Changing gear cassette and derailer on trek 2200

[johncontrane]

I have a 1992 Trek 2200 with two chain rings on the front. My lowest gear
is the in the back is 25 teeth.

It looks like I can put a 9 gear cassete 11 -32 teeth on the bike and change
the derailer and chain so I can climb hills easier. My questions are:

1) This will require a mountain bike derailer with a long arm. Will this
set up be slower and less accurate than my present setup which works
smooth and quickly.

2)It looks like there at least 3 choices of Shimano components:
a)Deore derailer $22, slightly better M510 $27, cassette OEM $15
b)LX derailer $34 cassette $35
C)XT derailer $75, Cassette $49

Clearly the more expensive equipment is 30 to 50 grams lighter.
Does this make much difference?


What other advantages or differences does the more expensive equipment have?


3) Are the any major DISADVANTAGES to this set up?

Thanks

 

[Sheldon Brown]

johncontrane wrote:

> I have a 1992 Trek 2200 with two chain rings on the front. My lowest gear
> is the in the back is 25 teeth.
>
> It looks like I can put a 9 gear cassete 11 -32 teeth on the bike and change
> the derailer and chain so I can climb hills easier. My questions are:
>
> 1) This will require a mountain bike derailer with a long arm. Will this
> set up be slower and less accurate than my present setup which works
> smooth and quickly.

Not significantly.

> 2)It looks like there at least 3 choices of Shimano components:
> a)Deore derailer $22, slightly better M510 $27, cassette OEM $15
> b)LX derailer $34 cassette $35
> C)XT derailer $75, Cassette $49
>
> Clearly the more expensive equipment is 30 to 50 grams lighter.
> Does this make much difference?
>
Nope.
>
> What other advantages or differences does the more expensive equipment have?

The derailers are slightly better sealed, and, if you're a super
high-mileage rider, or ride a lot in sloppy conditions, the more
expensive models will take longer to wear out. However, hardly anybody
actually wears out derailers.
>
> 3) Are the any major DISADVANTAGES to this set up?

Yes, there will be big gaps between gears. In particular, the 17-20
tooth jump is pretty nasty. There will likely be lots of times when the
20 is too low and t he 17 is too high. The main reason for this is that
the cassette you mentions wastes one of the 9 gear positions on the
useless 11 tooth sprocket. (It's not useless on a mountain bike with a
42 or 44 maximum in front, but presumably you've got a full-sized crank,
with a 52 or a 53.)

For this application, I'd recommend one of my custom cassettes, either
the 13-30 Century Special, or the 13-34 Cyclotouriste 13. These have
more comfortable intermediate jumps.

See: http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/9

Sheldon "Gears" Brown
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