Looking for a sanity check from other people running GRX drivetrains.
My GRX 1x11 setup is a bit finicky, with a narrow sweet spot before it makes noise in certain gears. Definitely a bit harder to adjust than comparable 2x11 Shimano drivetrains. I've already checked the derailleur hanger alignment. Is there anything else I should check or is this normal?
I had a similar conundrum and a bent RD cage was the cause. To my eyes and those of a few mechanics, the RD cage looked straight but it was the last option we could think of. A new RD immediately fixed it.. In theory, pretty much any Shimano road RD of the same speed style should work for testing to see if it is the cause..
Assuming that nothing is bent, and the cassette is rock solid on the hub (no wobble detectable even with force) then this setup should be good. The tension (B-screw) can be pretty important to find the 'sweet spot'. With the 2x11 GRX system the margins are MUCH worse, and you really have to adjust the HI and LOW precisely and still fiddle with the tension to get noise-free shifting. One thing to check on your 1x11 if you have internal cable routing...these large range derailleurs are extreme sensitive to friction on the cables, which are effectively adjusting your cable tension lower, and makes your derailleur position more 'vague'...i.e. it doesn't stop in the same place every time. This can even be a problem for external routing if, for example, you don't use a teflon sleeve where the cable runs under the bottom bracket.
