SRAM Type 2 Rear Derailleur: On Test- by c_g
Last fall, Guitar Ted had already talked about the Shadow Plus derailleurs from Shimano (here) We also have bikes equipped with these derailleurs, (most recently the BMC Fourstroke FS01), with impressive positive results. And as the informed reader knows also SRAM offers a comparable technology – called Type 2. We got a sample of it in for long term testing, which we will talk about in more detail in the coming weeks and months as we have one installed on the CUBE Stereo SHPC 140.
Guitar Ted actually has another bike which is equipped with Type 2 derailleur – the Diamondback HT Mason (here) – and will report in turn.
The philosophy is the same as Shimano’s: With a highly attenuated derailleur cage the chain hitting the chain stay is minimized and the main reason for a dropped chain is bypassed … and no extra chain guides or limitations of gear ratios is necessary. The “Roller Bearing Clutch”, so called by SRAM, reduces the cage movement. It is placed at the pivot point of the cage and only counteracts the counterclockwise movement and runs on maintenance free fat needle bearings.
SRAM uses this mechanism which is dampened permanently (instead of an adjustable one, like Shimano) and keeps it fixed with a factory preset (for SHIMANO adjustable with a little effort). Our past experience with the Shadow Plus has shown that there is no real reason to switch off the clutch ever. The effort when switching wheels does not cause much drama, and the shift quality suffers only slightly at the trigger, needing only slightly more pressure to initiate the shift. The Type 2 SRAM works differently though.
With the “Cage Lock”, one can lock the cage with a pin at the front and thus take the chain tension off from the system completely. Simple but effective. To release one moves the cage just out of the retainer slightly forward and the pin is retracted and is then spring-driven. After our first experiments in assembling the wheel, as well as for work on the chain, we can say already – This is a dream come true and at least as effective as the on-off mechanism of SHIMANO.
The usual SRAM “Exact Actuation” remains for derailleur control and means the cable pull is equal to the derailleur movement – the ratio is 1:1. The system is less susceptible to small variations in the cable tension, and tolerant of a not 100% perfect setting.
For now the Type 2 technology is limited to the levels of the SRAM X.0 and X.9. We expect that the other groups in the further stages of development will come to enjoy the technology soon though. Type 2 derailleurs come in three cage lengths (short, medium and long) so for 1 × 10, 2 × 10 and suitable 3 × 10 configurations. Thus, Type 2 which was originally developed for the AM and enduro use, is even good for XC and trail riders. SRAM strongly recommends Type 2 derailleurs for all applications. The colors available stay the same: For the X.0 has one / a choice between Silver / Black (test pattern), black / black and black / red and the X.9 group of black / white, black / black and black gray.
As for the weights, the XO Type 2 derailleur compares against the “regular” model with just 25-30 g more weight- 235 g compared to 205 g for the medium length cage – This is likely going to prevent only the most hardcore weight fetishists from buying Type 2. Pricing for the XO Type 2 derailleur is € 233.00 (€ 104 at the X.9 level-) and thus only a few euros over the normal system (MSRP of XO at € 228 – € at and for X.9 -). Even so hardly a reason to hold back a possible purchase.
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FIRST IMPRESSIONS: After the system we have now has been in use for a few weeks, we wanted to share with you, of course, our first impressions. The Type 2 derailleur has replaced the one on our CUBE Stereo test bike that previously had the standard XO rear derailleur.
The first rides with the Type 2 XO rear derailleur were unremarkable. Since the “audible” chain hitting on the bike was minimal with the normal rear derailleur the audible difference was small. More important, however, was that the shifting performance and the shifting comfort remained at the same high level. I imagine that the shift forces are slightly higher, but the difference is not very big (if at all and therefore does not require getting used to.) The gear changes are even under load, just as crisp and precise -.. No significant delays or abnormalities. In this aspect, Type 2 at first glance is at least similarly scoring full points.
Early modification: In order to tease out the differences, strengths and limitations of Type 2 or even more, I decided, therefore, summarily to upgrade to 1 × 10 with no derailleur or chain guide. We have fitted a front RACE FACE single ring with 33 teeth instead of 24/38er 2-way combination. Why 33 teeth? Simply because we are both familiar with 32 or 34 and it’s cool that we found that there are also odd numbers of teeth are available 
. While it is too early to go into details, so far we have had the 4 outings on this configuration with no chain dropping or other problems. You think this sounds promising, right?
