long cage vs. short cage

[miufahkiu]

What's the difference between a long cage derailleur and short cage derailleur (or in my case a mid cage), aside from the obvious. How does a shorter cage affect shifting performance? What else does it affect?

[Leifless]

i have used XT's both short and long and i didnt notice a change in shifting performance, but i do seem to hit it less on rocks, etc. plus it keeps the chain up higher, which may or may not keep at least some dirt off it.

[ATN]

You go long cage if you have 3 rings. Mid cage if its 1 or 2 rings. A longer cage takes up more chain slack. The shorter you can have your cage the better usually. X.7 is only available in long though.

[miufahkiu]

I see. Thanks for the info. I just got an X.9 derailleur, which came off an Iron Horse SGS Team DH; I'm not sure whether or not it's long or short cage, but it should be short since the bike only has a single chainring. Now when my LX stuff gets completely busted, I'll be running X.7 shifters with the X.9 derailleur :D

[Nelson]

hmmmm....

How are you running x.7 shifters with an LX deraileur??? Dont you need to run an attack? If you are right now, how are you gonna run the X.9?

[miufahkiu]

I'm running LX shifters with an LX derailleur right now.