Rapid Rise
 

I purchased a XT rear deraileur on e-bay. It was only discribed as a new long cage. When it arrived to my dismay it was a mid cage.This was going to go on a Pro Caliber (with a 32 tooth large cog on rear cassette) that I was building.I instead put it on our RT1000 tandem which we are running a 12/26 rear and took the XT long cage which was on it and put it on the Pro.
However upon installing the new deraileur on the tandem I was surprised that it was also a rapid rise. Now as many of you are aware of the rear STI now shifts in reverse.
The question is can the STI be refigured the bring the shifting back to normal? Also has anyone had any experence with using the rapid rise with STI's?
I don't mind so much the reverse shifting , but I would like to keep it normal because of my single which also has STI's,and I hate to complicate the shifting process when switching between bikes. I do considerable time on both.

I'm pretty sure you can't toggle the STI shifter direction. RR derailleurs stylistically work best with mountain-type shifters that were designed for RR, or bar-end/downtube shifters where both shifters will then move in the same direction for the same upshift/downshift effect.

Sounds like your eBay seller didn't give you the full story, which is unfortunate. You maye be best off reselling it and getting the derailleur you want.

I posted a tread on that subject over on the Touring forums...Stock up on RDs I've got a couple of the 'high normal' ones sitting on my workbench now, just incase I ever need them in the future. It's a bummer, that's for sure.

Steve W.

I have complained about rapid rise for other reasons (posted in http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=139086), but I also agree when you have numerous bikes it can be annoying when some few shift backwards.