I’ll preface by saying I’m not the most mechanically inclined person.
Today, I was setting up my new KICKR. Not too much trouble taking off the 11 speed cassette. I installed a new 9 speed cassette with the same specs as the cassette I used on my KICKR Core. Initially, I couldn’t get the chain to move to the smaller chainring. I finally manually moved the chain into the lowest gear position and move it through the first 9 gears and then onto the next 9. However, it is not flowing smoothly on gears other than the middle two. I assume this is because the chain is the straightest in these gears. I was hoping someone might give me some guidance on things to check.
I’ll preface this by saying I have been a rather mechanically oriented person specifically for bicycles for quite some time.
Derailleur hanger alignment is a foundational starting point. Park Tool videos could help you to learn basics of derailleur adjustments. Calvin and Truman are also entertaining and have a great rapport. Depending on your drivetrain components SRAM and Shimano have excellent resources (from the horses mouth). si.shimano.com and sram.com
First— make sure you used the extra spacer that comes with the KICKR for smaller cassettes. Then, you’ll probably need to readjust the rear derailleur cable tension to run properly. If that doesn’t work, there’s a good chance you’ve got a somewhat worn and stretched chain. Get a new one.
Thanks for referencing these videos. Not without some difficulty, but I was able to get it all working correctly. It was a good learning experience. I now understand better how the rear derailleur works.
