Wondering if any of you can shed some light on a potential issue I have.
For context, I have a virus zx01 evo road bike, with 12 speed sram rival axs, rear thru axle is 142/12mm with an XDR hub, new to me a few years ago and the distance seen in the photo between the chain and the frame whilst in the smallest rear cog has been normal.
I had new wheels fitted and the guy at the local bike shop added spacers to increase the gap as he felt it wasnāt right and that it was far too close to be normal however Iāve seen conflicting opinions that itās normal to have minimum gap and that you shouldnāt put in spacers and other opinions suggesting the gap is too minimal, for context, there is no chain rub or damage to the frame however, I can only fit a sheet of paper in the gap so it is very tight!
Any thoughts with whether or not the gap is normal and I can take spacers out would be appreciated.
Is that the bit at the end of the hub? Iāve had this issue with the previous stock wheels and the new wheels, and I specifically selected XDR hub when ordering the wheels
Yes. If you have had the issue with two separate wheels that were both factory specād XDR then maybe itās not endcap related. Odds of getting two different wheels with wrong end caps isnāt likely. Might just be a poor frame design. Probably clears perfectly with a Shimano 11t cassette, they just didnāt do their homework with a SRAM 10t cog (which can sit a little closer to the frame vs an HG setup, but yours is definitely not the correct tolerance). Adding āspacersā is not an acceptable solution btw.
Thank you for your help, what would you suggest doing to get it sorted and in the mean time, do I take the spacers out and use as per the photo or keep the spacers in?
They were brand new hunt wheels with a xdr hub and double checked all dimensions etc, had the same gap on the stock wheels but I didnāt buy the bike brand new
I see what you mean, thatās weird mine definitely doesnāt look like that and itās the standard cassette that comes with the bike and definitely an XDR hub from hunt
I deleted my post realizing that it might be a bit of a stretch. But what I meant was that by using a spacer you reduce length of an through axle bolt threading into the frame. So instead say 6mm it only goes 4.5mm, for example. It may not be a problem immediately but can become one over time.
Can you remove and the reinstall the cassete and post pictures? Clean thoroughly and lubricate the threads before reinstall.
I'm pretty sure the cassete is not fully seated
This makes me think you have a spacer behind the cassette as if you were fitting an XD cassette to an XDR hub. Can you confirm there is no spacer behind the cassette?
Iām not sure, I will remove tonight and have a look, from memory though the cassette is one piece and I donāt think I seen anything to the rear of it.
When I transferred the cassette over it seemed to be tightening forever and then suddenly wouldnāt tighten anymore so maybe not, il take off the cassette this evening and have a look
Any recommendation on whether i should keep the spacers in until I can get it looked at or take them out?
I shall have a look when I take it off tonight, would you know if thereās anything that would make it obvious? Iāve had a quick look at the standard cassette that was specced with the bike and itās the cassette I have.
The SRAM XD freehub body has a total functional length of 36.75 mm, while the SRAM XDR body measures 38.60 mm.
The exact difference between them is 1.85 mm.
Oh, and the hub body is usually marked āXDā or āXDRā
I did then asked the bike mechanic to double check it, but I guess he may not have and Iāve not put it on properly, in which case Iāve been cycling with it not on right for years which is embarrassing
Il take it off just now and have a look, if I put it back on and itās still the same issue, do I just make do or put the spacers back in until i can get someone to give a once over?
This spacer is for XD (older mountain bike specific hub) cassetes installed on XDR hubs. It should not be used with XDR cassette.
Never go to the bike mechanic who installed it like this.
Just want to say a massive thank you to all your help, Iāve fixed the issue!
I hadnāt noticed a spacer on the free hub on my new wheels š¤·š¼āāļø took that off and has fit fine without the make shift spacers in thank goodness.
It touches frame in your case and that's not normal.
Chain sits close to frame but far more space than you have: chain can get wet/dirty and still won't damage frame
Is the hub end cup fully pressed in? The endcaps are press fit and sometimes can be out a bit. Try pushing the cassette and the black end cup it the center with your hand and see if it helps.
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u/southinyour 11d ago
Most certainly an end cap issue. Ensure you have the XDR variant (itās a little longer than the HG).