Types of Derailer cages

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Kaboom
Is there any noticeable shifting difference between the cage lengths? will a short cage derailer shift faster/better than a long cage one?

I have had a campy record short cage, and a chorus long cage (I think it was a chorus). And I liked the short cage better, it shifted quicker and smoother than the long cage. In real world performance they both performed fine, the short cage one is just seemed to be a little better.

There's less stress ona short cage when the cable pulls it sideways so shorter cages tend to shift a little better. Not something you will notice a huge difference at but you should have your cage length decided by the type of cassette you use and not what shifts better.

I thought the length of the cage was related to the number of chainrings?

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Kaboom
I thought the length of the cage was related to the number of chainrings?

on any bike with a derailleur, the chain needs to be able to span the extremes: it should have adequate tension when mounted on the smallest front gear in combination with the smallest rear chainring. It should also fit on the combination of largest front gear and largest rear chainring (settings not to be recommended in actual riding 🙂 )
So it basically has to do with the size difference in your gears.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Hecubus
you should have your cage length decided by the type of cassette you use

There are 2 deralier specs:maximum cog capacity and wrap capacity. A short and long cage can both have the same large cog max.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by boudreaux
There are 2 deralier specs:maximum cog capacity and wrap capacity. A short and long cage can both have the same large cog max.

Yes they can but if you use the wrong one depending on the gear ranges you have you can end up with the chain dangling loose while using smaller cogs. The longer cage picks up the slack when using smaller combos.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Hecubus
Yes they can but if you use the wrong one depending on the gear ranges you have you can end up with the chain dangling loose while using smaller cogs. The longer cage picks up the slack when using smaller combos.

Well, you referenced cassette and it is cassette and chainrings that have to be considered.