robaroo

Hi all,

I just installed the Shimano XT 11-40 11 speed cassette on my road bike with a road link. I also used the 1.8mm spacer to ensure the cassette locked tight. Now that it's on, I'm surprised with how "tinny" it sounds when I pedal. It's almost as if I have a bunch of tin cans rattling on my bike. Has anyone else experienced this with a wide range cassette? Does it go away over time?

First post, so please forgive me if this question is out of line with the forum rules. Also, I did search but found nothing.

Mark Manner

Hi, I have the XTR version of that 11-40 cassette on 3 of my road bikes, one using an XTR mountain bike rear derailleur, and the other two using a mid-cage road derailleurs with a roadlink like you have. Here are a few questions for you to help diagnose it:
Is it making the same noise in all gears, with both large and small front chainrings?
Is the noise coming from the front chainrings or front derailleur?
When you installed the cassette did you put on a new chain? That is usually a good idea when you change cassettes, unless your chain is really pretty new.
Is the chain sized correctly (number of links appropriate for big/big combo with enough rear derailleur cage takeup of slack on small/small);
Did you adjust the b-screw carefully ?
Did you adjust the rear derailleur so no noise in the no. 5/6 position cog?
If you haven't used a large range cassette like that before, they do sometimes make a little more noise than a compact cassette, particularly when going up to the larger number of teeth.
For comparison, I have found that my setup is fairly quiet, so I suspect something is off in yours that you can fix.
What type of rear derailleur are you using?

Jiggle

Maybe your b screw isn't adjusted properly. You're on an XT8000 rear derailer, right?

bleui

+1 on adjusting the B-screw or check the chain length. My roadlink setup initially had this problem, now it's mostly quiet except when I go chain-cross to the extreme

robaroo

Is it making the same noise in all gears, with both large and small front chainrings?

It makes the biggest racket in the 5th and 6th cogs. The noise decreases in higher gear and lower gears. The noise comes from the center-most cogs of the cassette. I'm wondering if I can't even slightly cross chain with this configuration. I feel like if i'm on the fifth cog and small chain ring then the noise goes away and if i'm in the 6th cog and big chain ring the noise goes away but vice versa there's noise.

Is the noise coming from the front chainrings or front derailleur?

Just the rear derailleur.

When you installed the cassette did you put on a new chain? That is usually a good idea when you change cassettes, unless your chain is really pretty new.

New Shimano CN-6800 11-speed chain.

Is the chain sized correctly (number of links appropriate for big/big combo with enough rear derailleur cage takeup of slack on small/small);

Pretty certain the chain is sized correctly. Used the Sheldon Brown method. Wrapped chain across big/big (no pulley), and then backed off one link. Only had to cut about 3 links off the default 116 link chain.

Did you adjust the b-screw carefully ?

The B screw is pretty much all the way in. Height-wise, I feel like the pulley is at a good distance. But now that I look at it, it seems to be a little too far forward. I'm wondering if I should get a longer B screw to angle the rear derailleur a bit further back. Don't know. Maybe that won't make a difference.

Did you adjust the rear derailleur so no noise in the no. 5/6 position cog?

I did adjust the derailleur in the 5/6 position, nothing made the noise go away.

What type of rear derailleur are you using?

Shimano Ultegra 6870 DI2 derailleur, medium cage.

Mark Manner

Hi, I am using the same rear derailleur as you are on one of my bikes with that 11-40. One difference may be the crankset, I am using a Sugino 30/46 up front. Not sure why that would cause any difference in noise though. With my setup I can use the large front chainring and go up to the 27 or 31 in the rear, and with the small chainring, go down to the 15 or 17 with not much noise from the rear. The B screw should be ok, particularly with the wolftooth roadlink installed. Is your derailleur hanger straight? Not sure why you are having the problem, wish I could be of more help.

Ajkollme

I thought the medium cage derailleur was only good to 32t on the rear cassette. I am guessing this is your issue.

robaroo

I'm using a road link though, so the derailleur is shifted down a bit to make it work.

