Mountain Bike Cassestte on Road Bike

[featuretile]

I went to 3 LBS and asked the same questions. The first one said no problem to change to an IRD casette with MTB derailleur. The second one talked about chain capacity and said that IRD did not shift as well as Shimano. He thought I might be able to get away with a 12-30 (not 11-30) with my short cage derailleur, but would need a long cage for the 12-32 or 11-32. The third one said that I would need a long cage derailleur for the 12-30 and a MTB derailleur for the 12-32, but that it would not shift as well as now. Apparently, the spacing is slightly different than Shimano to avoid patent infringement. He recommended learning to stand up while pedaling uphill instead (which I have not mastered yet). How do you start that? Eventually Shimano will make a 10 speed MTB cassette (2011). The SRAM one would work, but it costs $330 and is 11-34 (which I don't need). I just emailed IRD and will see what they say. It never occurred to me when I bought the bike that I could not just simply get a larger cassette.

[redrhodie]

Okay, I have a little more info for you, but it still won't help you know if the IRD cassette will work on your bike (and in fact will make it more confusing--sorry).

According to my shop guy, who has a similar set-up as me, but with even lower gears than I have (Shimano compact double crankset with an IRD 10 speed 11-34 MTB cassette, and long cage derailleur), he can even use the 34T cog with no rub. He then tried to run the exact same setup on another of his bikes, and it wouldn't work at all. He figured out that the problem was the position of the derailleur hanger on the frame (which probably has another name, but I can't remember it ). So unfortunately, it's another factor which may make it not work.

But, after thinking about this thread, I decided to upgrade myself to an ultegra 11-28 ten speed cassette. I'll get all the same gears I currently can use with my IRD, for 100 grams less. Woo-hoo, I'm excited! My IRD has around 7,000 miles on it, and it's still going strong, but the thing's a tank.

Let us know what you end up doing. Standing on hills will make you stronger, as will just working at it, but you don't want every ride to be miserable. You should be able to get a better range. Good luck!