just wanted to say THANK YOU and update y'all

i order the following from Amazon and will get here by Friday. i love amazon prime!!

can't wait to start working on it.. most of all get back on riding again!

Shimano HG50 9 Speed Mountain Bike Cassette
Deore M591 SGS Long CageRear Deraileurs
Shimano 10speed replacement pin
Total: $85.xx

WAY CHEAPER than PerformanceBike! anyway.. i had $45.xx worth of store credit from a couple yrs back. was going to use it on some components, which i'm glad i didn't. ended up using it on jersey and sunglasses. now i'm done with that LBS!

You have all your tools? You will need a chain whip and a cassette tool to remove the cassette.

Also, 10-speed replacement pin won't work on a 9-speed chain.

yes i have all the tools.. but damn.. 10 speed pin won't work? crap!! guess i'll have to go to a local LBS to pick up a pin or something.

The gold SRAM master link will also work for 9speed hg chains. Got one on my own setup.

i'm currently using a gold master link, which i think might be the sram one. would it be safe to use 2 masterlink in 1 chain?

My Tricross has a 9-speed 11-32 cassette and uses a Deore long cage RD. The Rockhopper also uses a Deore RD with a 9-speed 11-34 cassette. Don't know whether you want to go from using Ultegra right down to Deore, there may be something a little higher in the range that would work. If you take a peek at the spec of some higher end mountain bikes you'll probably get some ideas of what pairs well.

well, i don't race.. so as long as shifting is smooth and can put me back on a bike, then that would work. now unless if ur saying the deore long cage RD won't work with my current ultegra set, then that's something i need to know before i start taking things apart.. wahahah

Deore will work just fine. Shifting will be good. I use a Deore derailleur on a 10-speed system and it works just fine. The difference between Deore and the better derailleurs is primarily finish and weight, and I don't think 10 grams is going to break the bank. The one major mechanical difference is that Deore has bushings in the pulleys rather than ball bearings. Bushings don't last quite as long as bearings, but you can swap your Ultegra pulleys into the Deore derailleur if you want.

2 master links is fine. I'd still recommend getting a new chain- what is it, 20 bux?

i didn't know deore uses bushings. does all deore model use bushings? by pulleys which part of it are you referring to? is it the part that pull down and up?

also, what's the next version up from deore that doesn't use bushings?

as for the chain, yea i know i can get new chain, but the one i have has about 200 miles on it only, so practically new.

Regular Deore is great stuff.
2 master links are fine on a chain.

No offense, but if you are this inexperienced with bike parts then is it possible that you may be over-thinking things? I'm guessing that you're not a pro cyclist? It's not necessary to spend a ton of money on a part that is not different in any practical regard. It is pretty common to use Deore rear ders with road fronts when you want super-low gearing. It's been done a million times before, and it works well.

thanks wolfwrex.. ur the shot i needed. u r right, i'm no pro.. just trying to get back onto bike from knee injury. so, best not to think and just do the conversion and start riding and feel the wind....... AGAIN

Pulleys are the two little wheels in the cage. The top one is called the "guide pulley" and the bottom one is called the "jockey pulley". The guide pulley has "float", or a little wiggle room back and forth to allow slight misalignment to the cog- indexing isn't perfect. The Deore 591 (used to be Deore LX 590) level have bushings, I'm not sure about the Deore XT and XTR, but it looked like the Deore XT at least had no cable adjusters. Maybe by XTR level the pulleys have bearings, but a nice set of ceramic-bearing pulleys is only $27 at Niagara Bike https://www.niagaracycle.com/product_...ducts_id=20295 , as opposed to an XTR der at >$200. I've ridden on one set of Deore pulley bushings for 5000 miles so far, so it's not that big a deal.

Top pulley is called guide or jockey. Bottom pulley is called tension or idler.

cool.. great info for me to learn!! bushing or not.. i'd be glad when i can hit 5K miles..