Bicycle Mechanics - mountain/road cassette compatability

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euroford
06-27-06, 12:32 PM
if say you have a 9sp shimano compatable road hub/wheelest (say a dura ace), can you install a shimano 9sp mountain cassette (say, an xt)?

yes i know, a bizzare question, but please bare with me... thanks

demoncyclist
06-27-06, 01:21 PM
Yes, but you will probably need a long cage or MTN derailleur to handle the amount of chain needed to hit all the gear combinations.
bluehair
06-27-06, 01:22 PM
No, not a dumb question. This is how my touring bike is set up as are many touring bikes. You may install any cassette compatible with you hub, but you may run into rear deraillier issues. The more teeth on your big cog the longer your deraillier cage needs to be. You also should work out a gear chart to make sure you're actually installing a cassette that makes sense with your crankset, ie that you actually add more gears and don't duplicate a bunch when you shift chain rings. You'll need a new chain too.:D

Old Hammer Boy
06-27-06, 01:26 PM
No, not a dumb question. This is how my touring bike is set up as are many touring bikes. You may install any cassette compatible with you hub, but you may run into rear deraillier issues. The more teeth on your big cog the longer your deraillier cage needs to be. You also should work out a gear chart to make sure you're actually installing a cassette that makes sense with your crankset, ie that you actually add more gears and don't duplicate a bunch when you shift chain rings. You'll need a new chain too.:D

+1. Also Tandems can be set up this way. We run an 11 X 34 on our tandem, and at times I'm sure glad I have the 34.
MattP.
06-27-06, 01:40 PM
No, not a dumb question.

Nope, not at all. A lot of mtn bikers will run a road caseete and a road derailleur just to get those high gears.
Al1943
06-27-06, 01:40 PM
It's done all the time. The downside is the big ratio jumps from cog to cog that can play havoc with your cadence. It can be a good idea if you are riding in a mountainous area.

Al
euroford
06-27-06, 01:45 PM
awsome, for a bit there i thought i was thinking crazy thoughts, now i feel allot better. i'm busy putting myself togther a frankenstein commuter bike. its a road bike (bianchi steel frame) but i wanted to use the rear cassette, rear dir, chain and rapidfire shifter from a mountain bike with a set of road wheels. with such a wide rear cassette i can get rid of the front dir altogether.

so i can i just assume, that across the board a shimano 9sp hubs and cassettes are all compatable?

other questions:

will the new shimano chain work with the existing campy front chainring?

what about dir mounting? on brief inspection they look the same, will i have compatability issues swapping the existing campy record for a shimano?

THANKS!!
Al1943
06-27-06, 01:51 PM
[QUOTE=euroford]
so i can i just assume, that across the board a shimano 9sp hubs and cassettes are all compatable?

Yes

will the new shimano chain work with the existing campy front chainring?

Yes, use a 9-speed chain.

what about dir mounting? on brief inspection they look the same, will i have compatability issues swapping the existing campy record for a shimano?

Should work fine, you'll need a Shimano 8,9,10 compatible hub.