Upgrading from sora to ultegra, please help I'm Desperate!

[tyler1212]

hi guys, I'm buying a ultegra rear derailleur to replace my **** sora one on a triple setup. Only question is, what is the difference between short cage and long cage? I have to specify and don't know anything about this, could I use either one? If so, which is better? Thank you much as I don't trust my sora much..

 

[Albert 50]

Long cage for a triple. It is needed to take up the slack in the chain when in the small front ring.

 

[rudycyclist]

Yup, because it's a triple you need a long cage. A short cage will just make you a tiny bit lighter. If and when you can push a double crank, the size of your cage depends on how big your largest cog on your cassette is. For example, I'm running a medium cage now because my biggest cog is a 26. I believe for Campy the short cage can only be used for a 25. The medium I think is at 26.

 

[badkarma]

Current ultegra is 10sp., and the sora you're running is probably 8sp., I don't think you can use a 10sp. RD with 8sp. brifters.

 

[jamesdemien]

Using the long cage with the triple is correct... The derailleur doesn't care how many gears you have but it does care how thick the chain is... 10 speed chains are thinner than your 8 speed Sora set up... Look for a nine speed Ultegra long cage like this one... your chain wont fit the newer narrower 10 speed one...

 

[tyler1212]

Current ultegra is 10sp., and the sora you're running is probably 8sp., I don't think you can use a 10sp. RD with 8sp. brifters.

I found a Ultegra 8 speed rear, its new, just been sitting around a while I guess..

 

[gclark8]

Well done! I found one too, its Ultegra 8/9 on the box, long cage triple!! I put it on the Try Bike with all the other grey Ultegra gear.

 

[Albert 50]

Using the long cage with the triple is correct... The derailleur doesn't care how many gears you have but it does care how thick the chain is... 10 speed chains are thinner than your 8 speed Sora set up... Look for a nine speed Ultegra long cage like this one... your chain wont fit the newer narrower 10 speed one...

Hi All
I suspect that there is another compatibility issue here [there are so many]. I have just compared my hybrids 8 speed deore rear D long cage & although it is a little bulkier than my 10 speed 105 RDLC the gap were the chain fits appeared, if not the same, very similar. So I disconnected the outside jockey wheel & slid in the 8 speed chain & pulled it back & forth a few times. No contact with the cage except for the JW. We are talking 0.5 mm from centre line dif. between an 8 & 10 chain i.e. half the dif. 7.1 mm width to 6.1 mm [there seems to be varying widths for 10 speed chains just to confuse me more] or if we compare 9 to 10 the width of the chain is a mere 0.25mm wider from longitudinal centre of the jockey wheel toward the inside edge of the cage. IJOTM that the 8s outside plates do bulge out a little, where as the 10s plates are flat.
Maybe I am completely wrong? Does anybody know the definitive answer here? Any other thoughts on this?

 

[Eastway82]

Yup, because it's a triple you need a long cage. A short cage will just make you a tiny bit lighter. If and when you can push a double crank, the size of your cage depends on how big your largest cog on your cassette is. For example, I'm running a medium cage now because my biggest cog is a 26. I believe for Campy the short cage can only be used for a 25. The medium I think is at 26.

Campag short cage rear mech is fine for a 26t cog in a double stup - that's what I run on one bike. On my triple setup (again with 26T cog) I use a medium cage mech, but it's a bit marginal. The wife's triple uses a long cage mech and it seems to run a bit better.
On a related note, Campag's literature states that a front triple mech can only cope with a 52T ring, but I use mine with a 30/42/53 setup and it works fine.

 

[Albert 50]

Quote:
Originally Posted by jamesdemien
Using the long cage with the triple is correct... The derailleur doesn't care how many gears you have but it does care how thick the chain is... 10 speed chains are thinner than your 8 speed Sora set up... Look for a nine speed Ultegra long cage like this one... your chain wont fit the newer narrower 10 speed one...

Hi All
I suspect that there is another compatibility issue here [there are so many]. I have just compared my hybrids 8 speed deore rear D long cage & although it is a little bulkier than my 10 speed 105 RDLC the gap were the chain fits appeared, if not the same, very similar. So I disconnected the outside jockey wheel & slid in the 8 speed chain & pulled it back & forth a few times. No contact with the cage except for the JW. We are talking 0.5 mm from centre line dif. between an 8 & 10 chain i.e. half the dif. 7.1 mm width to 6.1 mm [there seems to be varying widths for 10 speed chains just to confuse me more] or if we compare 9 to 10 the width of the chain is a mere 0.25mm wider from longitudinal centre of the jockey wheel toward the inside edge of the cage. IJOTM that the 8s outside plates do bulge out a little, where as the 10s plates are flat.
Maybe I am completely wrong? Does anybody know the definitive answer here? Any other thoughts on this?

Here is a Thread from another forum:- Shimano Rear Derailleur Question

Is the internal clearance of the cage the same for 9 & 10? What about jockey wheels are they interchangeable? If yes to both Qs then I'll assume you could use a 10 speed derailleur with an 8 & 9 chain

Answer:-
Yes.

Sheldon "It's About Marketing" Brown

 

[artmichalek]

9 and 10 speed chains are only narrower on the outside. The inside plate to plate distance is the same for 7-10 speeds. Chainrings and derailleurs are compatable all the way across.

Another thing to keep in mind is that throwing an Ultegra RD on an otherwise Sora drive train will do almost nothing to improve the shifting.

 

[alfeng]

hi guys, I'm buying a ultegra rear derailleur to replace my **** sora one on a triple setup. Only question is, what is the difference between short cage and long cage? I have to specify and don't know anything about this, could I use either one? If so, which is better? Thank you much as I don't trust my sora much..

If you have your "new" rear derailleur on your bike, already, you may have noticed that the shifting did not improve greatly if you didn't also change your cables & housing.

Your old cables & housing and/or a gunked up rear derailleur are the probable reason that you found your SORA rear derailleur to be less than satisfactory --- most Shimano derailleurs function identically for a given "speed" ... and, the difference is mostly in the material selection where the less expensive derailleurs weigh more and the more expensive derailleurs also have a nicer finish.

If I have the choice, I prefer to get the rear derailleur with the greater/greatest capacity available -- I would rather pull a couple of extra inches of chain and have the capability of using ANY size cassette rather than being limited by a short cage.

For some people (and, rightly reasoned), the extra chain is dead weight; so, a long cage is a poor choice for those people.

Since you have a triple, you "need" a derailleur with a long(er) cage.

 

[Retro Grouch]

Maybe I am completely wrong? Does anybody know the definitive answer here? Any other thoughts on this?

Sometimes one measurement is worth a thousand guesses. Only thing is, you have to measure the right thing.

Since the rear derailleur moves the chain with pulleys that guide from the inside of the chain, that's the measurement that's critical. Measure the inside of the chain. My bet is that you'll find 8/9/10-speed chains are the same. The same rear derailleur will work for them too.

 

[19cook80]

hi guys, I'm buying a ultegra rear derailleur to replace my **** sora one on a triple setup. Only question is, what is the difference between short cage and long cage? I have to specify and don't know anything about this, could I use either one? If so, which is better? Thank you much as I don't trust my sora much..

I bought an ultegra rear a year and a half ago - its still a fine, quiet, quality shifter. The longer cages are to allow for more front sprockets, or a larger differences between the sprockets. They print specs that detail the tooth differences the derailleur can handle - count your sprocket teeth and read through a few web postings to determine what you need.