fauxto nick

Ok so I got given a free 105 9 speed double crankset and bottom bracket and bought a $10 used ultegra front double derailleur to throw on my 9 speed triple bike. So basically I'm melding those two items with an ultegra triple rear derailleur and 105 triple front STI levers.

The mechanic at the shop said that it would be good if I could find a double front STI and a double rear derailleur. I think he said the rear derailleur needed to be short cage but I thought long cage derailleurs were good if you ran bigger rear cassettes which I do. Do you guys think it's really necessary to switch to a short cage derailleur when I run 12-27 cassettes on occasion?

fauxto nick

le bump

ericm979

Long cage derailleurs work fine with smaller cassettes. I use a DA triple rear on my bikes (50/34, 12-27).

Your triple shifters are fine for the double crank. Just set it up so the shifter thinks that it is shifting the two outer rings. That uses the same cable pull as the double rings.

It sounds like this shop is trying to sell you stuff that you don't need.

KiddSisko

So if I understand you correctly, to make the triple STI levers work with the double FD, you'd have to shift the lever to the middle chainring position before tightening the cable on the FD locking nut. Once set, the only problem would be if he tapped the downshift lever while already on the low chainring, which would cause the internal mechanism to then have to be hit twice before moving up to the large ring. Annoying, but functional.

To avoid the annoyance, wouldn't it also work if you start from the low ring position on the shift levers? The stop screw on the FD large ring position would keep the lever from advancing beyond it's middle ring position. Is there a cable pull difference this way?

urbanknight

I have been running a long cage rear derailleur with a compact double with no problems, and I can't see why it would cause any. It just allows me to be safe with my wide gear range. Refer to Sheldon Brown's site for triple/double shifter compatibility.

fauxto nick

Well I'll see how it works. Thanks for the info.

urbanknight

Hey, is that avatar from Saturday? Maybe I should change mine to this...

fauxto nick

It is! I didn't know you were there. Man I got my ass so handed to me.

MONGO!

No need to change the STI, most are double/triple compatible, once you set the end stop on the f/d it becomes a double STI.

A long cage will work or but you could pick up a used short cage off ebay for peanuts and switch that.

fauxto nick

Yah I've seen Ultegra double rear derailleurs on ebay for 9 speed at under $50 and the bike store has a NOS ultegra octalink front crank they'll sell for $80 which i might jump at.
I'd have a whole ultegra groupset on the bike except the sti at that point

ericm979

Yep, the cable pull from granny to middle ring is different, so you can't set it up so the shifter's granny and middle were inner and outer chainrings.

9sp Ultegra levers were all triple, even the "double" ones, and no one noticed. So it must not be too annoying.

urbanknight

I did too, 78th place in Cat 4. I was the last person across the line who didn't cross the yellow line, puke and pull out, or just plain give up. I expected them to have the results posted and official by the time I crossed the line

TommyL

Here's what I did with my 105 when I bought used 180mm DA cranks.

1)Install your new toys.
2)Place derailluer slightly too low.
3)Shift into the big ring. Can't get it to go? Push really hard! SNAP!
4)Broken brifter now functions as a double, because it will not shift into the largest position.
5)Start over, this time installing correctly.

MONGO!

I just got a used 9 spd Ultegra r/d for $20 off ebay, looks in good shape too.

You can get Ultegra 9 spd STI for cheap too

fauxto nick

I got 39/44 in CAT 5 A group, finished behind the B group peloton

The real insult was when the girls 2/3/4 rode past me going out when i was on my way back and one of them yelled "c'mon go harder boy".