AJ I want to thank you for your incredibly concise review of the SLX drive train. I am in a little bit of a quandary and you were a whole bunch of help - THANK YOU
I'm on a carbon Salsa Spearfish SLX that gets ridden on trails most Friday mornings for about an hour and a 1/2 and then in the neighborhood with the grandkids a couple days a week. As a kid I raced BMX and my road bike is a steel/carbon Sarotta w/ a Campy grouppo and a Zonda wheel set.
For about a month now I've had a terrible creaking sound that I couldn't pinpoint. It almost sounds like a creaky saddle but you get the same sound in or out of the saddle. All my pivots are tight as well. It's coming from the rear end and the only culprits could be either the cassette and/or chain. You get it on both sides underload, regardless of the gearing.
I'm here in West central Florida and ride exclusively either Alafia River mountain bike trails (which are truly amazing) or Balm Boyette mountain bike trails. Both of which have a lot of sand and a lot of phosphate. After nearly every ride I wash the bike and then dry it off, which is followed by lubing the chain quite liberally with Squirt. You wouldn't think I should have a whole lot of issues after only a year and relatively limited riding when you think about it.
Based on your review I'm probably going to go w/ a new SLX cassette and take your advice on the XT shifter. I'm wondering if I need to rethink my chain lube.
Any feedback from you or the group would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you
Dec. 17, 2021, 8:20 a.m. - David Gelinas
AJ I want to thank you for your incredibly concise review of the SLX drive train. I am in a little bit of a quandary and you were a whole bunch of help - THANK YOU I'm on a carbon Salsa Spearfish SLX that gets ridden on trails most Friday mornings for about an hour and a 1/2 and then in the neighborhood with the grandkids a couple days a week. As a kid I raced BMX and my road bike is a steel/carbon Sarotta w/ a Campy grouppo and a Zonda wheel set. For about a month now I've had a terrible creaking sound that I couldn't pinpoint. It almost sounds like a creaky saddle but you get the same sound in or out of the saddle. All my pivots are tight as well. It's coming from the rear end and the only culprits could be either the cassette and/or chain. You get it on both sides underload, regardless of the gearing. I'm here in West central Florida and ride exclusively either Alafia River mountain bike trails (which are truly amazing) or Balm Boyette mountain bike trails. Both of which have a lot of sand and a lot of phosphate. After nearly every ride I wash the bike and then dry it off, which is followed by lubing the chain quite liberally with Squirt. You wouldn't think I should have a whole lot of issues after only a year and relatively limited riding when you think about it. Based on your review I'm probably going to go w/ a new SLX cassette and take your advice on the XT shifter. I'm wondering if I need to rethink my chain lube. Any feedback from you or the group would be greatly appreciated. Thank you