Mountain Biking - Type of rear xtr derailler

Ok, I probably spelled "derailler" wrong, but I'm not into the French version...

I'm moving all of my stuff from a Cannondale Jekyll 800 to a new Cannondale Prophet 2000 and the bike shop told me I needed a new front derailler - so I bought one (an "E" type at that). Well, I want my bike to be the best it can be, so I'm looking into a new rear derailler (XTR), but don't know what kind I need: long cage, short cage, etc.

Anyone know right off the top of their head?

what about saint.

I don't know what that means...is it a brand? If so, I want to stick with Shimano since all of my other stuff is that brand.

oh sorry, saint is a category of shimano like deore or xtr. search shimano saint in froogle and you should see a rear derauller there.

I think you need a specific type of hub to use a Saint derraileur.

Short cage is supposedly better since the derrailuer doesn't move around as much, and it should shift faster also. But it might not work if you have like a 34 tooth big cog on the cassette...

ive got a short cage XT with a 34...shifts great.

Get a short cage xtr rear derailleur.




what about saint.

:slaps you in the face:

Short cage is not the accepted derailler for a mountain bike rear cassette, but as some riders seem to be using it, investigate as to whether it is suitable. I personally would go long cage as this is what I and all my mates have always used. Good choice on the XTR by the way, but I have the rapid rise version on one bike. This reverses the action of the changer, which takes some getting used to, but it does improve downshifts for me.

I'd go with a long cage.

Also - as mentioned - the new XTR derailleurs are "low normal" which I personally detest. Regardless, there are still some older XTR derailleurs that are "high normal". Be aware that if you get the new rapid rise (low normal) piece, that your shifter will work in reverse. That is, where your shifter used to shift down gears, it will now shift up.

You should also look at getting a shimano road derialleur, I got one and they hold up to all kinds of abuse, crashing, DJing, DH racing..... Also the short cage on them makes them much crisper and helps keep them away from pesky rocks;)

If you go with XTR I would go with the long cage derailleur. The short cages are a little more crisp on the shifting but seem to be a little more picky as far as tuning goes. They tend to ghost shift a little more often, the long cage derailleur is a little more giving.

That being said, I believe that XT is 95% as nice of a derailleur as XTR and costs almost 50% less.

:slaps you in the face:

why am i getting slapped?