Installing a Rebuilt Derailleur

After you rebuild your derailleur or after you receive a rebuilt one from Madrone, it is important to ensure it is reinstalled and adjusted properly, or you wont get the most performance out of your rebuilt derailleur.

Preparation

  1. Derailleur hanger alignment. Make sure your derailleur hanger is aligned, even if you have a new one. Use a good derailleur hanger alignment tool. The best one we know if is made by Abbey Tools. 
  2. Check for excessive drivetrain wear. Ensure there is not too much chain, cassette, or chainring wear. If any one of these is excessively worn, it can hurt shift performance and efficiency. 
  3. Clean your drivetrain. Chain, cassette, chainring cleanliness are important. If these have too much grit build up, it can hurt shift performance, efficiency, and life of the components.
  4. Chain lubrication. Make sure the chain is properly lubricated.
  5. Chain length. If you changed the cage size or pulley size during your rebuild, your chain length may need to change. Note: If you purchased a Madrone cage for a SRAM derailleur, and maintained the 12T/14T pulley sizes, you will not need to change your chain length.
  6. Cable and housing friction. If you have a cable actuated derailleur, ensure the cable and housing are free of pinch points, corrosion, excess friction, and frayed ends.

Installation

  1. Install the derailleur. Follow the SRAM installation procedures.
    1. Remember to use threadlocker on this thread and all threads on the derailleur.
    2. Make sure the chain is routed properly over both pulleys and the cassette.
  2. AXS derailleur adjustment. Follow the SRAM setup procedures:
    1. Pair the derailleur with your shifter.
    2. Set both limit screws.
    3. Set the B screw adjustment using a SRAM gauge.
    4. Use the micro adjust feature on your AXS app to fine tune the shifting.
    5. Check the shifting in the stand and also while riding the bike. Often the micro adjust setting will be different by up to a few increments.
  3. Cable actuated derailleur adjustment. Follow the SRAM setup procedures:
    1. Set both limit screws.
    2. Set the B screw adjustment using a SRAM gauge.
    3. Set the barrel adjuster trim to match the shifter index points with each gear on the cassette.
    4. Check the shifting in the stand and also while riding the bike. Often the barrel adjustment setting will be different by up to 3 clicks.

Videos

There are a numerous guides on YouTube covering the steps above. Here are a few: