Upgrade to Triple Rear Derailleur

Hello All,

I want to upgrade my 2000 Veloce rear derailleur to a current triple
rear derailleur (most likely a Centaur). I know there was a change to
the geometry of the rear derailleurs between 2000 and 2001. Would it
be best to also upgrade my Ergopower shifters to current shifters, or
can I use my old shifters? The shifters have a over 6000 miles so I am
thinking to just get the new Centaur derailleur and the new Centaur
shifters. Am I wasting my money on a new set of shifters?

Ryan

wrote:

I want to upgrade my 2000 Veloce rear derailleur to a current triple
rear derailleur (most likely a Centaur). I know there was a change to
the geometry of the rear derailleurs between 2000 and 2001. Would it
be best to also upgrade my Ergopower shifters to current shifters, or
can I use my old shifters? The shifters have a over 6000 miles so I am
thinking to just get the new Centaur derailleur and the new Centaur
shifters. Am I wasting my money on a new set of shifters?

Not only are you wasting money on the shifters, you're quite likely
wasting money on the new derailer.

There is actually no such thing as a "triple" rear derailer, that's
marketing talk. There are long-cage derailers, but you don't
necessarily need one, even with a triple chainring.

If you have good shifting habits and don't use the smallest chainring
with the smaller rear sprockets (you really shouldn't do this anyway)
you can often get along with a short cage derailer.

If you need to buy a derailer anyway, go for the long cage "triple"
version, but if you already have a short cage derailer, try it out
before throwing money away.

If you use a short cage rear derailer and accidentally shift onto one of
the inappropriate combinations, the chain will droop, but this is harmless.

See also: http://sheldonbrown.com/capacity

Sheldon "Try Before You Buy" Brown
+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| No state has an inherent right to survive through |
| conscript troops and, in the long run, no state ever has. |
| --Robert A. Heinlein |
+--------------------------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com

If you use a short cage rear derailer and accidentally shift onto one of
the inappropriate combinations, the chain will droop, but this is
harmless.

Or the chain will be pedaled taut as the derailleur shifts into big-big,
possibly snapping the chain or rendering it in a position that is impossible
to shift out of without removing the crank or breaking the chain.

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

Phil, Squid-in-Training wrote:

If you use a short cage rear derailer and accidentally shift onto one of
the inappropriate combinations, the chain will droop, but this is
harmless.


Or the chain will be pedaled taut as the derailleur shifts into big-big,
possibly snapping the chain or rendering it in a position that is impossible
to shift out of without removing the crank or breaking the chain.

The chain length should always be adjusted so the 'big-big' combination
will work, even if you don't plan to use it. That way the above
scenario will never arise. Note that more expensive parts than the
chain may be the ones that break if this guideline is ignored.

wrote:
Hello All,

I want to upgrade my 2000 Veloce rear derailleur to a current triple
rear derailleur (most likely a Centaur). I know there was a change
to
the geometry of the rear derailleurs between 2000 and 2001. Would it
be best to also upgrade my Ergopower shifters to current shifters, or
can I use my old shifters? The shifters have a over 6000 miles so I
am
thinking to just get the new Centaur derailleur and the new Centaur
shifters. Am I wasting my money on a new set of shifters?

I have used 1998 Chorus shifters with a 2002/2003 Centaur medium cage
rear derailleur and the shifting is OK. There is a slight degradation
compared to the 1998 Chorus rear derailleur, but it is only noticeable
if you are aware of the mismatch in shifter/derailleur and try to
recognize it. In normal riding you won't notice any difference. So
you are probably wasting your money if you buy new shifters after only
6000 miles.

I have never tried the 2002/2003 Centaur shifters with the 1998 Chorus
rear derailleur but would guess the mismatch there is also immaterial.

"Peter" wrote in message
...
Phil, Squid-in-Training wrote:

If you use a short cage rear derailer and accidentally shift onto one of
the inappropriate combinations, the chain will droop, but this is
harmless.


