Derailier

[James Blackwell]

Hi all,
I need to upgrade my derailier on the rear. I have a Carrera Vanquish with a nine speed cog on the back.
My local shop recommended a Scram, but I was looking at a Campagnolo
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Campagnolo-..._1_11?s=sports&ie=UTF8&qid=1371631857&sr=1-11
Specifically this one. It mentions it has a short cage though? Can someone explain what this is and if it fits a normal road bike?
Also is the extra £50/£60 worth it?

Cheers all.
James

 

[Globalti]

Not worth the extra money on that bike and probably has the wrong pull-ratio for your cassette. Stick with the shop's recommendation, especially if they are going to fit it.

 

[fossala]

Need to upgrade or want to upgrade? I would keep with shimano (guessing that vanquish still comes with shimano).

 

[Globalti]

Why do you need to upgrade the derailleur anyway?

 

[James Blackwell]

Hi Guys,
Thank you for that. The derailleur is a shimano, and is not a sharp as it was, takes a moment to make the change, keep slipping out of its settings very quickly. My bike does take some punishment, I commute a 40 mile round trip every day on it, and I dont have the time until the weekends to service/clean/fettle with her.
Talking to the guy in my local shop he said that the cost of replacing the shimano, I might as well take the opportunity to fit a sharper one for an extra £10/£15.
He recommended Scram as it is (in his opinion) a more focused product and would be a good upgrade for not a lot of extra.
They generally steer me right, but thought I would explore a few more options.

 

[Rob3rt]

Given that the mech is a slave unit to the shifter and is operated by a cable, buying a higher grade mech doesn't really deliver slicker shifting.

 

[thegravestoneman]

You would probably have to change the cog too if swapping from Shimano to Campag..

 

[fossala]

It sounds like you need new cables not a new derailleur. Also it's sram no scram.

 

[James Blackwell]

My bike is serviced regularly and cables changed recently, So I am confident that the derailleur is causing the issue. And indeed I mean Sram, thank you for the correction.

 

[lejogger]

Hi James,

You'd have to change pretty much the whole groupset if you wanted to move from Shimano to Campag. I.e. shifters, cables, chainset, chain, cassette, bottom bracket, front mech etc...
You could get a new bike for what that would cost.

As others have alluded to, there are a number of other things to check before replacing the rear mech. Has the rear mech worn? If so is it just the jockey wheels? Is it the cables that aren't right? Are the shifters the problem?

A damn good stripdown, clean and lube usually does the world of good. A new pair of jockey wheels also makes a big difference.

Unless you've damaged the rear mech you shouldn't often just need to buy a new one unless it's an exercise in incremental upgrading or just to make you feel better about the bike.

If that's the case then you can choose any 9/10 speed shimano or sram component.

As per your question, short cage is the length of the arm at the bottom of the mech. If you have a standard road block (cassette) then short cage is fine. That means anything up to about 28T. If your biggest rear cog is bigger than 28 then you'll need a medium/long cage mech.

 

[lejogger]

My bike is serviced regularly and cables changed recently, So I am confident that the derailleur is causing the issue. And indeed I mean Sram, thank you for the correction.

How many miles have the chain and cassette done? Have you measured the wear on the chain?

 

[Globalti]

You say the cables were replaced recently but by who? The problems you describe are classic symptoms of a sticky worn out rear cable outer on the derailleur. Just replacing the outer and cleaning the inner then lubing lightly will make a big difference, for a few pence. You'll be amazed at how much deterioration you've come to accept as normal.

In the past I've gone down the same route as you, changing a derailleur and when the new one arrived, been disappointed to find that the paralellogram of the old one is no looser or more worn than the new one. They don't move very far and the pivots are excellent quality, I'd be surprised if they had worn enough to become sloppy enough to affect shifting.

 

[Zakalwe]

My bike does take some punishment, I commute a 40 mile round trip every day on it, and I dont have the time until the weekends to service/clean/fettle with her.

This should be irrelevant...

My bike is serviced regularly and cables changed recently

...provided this is true.

The derailleur may be dirty, but its highly unlikely it needs replacing unless damaged. 99% of the time this will be down to gunk inside the cable housing which will have built up during those long all weather commutes. The cable may have been replaced but you'll still have the same issue.

 

[James Blackwell]

My chain and front cogs were replaced about 1500 miles ago (Just after Christmas), The cassette was replaced about 800 miles ago after it failed (ended up with new wheel/cassette/axle) which was when I had all the cables replaced too. I was planning the next service in July and having the chain and cassette measured for wear again. Its at that point I will be probably changing/fixing my current derailleur.

Cheers for the advise here guys.

 

[James Blackwell]

Hi James,

You'd have to change pretty much the whole groupset if you wanted to move from Shimano to Campag. I.e. shifters, cables, chainset, chain, cassette, bottom bracket, front mech etc...
You could get a new bike for what that would cost.

As others have alluded to, there are a number of other things to check before replacing the rear mech. Has the rear mech worn? If so is it just the jockey wheels? Is it the cables that aren't right? Are the shifters the problem?

A damn good stripdown, clean and lube usually does the world of good. A new pair of jockey wheels also makes a big difference.

Unless you've damaged the rear mech you shouldn't often just need to buy a new one unless it's an exercise in incremental upgrading or just to make you feel better about the bike.

If that's the case then you can choose any 9/10 speed shimano or sram component.

As per your question, short cage is the length of the arm at the bottom of the mech. If you have a standard road block (cassette) then short cage is fine. That means anything up to about 28T. If your biggest rear cog is bigger than 28 then you'll need a medium/long cage mech.

Thanks for the advise and an explanation of what a "short Cage" is.