I remember a spec on the DA deraileur that said it took a maximum of a 27 tooth cassette cog. It always seemed to me that the deraileur would be fine with a bigger cog and that it would just pivot enough to accomodate, but I don't really know.

Can I just throw an 11-32 XT cassette onto my DA system? It can't be that easy.

well a 32 would be pushing it a tad, but is definately a possiblity. it depends on the dropout. turn in the "b" tension screw and have at it. not to bore you with a "back in the day" story, but we all used to race mt bikes with road stuff on them - 32 cogs with various road derailleurs worked as often as not, as i recall. the other option would be longer cage road, or a MID sized cage off road deraileur such as a swank xtr. you may to find thos e extra links you set aside when you put the chain on and add them back on if you go the longer cage route. otherwise that is all there is. road/offroad are the same.

If you really want the 11-32, I'd throw on an XT rear derailleur along with it. It will have a longer cage that was designed for a cassette of that "breadth". The DA bar ends should do the trick with the derailleur. I'm no cyclocross guy, but I believe they do all sorts of road/mountain group mixing.

Shimano road/mtb stuff is not 100% interchangeable, but close. One thing you have to look out for is that when the biggest cog gets really big, there may not be enough room for the short cage derailleur.

But there are a lot of adjustment options on a derailleur that many people (even mechanics) don't realize, and especially with the 32 you should have no problem. The 34 is on the edge, so you need a very, very good mechanic or a long cage rear derailleur (which even helps making the shifting with the 32 more smoothly).

As for etiquette vs. mtb components, if there is such a thing it's nonsense. The only thing I would say is bad form is walking 13k up Alpe d'Huez in cycling shoes pushing a bike.

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Gerard Vroomen
3T.bike
OPEN cycle

I use an MTB cog set (13-34???) along with an XT derailleur and a longer chain when I do mountain centuries. "Etiquette" is a good word, as someone once claimed that my 34 was not a gear, but a pie plate.

It is so flat where I live that a triple is of no value at all, so this conversion is an easy alternative for really steep rides.

The one drawback, especially if racing, is that you have fewer options for gearing and that in turn causes compromises in cadence. If I were to start racing seriously in steep areas, I would probably suck it up and go to a triple.

>>As for etiquette vs. mtb components, if there is such a thing it's nonsense. The only thing I would say is bad form is walking 13k up Alpe d'Huez in cycling shoes pushing a bike.<<

So my 39x27 on my Prodigy will work for the Alpe? I inquired about getting a triple after I got it, but Steve said no way.

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

Triples are for pansies.

Just kidding! I think the whole double v. triple thing is a big-time holdover from the "Euro" cycling culture. Triathletes fully seek, appreciate and use the latest technological advances, many of us have bought into the spinning cadence mentality, but then we go out on courses like St. Croix and Lanzarote and insist on powering 39 x 23 gearings up the walls these courses have (and yes, I fully include myself in this group). It's almost comical. Myabe an ego thing, maybe the mechanical difficulty in switching between a triple and doulble setup (I remember Phil and Paul making a big to-do about this last year with USPS in the Vuelta) or maybe something else, but this inconsistency has always puzzled me.

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"To give less than your best is to sacrifice the gift." - Pre

MattMizenko.com

None of the roadies I know would be caught dead with a triple, but for the most part their legs are like oak trees so they don't really need them.

Actually some pro riders will use triples on those long steep climbs in the mountains - saves the legs. Of course those are not the ones winning, but the ones trying to survive.

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"My strategy is to start out slow and then peter-out altogether" Walt Stack