My favourite derailer Shimano XT M750

An awesome CX derailer and will even go to 36 teeth.

Do you like using drop bars off road?
Do you like using large rear sprockets?
Do you use Shimano?


See below my favourite derailer. Its my favourite for many reasons.

1. It is very robust
2. It has a lot less moving parts than the more recent designs that have (a) clutches and (b) sacrifical mounts that don't actually sacrifice themselves because the derailer construction is too light to actually take a hit anyway, plus they introduce two much thinner areas to develop play in instead of one wider more robust one.
3. It works on a wide variety of drive trains.
4. It works with large sprockets on the back, up to 36 teeth anyway.
5. Its cheaper than a more high-end MTB derailer (which isn't road compatible anyway; dynasys 10 isn't) and you might well find one in your LBS's bin, you will have to look hard though because there will be a pile of shimano shadow derailers on top of it !!

These are the three bikes I am using this derailer on currently with indexing.
An 8 speed MTB
A 9 speed cyclocross bike with 9 speed durace road shifters
A 10 speed MTB with 10 speed durace road shifters

It will also work on a 5, 6, 7 and 9 speed MTB setup.
So 5-9 MTB and 9-10 road.

Why  is the 9-10 road important?
Because if you are a tourer, or monster-cross or cyclo cross rider and you like big hills you may want to use a derailer that works on sprockets up to and over 34 cogs. This derailer will do that. It came out in 1999 but was supersed with the bottom normal derailer in 2003. That flopped, and with egg on their face Shimano relaunched an identical 1999 derailer again in 2005.  Another good to reason to use one is because they are dirt cheap, and even though I have used them for at least 3 years of cyclo-cross I have never come close to tearing one off. How many people can say that?

Most people matching MTB derailers to integrated road brake/shifters (Americans call them "brifters") use SRAM, because for 10 speed at least, SRAM road talks to MTB, and you can go 1x with a clutch derailer on the back. I think this compatibility may have changed with 11 speed. Other people spare themselves the grief and use friction bar-end shifters which may suffice for touring but would suck big time in CX.

Best derailer ever. 255 grams. 

This guy also makes a 9/10 speed long cage derailer for touring.
http://sunxcd.net/rearder/

Read what Sheldon Brown said about derailers and marketing hype.

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Durace 10 speed Karate Monkey

Fellow Voodoo Lounger Neil gifted me his crashed Durace 10 speed shifters the other day. They have adjustable reach and the cables go in tight against the bars unlike previous versions which stick out in the air. They look great and feel good. The seem to have a deeper hood area than the older 9 speeds they replaced. Thanks Neil!

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Drop bar set-up and STI on Karate Monkey

I have been experimenting with the positioning of my brakes on my Salsa Woodchipper handlebar. Although I really like the bar I feel it can be difficult to set up, especially for people like myself with smallish hands.

Old DA 9 speed shifters (left), much closer to bar than "aero" levers (right).

If you are serious about off-road riding then you will likely want the brakes more forward on the bar so you can access them when on the drops.

If you are more inclined to be gravel grinding or bike-packing then you are likely to want them to be higher on the bar, so you can make use of the different positions available. This was one of the main reasons I didn't use my Karate Monkey on the Kiwi Brevet, with my smaller digits its a real reach for the brakes while on the drops, and it causes me a pressure point after about 3 hours riding. This pressure point is in the very same spot on my hands when I rest my hands on the hoods.

A couple of views on how you could set up your drop bars.

• Drop bar set-up by Guitar Ted.
• Matt Chester on drop-bar set-up.
• Jason Boucher's tips on a Salsa Woodchipper.
• Shiggys why-for.

I have just scored some old Durace 9 speed STI levers which have been a revelation. Not only is the reach about 1cm shorter than my existing brakes, but they are lighter than my bar-end and brake lever combo, and I now have snappy gear changing at my finger tips. Check out the photo above to see the difference in reach.

Obviously I had to swap my MTB-pull Avid BB7's with the Road-pull version. My next move will be to bring them further down the bar to see where the best position of compromise is. (I did - see below). 

I have just discovered the pitfalls of trying to use STI road levers on an MTB. Its a bit of a mess.

The rear derailleur is sweet. On the front, unfortunately STI levers only pull 69% of the cable that an MTB lever pulls, so STI levers and MTB derailleur on the front is not really compatible.

• MTB's all use top-pull derailleurs. 
• Road bikes all use bottom pull derailleurs. Suck.

What are the alternatives? Surprisingly few.

1. A pulley device for changing the direction your cable comes from Problem solvers.
2. Another device to change the direction from the speen.de guys, (good luck trying to understand it). A better description here.
3. A special top-pull road-style derailleur made for CX application.
4. I just tried this one, and its 99% successful. Clamp the derailleur cable on the other side (back-side) of the bolt. It effectively shortens the lever, giving more pull. Not all derailleurs can be tweaked this way.

A very good link to derailleur stuff.

 See here my drop-bar set-up with the bars rotated forward so I get a much more comfy position for my hands and wrists while on the drops. The more horizontal the drop is, the better my OOS afflicted wrists like it.

Also note how the drops themselves are less than 2 inches below the flats on my standard XC bike (Santa Cruz Superlight), and that is with the stem in the positive position on the Superlight. If the stem was flipped they would be identical. Not at all aggressive.


Okay. My top-pull CX-70 Cyclo-cross front derailleur has arrived!  It really works a treat. See below.

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