Mark Manner

Shimano says only 32, but 36 will work with the mid-cage ultegra derailleur, with careful b-screw adjustment and chain sizing with a compact front 50/34, will handle a 36 rear cassette. I have ridden it on a couple bikes for some time. As this thread indicates, with a wolftooth roadlink, you can go up to an 11-40 (although I am doing that with a 46/30 up front, not a 50/34, so can't comment on whether the larger chainring will work. It probably will not due to the length of chain needed for the 50/40 being overlong for the derailleur to take up.)

noodle soup

11spd Shimano MTB cassetttes and 11spd Shimano road cassettes have slightly different spacing(pitch)3.9mm vs 3.74mm . Maybe it's close enough to work, but off just enough to create some noise.

Ajkollme

The other thing I can think of is - do you have the tension pulley (bottom one) facing the correct way? This is directional (indicated with small arrow on pulley) and often if I have noise coming from the derailleur it is because I accidentally installed this pulley backward after removing it to clean it.

Kaminokaze

I also installed an 11-36 and yes I see hear you. It's almost a ringing sound. I did notice it too but after riding it and getting a little build up of chain lube on it. The Ringing sound had diminished. I have not cleaned it so not sure if the sound will come back after a good cleaning.

Chi_Z

check ur spoke tension, sounds like spoke rub

gsa103

This is very likely the issue.

After 6 shifts, the chainline is off by ~1mm, which is where you expect it to be noisy. This would be doubly true for Di2, since it doesn't need a floating upper jockey wheel, due to precision of the Di2 mechanism.

In addition, the 11-40 cassette will ramp differently than a road cassette, so the jockey wheel will be progressively farther away at the small end of the cassette.

Mark Manner

As I said earlier, I have currently 2 of these setups (one mechanical ultegra, one di2), and have been riding them pretty hard (Pikes Peak, Mt. Evans, Mauna Loa, Mauna Kea over the past year), and I have no real noise with them, so I wonder if its not something more specific to the OP's setup or situation or bike frame/etc. I also have a couple of friends with similar setups and they are not having the issue either. Who knows for sure about noises, they are maddening under the best of circumstances. I fought a creaking sound for a year on a bike until I figured it out.
Mark

Darth Lefty 

I've seen that 3.9 cog spacing listed before in Shimergo tables but it doesn't make sense. You can find a ton of people mixing and matching Shimano and SRAM, road and mountain, 11-speed components with success (speaking of cog spacing not cable pull), implying that the cog spacing is the same for all of them, and there are a few products like the Roadlink and Tanpan that shouldn't work for anyone if it were true. I'd love to see actual measurements of cogs and spacers, not just a cite of an article that might be reposting an error.

fa63

I am using 50-34 front / 11-40 rear combo on my bike with no issues:

Mark Manner

I didn't comment on the spacing issue, but I have put the XTR 11-40 11 speed mtn cassette next to a shimano road 11 speed cassette, and the spacing appears to be identical, same overall stack height of the 11 cogs. It may be that there is some confusion over the differences in the width/depth of the freehub they fit on. The mtn bike 11 speed cassettes are made to fit on shimano 10 speed hubs without a spacer (shorter freehub engagement body), but if you put the spacer on it, it fits fine on an 11 speed road or mtn freehub. I think this difference may have led some to measure the freehub and conclude that the spacing of the cogs are different. Anyway, they definitely shift fine for me and a lot of others.

Mark Manner

Thanks, that is helpful to know.

robaroo

it shifts fine for me too. just noisy. i forgot to mention that my bike is hydraulic disc with 142mm thru axle rear. maybe this buggers up the chain line some and that's whats causing the noise.

Mark Manner

One of mine is also a 12/142mm through axle. Sorry can't be of any help!

Hisamatsu

Since the CS-M8000 XT 11-40 needs a spacer when installed on a road bike hub can I just use my old spacer from my 11-32 105 cassette?

Danny01

the best solution is to get an XT di2 rear derailleur. Since you have di2, it is an easy swap.

hueyhoolihan

it's very easy to think you have a cassette tight when it in fact the lock ring has really only bottomed out on the freehub itself. i would grab the cassette with your hand and try to wiggle it.

Marcus_Ti

This requires buying an XT Di2 front mech as well....presuming you are using R785 brifter controls.