Mountain Biking - MID/LONG Cage

HI,


I want to know what is the different between SRAM LONG CAGE and MID CAGE

What is better to buy? And which criteria I should refer too

Nir

well one is not really better than the other, all a long cage does is wrap more chain. You need a long cage for most MTB cassettes which are usually 11 or 12-32. So what is your cassette?

Thanks for thw quick reply;


I don't know what is my Cassette - but the Issue is that I already bought MID CAGE.

So does it will fit my Bike?

Well look at your cassette. This is the set of gears in the back, count how many teeth are on the largest cog.

HI,


I want to know what is the different between SRAM LONG CAGE and MID CAGE

What is better to buy? And which criteria I should refer too when I am going to buy

NirWhich one you need depends on how much wrap capacity you need. That's the tooth difference between the large and small chainrings plus the difference between the cassette large and small cogs.

No idea on the mid cage, but on shimano there is a long and short cage, presume they will be similar. For MTB gearing of 11/28 or more, you will need a long cage to cover the range of gears. The short cage is for road use where the range of gears is generally 12/23 and only has two front rings with a difference of only 14 teeth or so.

The problem may be in that if you run large sprocket on the crank and large sprocket on the rear. the derailler will not be able to adjust sufficiently to keep the chain under correct tension. This can be rectified by only running the 5 highest gears with the large front sprocket, but how many of us do this without fail, I know I don't. As you already have the mid derailler, then it is suck and see time. Find out first of all if it is going to cause a problem, and if it is, be meticulous on the use of gears.

Thanks for the help;

I have Shimano Nexave, 11-34 on my TOMAC Special 98;

What should I do now that I already bought MID CAGE

stay out of the big/big combo? I seriously think you'll be fine as long as you don't use the top few cogs when you're in the big ring. I have a long cage and don't even do that as I've seen how stretched out it makes the derailleur look. God only knows how much unnecessary tension it puts on the chain! Also, I'm not sure if the mid-cage is going to give you enough chain tension in the small-small combo (granny gear). Anyone know the answer to this one for sure? I've always been under the impression that a 34t rear cog automatically means long cage derailleur.

A shorter cage will change gears slightly quicker than a long one but it wont take up as much chain slack as a long. Im not sure about SRAM mechs but the short cage XT i run will take up to a 34t sprocket, you just need to make sure you avoid running the extreme large/large - small/small gears and as stated above only run the first 5 sprockets when in the big ring. Other than that go for it, i love a short cage rear its changes sweeter and doesnt dangle in the mud so much.

This is probably different because I run a single chainring on the front (42t) but I use a road derailleur and have no problems with shifting or chain tension. This is also on a long travel dual suspension bike so there is a bit of chain growth going on also.

Why are you using Nexave (commuter components) on a Tomac?

[Shaking Head!**

Also, to clarify, it depends on your cassette size (big cog size) since you are running a 34, you will need a long cage.

I have a long cage and don't even do that as I've seen how stretched out it makes the derailleur look. God only knows how much unnecessary tension it puts on the chain!

The tension applied to the chain by the derailleur spring is nowhere near the tension applied by pedaling forces.