PlumbRiding

Hello BikeForum folks, I'm a plumber/new rider (just for fun & exercise) with an adjustment question I was hoping to get any advice towards. I may not use all of the right terms, so bear with me please.

I have a bike with a "click" at the tension pulley of the rear deraileur I can't seem to figure out.

Rear is Shimano Deore XT with 9 Speed Cassette.
Front is Shimano Tiagra Triple.

I'm no advanced rider of any kind at this point. I leave the front on the middle cog all the time and am happy with riding in that zone for now. The rear changes good (I have no experience as to what good or great is, but it seems satisfactory).

The chain will travel VERY smoothly from the small gear all the way up to the large gear. The chain travels back down from the largest gear to the smallest one smoothly, but it's more dependent on my pedal position & tension. Might get more of a "clack" in place then if I don't hit it just right. Not too bad though. But again, limited experience.

Now the rear deraileur "click". If I'm in the smallest cog on the rear cassette and the middle cog on the front, I get a consistent "click" that I've isolated to the tension pulley. Seems like about every 1/6th to 1/8th rotation of the pedal. Very annoying & "click" is not smooth and therefore.....wear. We don't like premature wear.

I've read many of things on the net and watched many YouTube Videos on adjustments but nothing showing this particular problem yet.

I've adjusted cable lengths, barrel adjusters, high and low screws...but still gets clicky in the one gear.

Anyway, thanks in advance for all input. It is appreciated.

PR

bluenote157

how old is the chain? It might be worn or there may be a kink in it??

CaptainCool

Does the sound still happen if you shift the front to the big ring?

If it does, it still sounds like an adjustment problem. You may need to back out the high limit screw in order to get the tension pulley exactly in line with the small gear.

If not, then it might be happening because you're cross chaining (although 2-9 is less cross chaining than 2-1), and in the interest of efficiency and wear, you should shift to the big ring before getting to that smallest gear.

snafu21

Pull the tension and guide pulleys out of the dérailluer. Check for debris & wear. Regrease. If you're on the smallest rear sprocket, does the guide pulley rub the chain on the sprocket?

How old is the chain?

Al1943

Inspect the chain very closely. I doubt the click is in the derailleur. Measure the chain for stretch, check for a tight link or a protruding pin. If you have a quick link check it.

PlumbRiding

Everything is pretty new. Chain and all. I put it on a trainer I borrowed to work on it. This is what's weird to me:

There doesn't appear to be any binding or rubbing at any points or guides when running the smallest cog in the rear cassette/middle cog at the front. And while you do gain some angle on the chain from front to back, it doesn't appear to be that much and no touching anywhere. Click, Click, Click.

No click when running any other gear of the rear cassette. I don't think it's a part of the chain because it happens so often. Not once a revolution of the chain, but consistent. (Like every 4 links estimated). Makes me think it's some adjustment I'm missing.

I'll try to borrow a little camera and make a video soon, put it on YouTube, and link it for anyone's input. Might be better to see it.

Thanks again for all the help. Enjoy reading this forum.

PR

PlumbRiding

Click is almost gone with a little tweaking at the rear, barrel adjusters, cleaning the chain some.

New, WORSE problem.

The problem and a recap of some of the equipment.

3 chain ring setup in the front that will not jump to the big chain ring no matter what adjustment I make.

Touring Bike, bar end shifters, Shimano Tiagra 3 Chain Ring front, Deore 9 Speed Cassette.

I've adjusted the angle on the derailleur to try different combinations, the height down to about 1 mm over the big chain ring, the cable length, barrel adjusters, and high/low limit screws in many different positions. No big Chain Ring.

Middle and small rings/gears, no problem. The position of the chain on the rear cassette has little to no bearing on the situation. Obviously, you can get some cross chaining, but the position on the rear will not really help or hurt the situation.

The Front Derailleur will move all the way over the large front ring but will not "push" it over to to make the change. And there seems to be ALOT of pressure on the cable. So much so that it frayed one cable. So I just replaced it and now while attempting to adjust it again, it pulled it out of the cable holder on the Derailleur again.

So I got frustrated, and since it was already out, I decided to physically pull the Front Derailleur by hand and get it to the big Ring. No dice. Won't pull far enough.

Any suggestions at all? Thanks for reading.

HillRider

You said you've adjusted the high limit screw on the front derailleur but have you backed it all the way out? If doing that is not enough to reach the big chainring then either the fd is defective or your bottom bracket spindle is too long and the crank is so far outboard a properly working front derailleur won't swing that far.