[brainskill]

I had a Spec "stage2+" clutch + SMF flywheel installed by a shop about 600 miles ago. From the beginning it's been very hard to engage from a stop. I also get some banging when shifting under way, particularly under load, but the shift effort is pretty low (comparatively anyway). It's a bit grabby coming out of gear but takes relatively little effort.

If I mat the pedal and rev in gear the car creeps forward very slowly, which seems to confirm that the clutch is dragging.

How should I approach diagnosing this? From what I gather there are a few possibilities:

1. hydraulics need bleeding - pedal feels firm and does not sink, is it still worth bleeding ?
2. master/slave cylinder failure - not sure how to diagnose this, brakes are fine and see no visual issues with master
3. something that requires disassembly - bad hardware, incorrect installation (fork, bearing, clutch, etc) - i guess ideally I rule out (1) or (2) first.

[onebluemcm]

Nothing about that sounds normal from the get go. I think trip to the installer is in order because it's likely an installation error. If it have been a DIY job, I think you'd have to dig into the diagnosis more, but with someone else doing the work, it's on them to get it right. Just don't do anything so they can say they are no longer responsible.