Originally Posted by
sunburst
I got a free bike from a neighbor. It evidently had a medium or short derailleur. When I shifted to the 32 cog in the rear, the derailleur stretched forward as far as possible, then jammed up in the gears. I had to remove the rear wheel to get it unstuck. I immediately got it - now I know what long-cage derailleurs are for.
Actually, the bigger problem you have is that the chain is too short for the gear combo you tried to use. Were you using your largest chainring and the 32 in the back at the same time? If the chain was sized for a normal road cassette, it would likely have been too short to work with the 32 tooth cog and the original big ring. When using a rear cog too big for the derailler the jockey wheel will rub against the cog making an annoying noise and quickly wearing the jockey wheel down.