Dialed in my derailleur after 18 months of hunting a ghost

I picked up a 2019 Trek Domane used back in February 2023. From day one, shifting under load in the middle of the cassette was rough. I replaced the cable, the housing, even the hanger. Last week I finally checked the cassette lockring torque. It was barely hand-tight. Tightened it to 40 Nm and now it shifts like a dream. Has anyone else dealt with a shifting issue that turned out to be something that simple?

3 comments

3 Comments

parker1838d ago

Wait, a loose lockring fixed your shifting under load?

kaih368d ago

...my buddy had a similar thing on his gravel bike, spent months chasing a creak that came and went. He replaced the bottom bracket twice before someone pointed out his chainring bolts were loose. Tightened them down and the noise was gone, felt like such a waste of time and money.

elliot_patel8d ago

Not sure I'd say the lockring itself fixes the shifting, but I've had loose chainring bolts cause a similar noise under load on my old cross bike. It's usually something small like that, not the bottom bracket, that drives you crazy.