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Bent cog tooth

5.2K views 10 replies 8 participants last post by  samstevetoes  
#1 ·
My Ultegra 6700 has worked perfectly till last week. New problem:
Cassette (11-28) & chain (KMC X10SL) are about 1 year old.
I'm suddenly hearing & feeling a loud click from the RD / chain only when in the second-smallest (12T) cog. The click occurs once every wheel revolution. I've turned the cranks slowly, & the click occurs at the same place on the 12T cog every time.
I must have a bent tooth on the 12T cog, right? But how can this happen? No crashes, no damage that I'm aware of. The chain is well-lubed & not stretched. Should I just replace the 12T cog?
 
#4 ·
Agree with matfam. Try adjusting cable tension first, but just a tad (1/4 turn or so). When you look at a Shimano cog edge-on, you'll see that the teeth are not all alike. Some of the teeth are factory-twisted, others are not. When the cable is tension is just slightly off, the chain can run clean over the cassette, but just catches on the edge of one of the twisted teeth of the adjacent cog.

The feeler gauge check doesn't work because it assumes that the tips of the teeth are all in line, shaped the same and not twisted. It also assumes that the click comes from the cog the chain is running on, which may not be true.
 
#7 ·
I agree with the suggestions from wim & others. I'll try tweaking the RD cable tension first. BTW, I went online & looked into buying a new Ultegra 12T cog - it's about $18. But the cog tooth catching the chain might well be the next cog up or down, meaning I could buy the wrong cog! Once you buy 2 - 3 cogs, you could have paid for a new cassette. Thanks for the advice; I'll work on it tonight.
Bob
 
#9 ·
Problem solved:
I slowly passed my chain over the cogs & found the bent tooth.
The sticking was only when the chain was passing over the 12T cog, always in the same spot. But the chain's outer plates were being lightly grabbed whenever the chain passed between the 13T cog & the 1 bent tooth on the 11T cog! When I disassembled the cassette & examined the cogs individually on a flat surface, the inward-bent tooth on the 11T cog was evident. I'll attempt to bend the offending tooth outward. If this fails, I'll buy a new 11T cog.
BTW, switching to an 11-speed chain might work as well, since it's a bit narrower.
Thanks for your help.
Bob