Quote: Originally Posted by
dalerb .
My large cog now is either a 24 or 26. I've been told that maxes out the derailer. So, I guess I need to go the new crank route to get a meaningful change. Thanks so much for your assistance.
Campagnolo derailleurs are designed to handle a 29t Cog ... you may have to adjust the B-screw which is located near the FORWARD knuckle
[it's in an awkward location because 'I' think it was an afterthought] ...
The problem which you may encounter if the (new) chain is long enough to wrap around a larger large-large combination is with having a slack chain when you are in the small-small combination ... on a Road bike, THAT is a cosmetic issue unless you are riding over the Pave in Belgium or almost equally rough pavement ...
BTW. I do NOT know how good-or-bad the ramping is on the 9-speed Campagnolo Mirage/Veloce/Centaur Cassettes ...
But, I do know that on the 8-speed Mirage Cassettes that the Cogs where simply STAMPED metal (
i.e., punched out of sheet metal) ... very crude.
FWIW. Here is a 10-speed Cassette which I re-stacked with one of the previously mentioned 29t MICHE Cogs ...
The available MICHE Cogs are spec'd as 9-speed ... the ramping appears to be similar to what you have on your 9-speed Chorus Cogs.
A 6-to-8 tooth jump is doable ... so, if your current, largest cog is a 23t, I would think that you should be okay if you re-stack the Cassette with a 29t Cog.
FYI. I had a
9-speed, 12-23 Chorus Cassette which I re-stacked to become an 11-26.
- the 11t was an 8-speed Cog which I thinned ...
- the 26t was cannibalized from a Shimano Cassette & re-notched because I did not know that the Miche cogs where available (they may not have been available separately at the time)
- Miche also has a 27t Cog + most of the other sizes
I found out that although the 9-speed Campagnolo indexing doesn't match ANYTHING, I could use 9-speed Campagnolo shifters with 9-speed Shimano Cassettes (
on a Shimano/-compatible wheel, of course) with one of the intermediate Cogs simply passed over ...
A 9-speed Campagnolo shifter with a 9-speed Shimano Cassette is NOT RECOMMENDED, but it is very usable as long as you realize that you will only have 8 available Cogs & can live with it.
Now, the reason I am saying this is because if you can BORROW a Shimano wheel with an 11-32 LX/XT/XTR Cassette for a ride, then you can determine whether a 28t-or-29t Cog will provide a low enough gear for you with your current crankset
before you go about making changes ...
- just set the rear derailleur stops, accordingly, but, lock out the 32t Cog ...
- you will have 7 usable gears for the test ...
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What crankset/BB does your bike currently have?
If by
"'close ratio' Mirage set" you are referring to the Crankset, then the answer depends on the BB spindle type & length which is currently on your bike ...
You may be better off simply buying a new crankset with a matching BB rather than trying to mount the new crank on your current BB (if that was what you were hoping to do) rather than fretting over mixing-and-matching ...
YES. 'I' actually said THAT!