I used a Shimano M750 cassette, 11-34 teeth. Yes, to switch from eight speeds to nine, you must
replace the chain. I'm using a SRAM PC69. Nice chain - doesn't rust when I get caught in the rain,
and shifts nicely.
However, that being said, when I first swapped the parts, the FRONT derailler wouldn't shift on to
the large chain ring under any circumstances, and shifting to the small chainring usually tossed the
chain off to the inside of the small ring.
Here's what I found, and how I corrected it, in case anyone else has this problem: The front
derailler was set up with about 1/2 inch of clearance between it and the large chain ring. Moving it
lower on the mounting tube, as close to the large chain ring as possible, improved the situation a
great deal.
Not willing to settle for "reasonably good" shifting, I removed the front derailler and ground away
some metal from the lower rear part of the derailler cage, so that the curve of the cage more
closely matched the curve of the large chain ring. I was then able to move the derailler to where it
clears the large chain ring by about 2mm, and it now shifts VERY precisely, smoothly, and easily.
Bruce
Sprawling wrote:
> Bruce,
>
> What brand of 9 speed cassette did you use? Did you have to replace the chain?
>
> Sprawling
>
> rans rocket ez-1
>
>
>>bruce <
[email protected]> wrote in message news:<
[email protected]>...
>>
>>>I also found the SRAM 7.0 twist-grip shifters on my '02 Rocket to be difficult to use. On a hot
>>>day, when my hands were sweaty, I often could not shift the front one at all. I switched to SRAM
>>>9.0 twist-grip shifters ("shorties") (and swapped the cassette from 8 speeds to 9 at the same
>>>time), and I find the 9.0 shifters to be much easier to use; very smooth, not difficult to turn.
>>>I'm still running the original SRAM rear and SORA front deraillers.
>>>
>>>Bruce Jameison
>>>
>>>Sprawling wrote:
>>>
>>>>My 2002 Rocket rear derailer has 7.0 sram shifters which I do not like. I would like to either
>>>>switch the shifter to something smoother or just swap out the whole derailer and shifter combo.
>>>>The shifter itself has a hard shifting feel. My ez-1 with the cheap grip shifs feel so much
>>>>smoother. Since I'm in the process of changing the handlebars over to terracycle 44cm x 55 deg
>>>>bars, I figured I'd take care of the things I don't like on the bike. I'm also changing the sram
>>>>7.0 brakes with a set of Avid Arch Rival brakes and levers. So, if anybody has some suggestions
>>>>on what to do about that rear derailer shifter I'd appreciate the input.
>