DougA said:I had all my parts swapped to a new frame at my LBS. The chain now slaps
the chainstay over big pumps. I have a Record med cage RD and a 13-26
cassette. The LBS took a link out of the chain and said if that didn't work
I would need to buy a short cage RD. The link removal helped but it still
slaps.
Do I need a short cage RD? They also said a short cage RD will shift
better. True?
With a 39-53 front and a Record 72mm cage with 26t low rear you should
indeed not have chain sag.
Your assembler should have wrapped the chain around largest rear and
largest front, then counted 2 more rivets, then passed it through the
changers, then reconnected your snap link. Merely adding or subtracting
links intuitively isn't best practice (although sometimes the result may
be identical). It's nice to know with certainty that nothing will break
on a cross gear shift.
Check the tension screw setting, which may vary from frame to frame
depending on geometry of the frame's gear tab.
Short cages obviously do not have as much capacity as medium cages so
whatever chain sag symptoms you have now will be no better with a
smaller changer. Might be no worse, though. Shift response isn't
noticeably different between Record medium and long changers, IMHO, both
are excellent.
Something unstated isn't right I agree. Chain sag is not normal to that
equipment selection.
--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971