected, it was pronounced DOA. However, they didn't have a replacement and gave me a refund. But, I still need to ride and so I found a 7 speed Microshift shifter elsewhere which was even cheaper than the cheapo SRAM. And while this one works, I'm now having trouble getting it to go to the 1st sprocket (34t). It also has an annoying habit of skipping/slipping between 3 & 4.

Any ideas out there on figuring out what the optimum angle to hang the derailleur is?