SRAM XX1 Questions !

[Carbon_Dude]

Well, looks like after 800mi and a little more than a year of riding with XX1 on my hardtail, I have a worn out XX1 cassette.  It's a pisser as a replacement cassette is up to $400.  I had the LBS contact SRAM and I am getting a warranty replacement as SRAM says there was a wear issue with the early XX1 parts that they now have addressed.  Now I'm wondering if I need to call them and ask about the XX1 cassette on my IP-036.

I really like how nicely the XX1 drivetrain works, not so happy with the wear issues I'm having with the chainring and cassette.

[carbonazza]

Not a good news, for all of us.
Did you see it coming, or you saw the wear all of a sudden?

[325racer]

Like it ! Do you have a weight for that 325 ?  The one I would need doesn't advertise its weight on the website !

Sussed, the WolfTooth 32 tooth is 73 grams.  The stock spider alone is 43 grams.

[Vipassana]

Can you post pictures of the wear?  How did you know it was worn?  I have well over 450 miles on my X01 cassette and the only defect I can find is the black coating is worn down on the most commonly used cogs.

[Carbon_Dude]

SRAM's explanation was the chain would out last the chainring & the cassette.  The chain was approx 4X harder, or more wear resistant than the the other components.

Below are photos of the XX1 cassette.  Pic #1 is a stock SRAM XX1 photo.  Pic #2 is my IP-036 XX1 cassette with 400 miles.  Pic #3 is my IP-056 cassette with 800 miles.  It might be difficult to see in the photos but look for the DEPTH of the root between the teeth.  The cassette with 800 miles has deeper spaces between the teeth.  When I get the new and old cassettes next to each other I will upload another picture showing them side by side.

[Carbon_Dude]

Sorry, no time to clean everything prior to posting thee pictures.  When I post the new next to the worn cassette, it might be easier to see the wear between the two.

[Ramborage]

So after my last ride round a local trail a rattle has appeared 

Offending item -



I was so impressed with the engineering of the whole group set this has annoyed me immensely !  Such a little thing but a rattle is a rattle....

Time to investigate !

Had the same rattle.  All you have to do is wrap electrical tape around the carbon cage.  Cheap and easy way to get rid of it.  I find electrical tape works wonders on my bike for lots of easy fixes.  LOL

[Sussed.]

Like it ! Do you have a weight for that 325 ?  The one I would need doesn't advertise its weight on the website !

Sussed, the WolfTooth 32 tooth is 73 grams.  The stock spider alone is 43 grams.

Cheers mate !

[Carbon_Dude]

Update:

Received the new XX1 cassette & XX1 chain from SRAM.  Upon comparing the new to the cassette with 800 miles, I didn't see a huge difference in wear between the two, so I am now thinking there really isn't much wear on the original XX1 cassette.  Also, I did not see any visual differences between the old and new, materials and plating all look the same so when SRAM says they made changes, they are not changes you can see with the naked eye.

I first installed the new cassette with the current XX1 chain that has maybe 100 miles on it.  The top seven gears were smooth and quiet, but the lower four gears now had a bit of grinding.  I adjusted the derailleur a couple time with no improvement, I removed and reinstalled the cassette, double check that I torqued it to 40 N-m but the bit of grinding in the lower gears was still there.  Thought it was odd since it was just a few of the gears, yet every part of the drivetrain did not have many miles of use.

Finally I tried flipping the chain over just to see what would happen.  I saw an improvement after flipping the chain but still has some grinding so I decided to install the new chain.  At this point I have a new chain, new cassette, chainring with about 100 miles on it and r/d with about 100 miles on it.

Finally everything is smooth again.  I take it for a ride on the trails, and wouldn't you know it, I am back to having my original issue with an occasional pop out of the rear of the drivetrain after shifting.  The scenario is, I drop down a gear, I apply about a half to a full rotation of the crank, and POP!  I get a clunk sound out of the drivetrain.  It only happens once after shifting, doesn't happen again as long as I maintain the same gear.  If I go up a gear, then drop back into the same gear again, it may randomly clunk or it may not.

On the bike stand, the drivetrain shifts perfectly.  On the trail the drivetrain shifts perfectly, accept with I get a pop/clunk once in a while after shifting.

After all this, I just don't know what the problem is.  It's just an annoyance, and SRAM has been great about swapping out parts for me but I'm to the point where I'm not sure what's left to do.  I'm thinking I may just have to live with it.

[turboenterprise]

On my XX1 I get some grinding when I am standing an pedaling but nowhere else.  I messed around with the barrel adjuster but not sure that helped.  I am wondering If i am getting wear on the cassette.  I checked the chain with the chain tool and its not stretched. 

[Carbon_Dude]

My cassette had over 800 miles on it, it's most likely not your cassette.  The chain will make a little noise in the extreme ends of the cassette since your chain is being pulled on an angle.  However, I've heard nor felt any more grinding while pedaling hard versus pedaling lightly.

If I get a chance I will get out my calipers and see if I can measure any differences between the old and new cassette.

I've yet to wear out a chain to the point where my chain gauge shows even .75 of wear, what ever that really means.  So far the chain life has been great.  The only thing I can say for sure is the front chain ring wore out in 700 miles, when I put a new chain on it was very clear the front ring was not meshing well with the new chain.

[Vipassana]

The grinding for me was cured with the line adjustment screw on the reader of the derailuer. I'm not referring to the high and low adjustment screws but the other one. I did find the derailuer hard to adjust at first.  And it will feel a bit like grinding in the smallest cog no matter what simply because of the sharp radius the chain is subjected to. It really can't be as smooth as the other gears.

[Carbon_Dude]

The grinding for me was cured with the line adjustment screw on the reader of the derailuer. I'm not referring to the high and low adjustment screws but the other one. I did find the derailuer hard to adjust at first.  And it will feel a bit like grinding in the smallest cog no matter what simply because of the sharp radius the chain is subjected to. It really can't be as smooth as the other gears.

I agree, there is a bit of roughness in the smallest cog with both my XX1 setups, but that is to be expected.  Like you said, wrapping around the 10T cog causes the chain to turn in a very tight radius.

It is seeming more and more to me that, with XX1, all the components will wear out together and when the time comes you replace the cassette, chain, and chainring at the same time.  Unlike a normal drivetrain, where you would replace the chain up to 4 times before replacing the cassette and chainring.

I guess I will wait and see how long the components last.

[carbonazza]

It is seeming more and more to me that, with XX1, all the components will wear out together and when the time comes you replace the cassette, chain, and chainring at the same time.

Hi Carbon_Dude, I cleaned my 28T chainring yesterday.
And saw some clear wear marks on it, and it has only 500km.

The cassette is fine.
I don't have a tool to measure my chain.
So I don't know about it.

What explanation did you/your lbs gave to SRAM so they replaced it for you?

[Carbon_Dude]

Premature wear out.  500km (310 mi) seems awfully soon for a chain ring.  However, in my case I had put a new chain on and found, after 700 mi, my 32T chain ring would not mesh well with the new chain.  Keep in mind, the old chain was not yet measuring much wear using my Park Tools chain gauge.  SRAM has stated the XX1 chain does not wear quickly since it was made to have very high wear resistance.  However, the next component to wear out is the chain ring.  SRAM is aware that the chain rings wear quickly.  I had thought the rear cassette was worn but upon receiving a warranty replacement I could not see a difference between the new one and mine with 800 miles of usage.

At this time I would probably consider going with an aftermarket ring once my SRAM ring wears out again.

Hope that helps.