Fuel EXe Rear wheel won't spin freely after upgrade to SRAM GX T-type transmission?

ZillaG

ZillaG

Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2022
Messages
58
Reaction score
43
Location
Cary, NC USA
I upgraded my stock Fuel 9.7 to an SRAM GX T-type transmission. I upgraded the following and torqued everything to spec.
  • XD driver and end caps
  • Cassette
  • Derailleur
  • Chain
  • Remote

But now my rear wheel will not spin freely. Notice how when I stopped back-pedaling, the rear-wheel stopped. Conversely, when I hold the wheel, the cranks won't spin along with the chain.

NOTE: The bike shifts flawlessly, and the cassette spins freely when the wheel is off the bike!

What can I look for?

 
Last edited:
⚡ EMTB Pro Go Pro — Living Intelligence Reports, exclusive discounts & ad-free Up to 25% off Peaty's, PEMBREE, Magicshine & more · Ad-free browsing · Pro badge See the deals →
The new cassette seems to be crushing into the spokes. Or the free wheel hub is not installed correctly.

Maybe a spacer is required?

Check the routing of your chain, carefully, but it doesn’t seem like that.
 
Remove the rear wheel and start eliminating potential problems.
Then, does the cassette spin freely?
 
Are the jockey wheels turning freely. Is the chain correctly threaded through the transmission (easy to make this mistake). Did an axel cap fall off. Correct speed cassette 10-11-12? Is the axel torqued correctly (usually 10nm).
“B” screw adjustment?
Install the wheel without the chain and check.
It could be one of those ah-ha moments.
 
Last edited:
Stihldog said:
Are the jockey wheels turning freely. Is the chain correctly threaded through the transmission (easy to make this mistake). Did an axel cap fall off. Correct speed cassette 10-11-12? Is the axel torqued correctly (usually 10nm).
“B” screw adjustment?
Install the wheel without the chain and check.
It could be one of those ah-ha moments.
Click to expand...
I did everything correctly per manual and videos. There's no B or limit screw adjustment on the T-type. Everything seems to work fine, including the actual shifting, except for this phenomenon.
 
There may be someone here who has more experience with this than I do with T type transmissions. We’re both missing something. Sry 🤷‍♂️
 
12 speed on XD needs a spacer according to this. I don't know if it applies to your situation, though. I'd guess a new cassette would have come with it, if you needed it.
Time 0:42
 
Last edited:
Montana St Alum said:
12 speed on XD needs a spacer according to this. I don't know if it applies to your situation, though. I'd guess a new cassette would have come with it, if you needed it.
Time 0:42
Click to expand...
Nope, not for XD cassette on XD driver body (first video segment), which is my case.
 
I think the bontrager wheels are sensitive to how tight you do up the rear axle.
On my old trek rail without the new axs installed, if I torqued up the axle too much it would stop the wheel spinning freely.
 
On my DT HXC 1501 wheel set with 240 hubs I had something similar. I had same with the XX1 cassette. In my case it was the free hub. Sometimes the cassette is not fitting correctly. Casette was tied. But spacing of the end cap was not correct. And tidying more was not fixing it. It was damaging the thread from the cassette.

When I notice that the cassette is not vitting correctly (spacing end cap). I remove the cassette. Clean the threads from the cassette and hub. Some new grease on it. 9 of the 10 times will do it. ;-)
 
ZillaG said:
I upgraded my stock Fuel 9.7 to an SRAM GX T-type transmission. I upgraded the following and torqued everything to spec.
  • XD driver and end caps
  • Cassette
  • Derailleur
  • Chain
  • Remote

But now my rear wheel will not spin freely. Notice how when I stopped back-pedaling, the rear-wheel stopped. Conversely, when I hold the wheel, the cranks won't spin along with the chain.

NOTE: The bike shifts flawlessly, and the cassette spins freely when the wheel is off the bike!

What can I look for?

Click to expand...

why don't your cranks spin backwards free of the chain ring?
 
Dave_B said:
why don't your cranks spin backwards free of the chain ring?
Click to expand...
…and should only engage when rotating fwd?

My motor(and cranks) acts as a free hub when rotating backwards. The chainring doesn’t rotate while peddling backwards.

Have you noticed another problem? 🤔 maybe.
 
Last edited:
Something more serious is wrong as some have rightly said the cranks should rotate backwards without the chainring engaging. I would get your motor checked out, it’s not disengaging on a backpedal
 
Oh. In which case I’m still missing the point of his question?
 
keeganxt said:
He had the chainring velcro strapped to the crank
Click to expand...
Not sure why you would do that? Why create a scenario that does not exist on the actual correct functioning of the bike.

I’d simply take everything off the bike and identify why item on the rear wheel is jamming. It’s either the freehub body or the mech.
 
To show that the cassette doesn’t spin freely.

He has. Cassette spins freely. Reassembled, it doesn’t.
 
Cassette is not on correctly or you have the wrong hub spacer.
 
If it was me …I would start the re-assembly process from the beginning, again. After each (and every) step of assembly I would check when or how the issue occurs. This may be a matter of “process of elimination” to isolate when and how the cassette stops spinning freely.

This may be difficult for some of us to diagnose when the bike is not infront of us and we have a video and some information to rely on. The OP is making numerous efforts to discover the problem. Providing a video is definitely helpful …but that can’t show everything and that can’t show each and every step (unless it’s a lengthy video).

Thankfully or sadly this will become a learning process for most of us. I’m curious and this has my attention. 🧐
 
Is it a new freehub? It may require its own spacer on the axle.
 
Take the chain off and spin the freehub.
Does it rotate backwards? Yes/ No
If no, is it hitting the frame? Yes / no
If no, take the wheel off, spin the hub.
Does it rotate backwards? Yes/no
If no, the cassette is not on correctly.
If yes, maybe the hub spacer is incorrect, or the axle is way over tightened and the hub spacer is interfering with the cassette in some way.

Etc
Etc

Look at one thing at a time and it should be easy to resolve.
 
It’s hard to diagnose without really seeing the details of the bike.

I will say that my Fuel EX-e does not back-pedal like that. Spinning the crank in reverse with the motor on or off just has the crank spinning not the transmission assembly.

So maybe the problem lies in the motor/front chainring.

Also, there is a tab inside of the transmission derailleur universal hanger area that needs to line up before tightening the derailleur/hanger bolt down. That could be screwing up the spacing.

Hope this helps further trouble shoot.
 
There is a very think spacer that goes on the axle and it looks like it is part of the axle. It may be missing or in your XD driver you took off. I just went thru this with a bike and it sounds like it. Its about 3/4 long and very thin and goes inside the XD driver
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Keep reading
    Browse all

    Similar Threads

    Community Stats

    Since 2018
    676K
    Messages
    42,036
    Members
    Join 30,000+ Riders, it's free!
    Back
    Top