We will ride the SRAM XO rear derailleur Type 2 for a while, in the above or other configurations, and keep you posted about any observations at a later date.
Until then … RIDE ON,
I jumped on one of these as soon as they came out. I had significant chain dropping issues on my 9er Jet RDO XX setup as well as chain stacking issues. These problems would come from long choppy hard descents. I would go to pedal and find the chain dropped to the outside of the chain wheel (yes worked with the limiter screw a lot and never got it to work well). At one point I even put a 1/16 inch thick piece of plastic inside the front derailluer cage to narrow the gap and keep the chain from bouncing out, this helped but didn’t fix the problem.
I got my hands on the X0 Type 2 and problems solved. I haven’t dropped a chain since (since October). I will take the weight penalty!
Overall the shifting experience is about the same as with the XX, maybe even better, but no noticeable difference.
I’m now also running the X.0 Type 2 on my hardtail, a 9er Air 9 Carbon, which has eliminated all chain slap, works like a charm!
BTW, I believe the roller bearing clutch comes standard on the XX1, maybe someday XX will have it too….
The tension is adjustable. Just pop off the plastic cover and use an 8mm Allen wrench…
Looking forward to trying it out on my new Tallboy LTc . . . .which I am picking up tomorrow! Just hope I don’t wreck it for a while.
Seems chain stay protectors are going the way of rim brakes…….
Will this technology be available for 9 speed?
Oh yes… That is a question… If 10s cassette and 9s cassette got same width, theoretically movement of 10s and 9s mech from bottom to the top should be the same. So again in theory that should work as the shifter is indexing the gearing.
And what about practice?
Cheers!
I.
My speculation: I don’t think they will introduce any new tech for 9 speed. Ever. They want people to upgrade to 10 (or 11) speed and hence make the upgrade advantage as big as possible. 9 speed is dead in their eyes.
9 and 10 speed are not cross compatible. i.e. A 9 speed shifter does not work with a 10 speed derailleur. There is still the 1:1 ratio, so there must be different throws or something. 11 speed and 10 are not likely compatible, but I have no real experience so I can only speculate.
I have had the X9 in a medium cage with a 2 x 10 setup now since June ’12. There is no way I would go back. Were the weight gain 60g instead of 30g, I wouldn’t hesitate. I am doing aggressive XC to AM type of riding, with the occasional DH run on a 6+” bike. If it is not bouncing off there, it is not bouncing off anywhere. For some reason it seems to be holding up to abrasions and hits better than the old X9, but that just may be luck. That or they had to beef up the knuckles to account for the clutch resistance or something. I have replaced the shift housing twice due to being bent from hitting things, and the mech itself looks like it should be retired from war duty. The occasional 1/4 turn of the adjustment barrel is all I have had to do to remedy any shift issue thus far (outside of the shift housing replacement which looked bad but didn’t affect the shifting). Don’t even have to stop pedaling. Of course now that I have typed this I an screwed.
I marvel at how far they have been able to bring a chain/derailleur setup in the past 20 years.
After 3 weeks of setup and tuning I’ve finally given up on the X9 type 2. Hopefully I can outline the problems below and help you punters to make a better informed decision.
1) The return spring in the parallelogram linkage is weak to compensate for the clutch making shifting heavier. This means the derailleur will bounce down against the cable tension and drop gears.
2) On a VVP suspension design like my Reign, there is constant chain growth as the suspension works. This means the derailleur clutch is inhibiting small bump compliance and placing extra load on the hanger by trying to prevent chain growth.
3) On a bumpy trail the clutch will be constantly breaking tension to allow slack for chain growth. This in turn causes the driveline to flap around on the weak parallelogram spring and drop gears all over the show.
On top of this, the installation instructions are vauge and simplistic – In reality there are a lot of tricks for getting the type 2 setup – correct chain length and precise B screw adjustment to name a few. However when you’re constantly dropping gears on a bumpy trail, or much less, skipping gears dropping off small kerbs the marketing shine diminishes to a brown smear.
In conclusion, it just doesn’t work as advertised – It probably works great on a hard tail, or zero grow suspension design – I feel disappointed that I was totally sucked into the Sram marketing machine. After you see all the Sram sponsored launches and glowing magazine reviews its hard not to. But ultimately I feel like I’ve been mislead by a half baked product that has failed to deliver on its premise.