serpico7

I emailed one of your colleagues at Harris earlier about moving to lower gearing, and received answers that don't agree with some of the stuff you've written. Hoping you can provide some clarification.

Copied from email:
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Can I use any of these[list of cassettes, including the 13-30 Century Special] with my existing Ultegra 6600 rear derailleur?

No, since it's probably a short cage model.

If I use a 9sp cassette, will using the “alternate cable routing” that Sheldon describes here (http://sheldonbrown.com/derailer-adj...html#alternate) allow for crisp shifting?

No. That method is not accurate enough. The better solution would be a JTek adapter.
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Measuring center to center on the jockey wheels, my derailleur is 5cm. I'm guessing this is considered short (and not medium) cage?

From the Harris site: "The "Century Special" is our most popular custom cassette. It works with all modern derailers, even short cage models."

So it would seem the Harris rep is contradicting both the site (in terms of whether the Century Special is compatible with short cage RDs) and Sheldon (in terms of whether the alternate cable routing produces accurate shifting). If it matters, and I don't think it does except in terms of wrap, I am using a 50/34 crank.

Thanks for all the informative articles on your website, Sheldon.