Rear derailleur: Low normal or top normal ?

I'm thinking to change the rear derailleur of my bike (a Deore top normal)

Both, Shimano LX and XT, came in two versions, top normal and low normal, and I like to know which works better.

Thanks in advance.

Best regards.

Marcelo

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1WD

I think I 'm not clear enough.

I like to know your opinions about the Shimano rapid rise (aka "low normal) vs the "traditionals" (top normal) rear derailleurs to help me to choose my new RD.

Thanks again.

Marcelo

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1WD

Hi Marcelo,

I'm not an expert and my experience is mostly with traditional top normal rear mechs, but recently I bought a Cannondale F800 with a low normal LX rear mech. I have to say I prefer the new low normal type rear mech, it seems to be more logical to push the same lever to move to 'faster' cogs whether with the left or right lever. What I mean is that your used to pushing the thumb lever for the front mech to go to a bigger cog to go faster, so it feels logical to press with the thumb for the rear mech to also go faster, although with a smaller cog.

The other reason it feels better is because its easier to change gear while pedaling up hill, the mech 'falls up' to a bigger cog.

It takes a bit of getting used to but I prefer the low normal type now. But like I said, I'm not an expert.

Hi Tanc, thanks for your reply.

That is the kind of reply that I'm waiting for.

Best regards.

Marcelo

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1WD

Yes. Downshifting to a larger cog is easier with a Rapid Rise rear derailleur.

It means that you don't have to dump-out onto your granny when you need a lower gear (presuming you still have a larger cog to shift onto in back).

FWIW. I was so disappointed with the inability of my Ultegra (6500) STI road shifters to downshift efficiently/smoothly when under load (that is, when already going uphill the chain seemed to balk at moving to a larger cog more-often-than-not) that I was within ONE WEEK of putting an old XTR Rapid Rise rear derailleur on my road bike ... the only thing that stopped me was ascertaining that the Campagnolo ERGO shifters that I was testing could downshift efficiently when under load.

I've been riding off road for nine years and have been using rapid rise for four years now and it makes lots of sense to me. The learning curve is really short and the shifting is more precise then traditional. Hope this helps.

it's a matter of personal preference; that said, my experience is that rapid rise is more finicky to adjust, for some reason. i run the tried-and-true.