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I am relatively new to mountain biking and am currently building up a bike. Can people tell me the difference between a long cage and short cage derailers? Apart from the very obvious.
I think (and I will probably be corrected) that a long cage mech can deal with a larger range of gear ratios than a short cage mech, as the mech needs to take up the slack in the chain.
The spec of a certain mech will tell you it's designed range.
Technical bit:
Capacity = (Biggest front ring - smallest front ring) + (biggest rear cog - smallest rear cog)So assuming a standard 11 - 32 cassette yours is:
(36-22) + (32-11) = 35T capacity.
Shimano XT rear mechs (for example):
SGS (long cage) 45T capacity.
GS (medium cage) 33T capacity.
BUT off-hand the rule of thumb is that you need a long cage with a tripe front ring setup but can probably get away with short/medium cage on double or single front ring setup's.
Thanks folks for clearing that up