Just measured my Centaur rear derailluer and it is the medium length. A little under 3 inches
between pulley bolts. So if the medium cage rear derailleur will handle a 28 and most likely a 26
tooth inner ring with a 52 outer chainring and 13-28 rear cassette, then the long cage rear
derailleur can easily handle a 26 inner ring and maybe a 24 inner ring without much trouble.
Nashbar sells 24, 26, and 28 tooth inner chainrings with 74mm bcd for $3-5 each quite often. You can
easily buy the complete set and see which one works best. In the UK there might be similar low cost
mail order places with cheap inner chainrings.
[email protected] (Russell Seaton) wrote in message
news:<
[email protected]>...
> I have 2002/2003 9 speed Centaur triple crankset, triple front derailleur, and long cage rear
> derailleur. I am pretty sure your Racing Triple rear derailleur is long cage, not medium cage. But
> there is not a whole lot of capacity difference between them anyway.
>
> I use a 13-28 rear 9 speed cassette. 13-14-15-16-17-19-21-23-28. With the 52-42-30 triple, the
> long cage rear deraileur takes up all the chain in the 13 cog. With a 28 tooth inner ring, there
> is a little bit of chain sag in the 13 tooth. Not a problem because you would never ever use this
> gear. With a 24 tooth inner ring, only the four largest cogs in the back are usable. Otherwise
> there is way too much chain sag to be comfortable with. And even the fourth largest cog is close
> to having too much chain sag. Four usable gears on the back is at my limit for acceptable usable
> gears when in the inner chainring.
>
> I think a 26 tooth inner ring is about the smallest you can go with a triple having a 52 tooth
> large chain ring and 28 tooth large rear cog. And still have enough usable gears in back. To use a
> 24 tooth inner chainring, you would need to reduce the size of your large chain ring so you could
> shorten your chain and thus allow the long cage rear derailleur to take up more slack. Campagnolo
> used to offer triples with 50 tooth outer chainrings so they are available. A 50-42-24 or 50-40-24
> or 48-40-24 might be better overall gearing for you. I have a 48x14 as the top gear on my loaded
> touring bike and I've never wished for a taller gear. I also have a 20x34 as my lowest gear on
> this bike and have never needed lower either.
>
>
> Walter Mitty <
[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:<
[email protected]>...
> > Aargh. I think I've been thrown some bad advice.
> >
> > I purchased campag racting t front & rear : I'M running a 28 tooth rear and a (can't remember
> > off hand) on front.
> >
> > Any ideas on how to get a lowest granny gear using these mechs? I find my lowest gear
> > insufficient for my aging legs and heavy loads.