Short or long cage rear derailleur???

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Rockgrunt
I'm currently using a Dura Ace long cage derailleur, and would like to know if their's any performance advantage to going short. I look forward to your comments.

yes it looks faster

A short cage derailleur is a bit lighter and it doesn't offer the same flexibility that a long-cage derailleur offers. The long cage will accomodate more chain-wrap and therefore you can run larger chainring/cog combonations. Some will say that a short-cage shifts more efficiently but I've never noticed any difference.

Thanks Meehs for the info. Sounds like I should stick with the long cage since I have a 12-27 cassette.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by meehs
A short cage derailleur is a bit lighter and it doesn't offer the same flexibility that a long-cage derailleur offers. The long cage will accomodate more chain-wrap and therefore you can run larger chainring/cog combonations. Some will say that a short-cage shifts more efficiently but I've never noticed any difference.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Rockgrunt
Thanks Meehs for the info. Sounds like I should stick with the long cage since I have a 12-27 cassette.

youre gonna have one lame bike with that big a cog and a long cage go buy a hybrid

I replaced the 12-23 with the 12-27 so I could keep up in the hills and mountains. It's made a big difference. I'm not sure why you say it's lame. The 53-39 crank works well with the 12-27. I might be lame, but the bike is kewl.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by fushman
youre gonna have one lame bike with that big a cog and a long cage go buy a hybrid

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Rockgrunt
Thanks Meehs for the info. Sounds like I should stick with the long cage since I have a 12-27 cassette.

And I bet some moron told you you needed a LC with the 27?? Wrap spec for the short cage is 29 teeth,and that 's usually conservative. If you have a 53/39 chainset you are in spec with the 27 and a SC.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by meehs
A short cage derailleur is a bit lighter and it doesn't offer the same flexibility that a long-cage derailleur offers. The long cage will accomodate more chain-wrap and therefore you can run larger chainring/cog combonations. Some will say that a short-cage shifts more efficiently but I've never noticed any difference.

The long and short cage handle the same large cog. The long cage wraps more chain. If he's got a 53/39 chainset,he's within spec.

Thanks Boudreux, The bike came with the long cage, and I was wondering if I went short if it would be an improvement.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by boudreaux
And I bet some moron told you you needed a LC with the 27?? Wrap spec for the short cage is 29 teeth,and that 's usually conservative. If you have a 53/39 chainset you are in spec with the 27 and a SC.

As I undersand, LC is necesary for triple, but it's better (lighter, maybe faster) to go SC if you have double, as long as you're inside specs as boudreaux says.

Yeah, w/ Campy, the medium cage 'requirement' for a 29T rear is total bull. I have run it with short and medium and it works identically well with both.

Thanks everyone, I'll be looking at picking up the Dura Ace short cage as my next upgrade.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by boudreaux
The long and short cage handle the same large cog. The long cage wraps more chain. If he's got a 53/39 chainset,he's within spec.

Yeah. I didn't mean to imply that he wasn't within spec. But if the bike came with a long cage there's absolutely no advantage to changing to a short cage other than saving a few grams. That's all I was trying to say. And a long cage does provide more flexibility if he ever wanted to switch to a larger spread. No?