long-cage trade-off's?

"dw" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On a road bike, do you give up shifting performance by going to a long
cage rear DR to accommodate a big rear cog?

Little if any, in my experience. My needs are such that on my road bikes I
will often run an XT (long-cage MTB) rear derailleur and cassette to be able
to climb the mountains that surround us. So, I have bikes with Dura Ace
short cage, Ultegra long cage and XT MTB long cage derailleurs. While there
might be some mild 'performance' differences, at worst they are minor and
affect nothing.

(dw) may have said:

On a road bike, do you give up shifting performance by going to a long
cage rear DR to accommodate a big rear cog?

If you go from a high-end short-cage to a cheap long-cage, of course.

The question is too broad as posed. You might get a better answer if
you added info detailing from which short-cage to which long-cage you
intended to swap.

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dw said:

On a road bike, do you give up shifting performance by going to a long
cage rear DR to accommodate a big rear cog?

I don't think it makes a dime's worth of difference, especially these days with
Hyperglide-type cogs. The shift takes place as the cog gates come around, and
is not derailer dependent.

Matt O.

Werehatrack said:

On 7 Jun 2004 08:07:38 -0700, [email hidden] (dw) may have said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

On a road bike, do you give up shifting performance by going to a long
cage rear DR to accommodate a big rear cog?

I believe that campy long-cage derailleurs may have different slant
angles from the medium and short-cage derailleurs. The pulley cage is
said to be incompatible in the small parts catalogs. I saw a Chorus
derailleur from the early 1990's where you could actually adjust the
parallelogram slant. With early suntour derailleurs you could also do
this.

I would imagine that with a long-cage derailleur on a corncob
sprocket, you may have to do some "overshift", especially if the chain
is stretched and flexible, in order to complete the shift. This is
pure imagination and i haven't verified it in practice.

I think the main advantage of a short-cage derailleur is weight
savings, not only in the derailleur itself, but also in the chain.
Also, perhaps your chain life is extended (especially with indexed
gears) because you may be able to still index-shift with a flexible
chain and a short-cage derailleur. Is it good to be able to use a
worn chain longer? Maybe not.

Anyway, i don't buy short cage derailleurs any more. the advantages
just aren't worth the costs of a knee surgery.

- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA

dvwlt-<< On a road bike, do you give up shifting performance by going to a long
cage rear DR to accommodate a big rear cog? >><BR><BR>

Nope-

Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

gillies-<< I believe that campy long-cage derailleurs may have different slant
angles from the medium and short-cage derailleurs. The pulley cage is
said to be incompatible in the small parts catalogs. >><BR><BR>

Nope not true in actual experience. A 'long cage' body is the same as a 'short
cage' except with different cage lengths.

Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

Not really. It's the top pulley that does the shifting, and it's the
same distance from the cog teeth and derailer body regardless of how far
the other one. The only thing the lower pulley does is take up the slack
on the chain.

Using an inadequate derailer for your gearing will result in much worse
shifting, trust me. There are times when I have had no other choice.

- -

"May you have the wind at your back.
And a really low gear for the hills!"

Chris Zacho ~ "Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

Chris'Z Corner
http://www.geocities.com/czcorner

Chris-<< Not really. It's the top pulley that does the shifting, and it's the
same distance from the cog teeth and derailer body regardless of how far
the other one. The only thing the lower pulley does is take up the slack
on the chain. >><BR><BR>

Well said!!

Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"