Or the chain will be pedaled taut as the derailleur shifts into big-big,
possibly snapping the chain or rendering it in a position that is
impossible to shift out of without removing the crank or breaking the
chain.

The chain length should always be adjusted so the 'big-big' combination
will work, even if you don't plan to use it. That way the above
scenario will never arise. Note that more expensive parts than the
chain may be the ones that break if this guideline is ignored.

Although I agree, many simply don't adhere to this.

Case in point: experienced MTB racer A rides with a short chain to minimize
slap and to enhance shifting. He or she lets barney B ride it, forgetting
to tell him or her that the chain is short. Rider B shifts into a bad
combination... it doesn't go and continues to mash the pedals to "get it to
shift," eventually grinding things to a halt.

It happens more often than you think.

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

I wrote:

If you use a short cage rear derailer and accidentally shift onto one of
the inappropriate combinations, the chain will droop, but this is
harmless.

Phil, Squid-in-Training replied:

Or the chain will be pedaled taut as the derailleur shifts into big-big,
possibly snapping the chain or rendering it in a position that is impossible
to shift out of without removing the crank or breaking the chain.

No that can't happen unless the chain is too short.

See: http://sheldonbrown.com/derailer-adjustment.html#chain

Sheldon "Not A Problem" Brown
+---------------------------------------------------------+
| Man does not live by words alone, |
| despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them. |
| --Adlai Stevenson |
+---------------------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com

Phil, Squid-in-Training wrote:

"Peter" wrote in message
...

Phil, Squid-in-Training wrote:


If you use a short cage rear derailer and accidentally shift onto one of
the inappropriate combinations, the chain will droop, but this is
harmless.


Or the chain will be pedaled taut as the derailleur shifts into big-big,
possibly snapping the chain or rendering it in a position that is
impossible to shift out of without removing the crank or breaking the
chain.


The chain length should always be adjusted so the 'big-big' combination
will work, even if you don't plan to use it. That way the above
scenario will never arise. Note that more expensive parts than the
chain may be the ones that break if this guideline is ignored.


Although I agree, many simply don't adhere to this.

Case in point: experienced MTB racer A rides with a short chain to minimize
slap and to enhance shifting. He or she lets barney B ride it, forgetting
to tell him or her that the chain is short. Rider B shifts into a bad
combination... it doesn't go and continues to mash the pedals to "get it to
shift," eventually grinding things to a halt.

It happens more often than you think.

You have no idea how often I think this happens.
Doesn't change the fact that rider A was being stupid in making the
chain too short for his geartrain. I've actually never seen the
chain break in this situation, but I have seen derailers (SB spelling)
torn apart and a dropout twisted.

On 7 Feb 2005 13:08:56 -0800, may have said:

Hello All,

I want to upgrade my 2000 Veloce rear derailleur to a current triple
rear derailleur (most likely a Centaur).

Unless there has been something odd going on when I wasn't watching.
rear ders don't give a flop whether the front is a dual or a triple.
All that matters is whether the der has enough total take-up capacity
in the cage for the extreme combinations of sprockets in the setup.
Most road-oriented rear ders have less capability in this area than
the typical mtb-oriented der, but most road bikes don't have the range
of gearing of the typical mtb, either. In most cases, however, you
can upgrade the front to a triple without doing anything about the
rear.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

On 7 Feb 2005 13:08:56 -0800, wrote:

Hello All,

I want to upgrade my 2000 Veloce rear derailleur to a current triple
rear derailleur (most likely a Centaur). I know there was a change to
the geometry of the rear derailleurs between 2000 and 2001. Would it
be best to also upgrade my Ergopower shifters to current shifters, or
can I use my old shifters? The shifters have a over 6000 miles so I am
thinking to just get the new Centaur derailleur and the new Centaur
shifters. Am I wasting my money on a new set of shifters?

If you just need a long cage rear derailleur to replace your std. cage
Veloce, than that's all you need. Six thousand miles on your shifters
is just wearing in and you don't need to match the shift disk, change
shifters, or do anything else.