I was wondering what is the largest cassete I can put on my road bike. I have a 12-27 but can I use a 11-32 MTN bike XT cassete with an Ultegra derailleur?
Dave from VA
I tried this once with my DA derailleur. The 28 tooth cog worked great, but the 32 cog clicked badly since the cage wouldn’t pull back far enough. I never tired turning that screw that I forget the name of that one would normally never adjust, but the 32 tooth cog is so far out of spec that I never wanted to try it.
You shouldn’t have a problem if you just switch to the XT derailleur. These parts are very compatible with the DA/Ultegra stuff.
That’s the official line from Shimano too. 28 is ok but no more. Anyone know whether switching to a long-cage (triple) D/A or Ultegra will make a 32 work?
Sounds like you want to race in the Alps. A triple will work fine with a 27 or 28. The 30 cog small gear on the front will get you up any steep incline with a 27/28 rear. Unfortunately to swich to triples you have to also change BB and both derailleurs. Any Ultegra shifters will work but DA must be triple specific. Another easier option is to switch to a 50/34 compact crankset. This was discussed in detail recently. FSA and Stronglight make these cranks. The Stronglight is quite a bargain in comparison although not Shimano BB compatible, so you’ll also have to purchase the Stronglight BB.
http://www.xxcycle.com/cgi-bin/shop.pl?Screen=detail&REF=2835&FROM=bestwebbuys
The longer cage didn’t help. The problem is the cage angle, not the chain slack.
If you have the long cage already, why not go with the triple? In Lake Placid I now use the triple front with the regular cage rear. I lose a couple of gears when using the small chain ring since the derailleur is not able to take up enough chain slack, but that is no big deal.
At some point in the future I will probably switch to 10 speeds and the 50/34. My triple works just fine though, so I am in no hurry to do that.
An XT/XTR rear der. works great and is fully compatible with STI. Don’t know about the 2004, though. You can pick up an XT rear der for ~$35. Cassettes are a tad more expensive.
Hey, now how about that 50/34, 32 combo. Yee haw!
–ashayk
Ritchey is producing a Shimano Splined 50/34 “compact” road crank for '04.
You can make the Ultegra rear derailleur work up to 29t in the back, backing off the b-tension screw might make you able to hit that 32t, but every other gear would have too much chain gap.
-SD