long-cage trade-off's?

"dw" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On a road bike, do you give up shifting performance
by going to a long cage rear DR to accommodate a big
rear cog?

Little if any, in my experience. My needs are such that on
my road bikes I will often run an XT (long-cage MTB) rear
derailleur and cassette to be able to climb the mountains
that surround us. So, I have bikes with Dura Ace short cage,
Ultegra long cage and XT MTB long cage derailleurs. While
there might be some mild 'performance' differences, at worst
they are minor and affect nothing.

(dw) may have said:

On a road bike, do you give up shifting performance by
going to a long cage rear DR to accommodate a big rear cog?

If you go from a high-end short-cage to a cheap long-cage,
of course.

The question is too broad as posed. You might get a better
answer if you added info detailing from which short-cage to
which long-cage you intended to swap.

--
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dw said:

On a road bike, do you give up shifting performance
by going to a long cage rear DR to accommodate a big
rear cog?

I don't think it makes a dime's worth of difference,
especially these days with Hyperglide-type cogs. The shift
takes place as the cog gates come around, and is not
derailer dependent.

Matt O.

Werehatrack said:

On 7 Jun 2004 08:07:38 -0700, [email hidden] (dw) may
have said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

On a road bike, do you give up shifting performance
by going to a long cage rear DR to accommodate a big
rear cog?

I believe that campy long-cage derailleurs may have
different slant angles from the medium and short-cage
derailleurs. The pulley cage is said to be incompatible in
the small parts catalogs. I saw a Chorus derailleur from the
early 1990's where you could actually adjust the
parallelogram slant. With early suntour derailleurs you
could also do this.

I would imagine that with a long-cage derailleur on a
corncob sprocket, you may have to do some "overshift",
especially if the chain is stretched and flexible, in order
to complete the shift. This is pure imagination and i
haven't verified it in practice.

I think the main advantage of a short-cage derailleur is
weight savings, not only in the derailleur itself, but also
in the chain. Also, perhaps your chain life is extended
(especially with indexed gears) because you may be able to
still index-shift with a flexible chain and a short-cage
derailleur. Is it good to be able to use a worn chain
longer? Maybe not.

Anyway, i don't buy short cage derailleurs any more. the
advantages just aren't worth the costs of a knee surgery.

- Don Gillies San Diego, CA

dvwlt-<< On a road bike, do you give up shifting performance
by going to a long cage rear DR to accommodate a big rear
cog? >><BR><BR>

Nope-

Peter Chisholm Vecchio's Bicicletteria 1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535 vecchios.comvecchios.comOpen ↗ "Ruote convenzionali
costruite eccezionalmente bene"

Not really. It's the top pulley that does the shifting, and
it's the same distance from the cog teeth and derailer body
regardless of how far the other one. The only thing the
lower pulley does is take up the slack on the chain.

Using an inadequate derailer for your gearing will result in
much worse shifting, trust me. There are times when I have
had no other choice.

- -

"May you have the wind at your back. And a really low gear
for the hills!"

Chris Zacho ~ "Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

Chris'Z Corner geocities.comczcornerOpen ↗

Chris-<< Not really. It's the top pulley that does the
shifting, and it's the same distance from the cog teeth and
derailer body regardless of how far the other one. The only
thing the lower pulley does is take up the slack on the
chain. >><BR><BR>

Well said!!

Peter Chisholm Vecchio's Bicicletteria 1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535 vecchios.comvecchios.comOpen ↗ "Ruote convenzionali
costruite eccezionalmente bene"