[vwmtnbiker]

so i've been toying with the idea of switching to a short cage der. for a while now. i was pretty set on the shimano 105 ss but it seems theyre rather hard to get ahold of these days. at any rate i was daydreaming at work today and thought 'what if i could just machine a new lower cage that would bolt onto a mountain der.' say perhaps the xt that i already have on there or on the old deore that i have sitting in the attic.

so my question is has anyone tried this and if so what approach did you take? my dad has access to a full machine shop and free materials so the cost and labor is no worry. also what about making it out of steel insead of aluminium, i would think it'd be a little stronger, but anyway just interested to see what everyone thinks.

cheers

 

[zedro]

if you can find a junked derailler with a short cage, you can swap the cage out. Thats what i did to the Deore that replaced my shortcage XT when it snapped.

 

[vwmtnbiker]

yeah, unfortunately not exactly the easiest thing to come by, the junk box at work doesnt have anything shorter than what i already have...good idea though.

anyone?

 

[vwmtnbiker]

cmon, no-ones ever tried to fab a 'custom' cage for their der.? if so perhaps im taking the hard line...ah well you know what they say, road less travelled and all

 

[Sir_Crackien]

the problem with machining your onw cage is the strenght of the parts. the two times i did destory my der. i just for gigglies tried to bent some of the parts. most of them bent in the way that i though they would but the cage its self was extreamly hard to bend. put together or in its individual peaces. the two der.s that i got to mess with were and XTR and a X.9. both of those ders are more wieght consuce then other der.s on the market.

p.s. mark stop being a slacker nad just get the 105 were you can. LOL

 

[vwmtnbiker]

stop being a slacker nad just get the 105 were you can. LOL

heh well i just dont feel like calling supergo yet
and it'd be really cool to have a bling cage on that beat ol' xt of mine, polished steel?

 

[zedro]

are short-cage XTs really that hard to come by?

 

[vwmtnbiker]

a truly short cage xt isnt made as far as i know. they make a med. cage (which is what i have) and a long cage. the 105 short cage is about an inch and a half shorter than the med. cage xt

 

[MikeD]

PM me. I switched to SRAM and have a ton of roadie mechs sitting around.

 

[OGRipper]

Yeah it would be a cool thing to have your own der cage but it's definitely making more work for yourself. If you've got the time and the inclination there's no reason not to do it.

I just can't help but think of those Paul US derailleurs though - the were expensive and pretty but never worked as good as a cheap shimano changer.

 

[vwmtnbiker]

yeah, well after disassembling a deraileur tonite at work (cos we were just THAT damn busy) im not exactly how i'd attach the inner cage portion anyway. so i guess i'll just be buying a 105, ah well im sure i'll get bored and do it eventually anyway