Replacement rear derailleur

[Gerald H]

I have fitted a new chainset to my old bike 26-38-48 (rear 14-28) and
the old rear 6 speed Shimano indexed derailleur can't quite handle the
range. I need to get a new rear derailleur and have been looking at the
Shimano Altus, Acera and Deore. Shimano's website states that the first
two can handle a max front difference of only 20, while the Deore seems
to handle 22. The total capacity for all three derailleurs seems to be
more than adequate to handle my range of gearing (quoted total capacities
of 43, 43 and 45 respectively). So is the max front difference on the
Shimano website just marketing gibberish, I.e. should the Altus or Acera
work with my range?

I'm also planning to use my new derailleur with a hanger adaptor as my
drop outs don't take a directly fitted rear derailleur: is that likely to
cause a problem with these derailleurs?

 

[Pete Biggs]

Gerald H wrote:
> I have fitted a new chainset to my old bike 26-38-48 (rear 14-28) and
> the old rear 6 speed Shimano indexed derailleur can't quite handle the
> range. I need to get a new rear derailleur and have been looking at
> the Shimano Altus, Acera and Deore. Shimano's website states that
> the first two can handle a max front difference of only 20, while the
> Deore seems to handle 22. The total capacity for all three
> derailleurs seems to be more than adequate to handle my range of
> gearing (quoted total capacities of 43, 43 and 45 respectively). So
> is the max front difference on the Shimano website just marketing
> gibberish, I.e. should the Altus or Acera work with my range?

I'd expect *any* long cage rear derailleur to handle your gear range - not
very extreme at all.

> I'm also planning to use my new derailleur with a hanger adaptor as my
> drop outs don't take a directly fitted rear derailleur: is that
> likely to cause a problem with these derailleurs?

Pass.

~PB