Forum home› Road cycling forum› Workshop

Can I upgrade to a 11-40 cassette with a wolf tooth?

malahousemalahouse Posts: 16
edited October 2018 in Workshop
Hi everyone.

My bike has 2x9 drivetrain. FSA compact 48-32 with a 9-speed 11-36 on a Shiman Sora shifting mech.
Current derailleur is the Shimano Alvio Shadows M4000.

I would like to swap the cassette for a 9-speed 11-40, such as from Sunrace. Can this be done?

The specs for the Alivo derailleur state the maximum cog permitted is a 36.

I have looked into buying a road link, wolf tooth, but apparently it will not work with a 9-speed system.

Do you have suggestions please, in how this can be done?

Posts

  • Vino'sGhostVino'sGhost Posts: 4,129
    it aint going to work without massive drive train changes. It would be more effective to buy a new groupset :(
  • arlowoodarlowood Posts: 2,551
    malahouse wrote:
    Hi everyone.

    My bike has 2x9 drivetrain. FSA compact 48-32 with a 9-speed 11-36 on a Shiman Sora shifting mech.
    Current derailleur is the Shimano Alvio Shadows M4000.

    I would like to swap the cassette for a 9-speed 11-40, such as from Sunrace. Can this be done?

    The specs for the Alivo derailleur state the maximum cog permitted is a 36.

    I have looked into buying a road link, wolf tooth, but apparently it will not work with a 9-speed system.

    Do you have suggestions please, in how this can be done?

    I would give it a try and see how it goes. Shimano tend to be conservative about their rear mech capacities so the your Alvio Shadow may handle a 40t sprocket with some tweaking of the B-screw. In fact on other threads I have seen people suggest getting a longer B-screw from your LBS to help cope with large sprockets on short cage rear mechs.

    You can pick up a 9-speed 11-40 cassette for about £35 so not a big outlay. This Ebay listing also offers an adaptor that looks as if it resembles a wolf tooth or road link. So I would guess this one will work with 9-speed as they are offering it with the cassette

    https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sunrace-CSM9 ... 2786047908
  • malahousemalahouse Posts: 16
    arlowood wrote:
    malahouse wrote:
    Hi everyone.

    My bike has 2x9 drivetrain. FSA compact 48-32 with a 9-speed 11-36 on a Shiman Sora shifting mech.
    Current derailleur is the Shimano Alvio Shadows M4000.

    I would like to swap the cassette for a 9-speed 11-40, such as from Sunrace. Can this be done?

    The specs for the Alivo derailleur state the maximum cog permitted is a 36.

    I have looked into buying a road link, wolf tooth, but apparently it will not work with a 9-speed system.

    Do you have suggestions please, in how this can be done?

    I would give it a try and see how it goes. Shimano tend to be conservative about their rear mech capacities so the your Alvio Shadow may handle a 40t sprocket with some tweaking of the B-screw. In fact on other threads I have seen people suggest getting a longer B-screw from your LBS to help cope with large sprockets on short cage rear mechs.

    You can pick up a 9-speed 11-40 cassette for about £35 so not a big outlay. This Ebay listing also offers an adaptor that looks as if it resembles a wolf tooth or road link. So I would guess this one will work with 9-speed as they are offering it with the cassette

    https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sunrace-CSM9 ... 2786047908


    Brilliant - thanks for that. it gives me some hope ;)

    Do I still need a wolf tooth our could it work without? Also, Wolf Tooth makes some expensive road links.
    Are you aware of any other cheaper road link that could make this work?

    Thanks!
  • Vino'sGhostVino'sGhost Posts: 4,129
    well if youre going to go for a big cassette option just stick an mtb rear mech on

    you will need cassette, new chain, new rear mech. It starts to get expensive but it will work
  • DeVlaeminckDeVlaeminck Posts: 8,308
    Genuine question, why do you want a 40 tooth sprocket ? It'll make relatively little difference as proportionally it's quite a small jump. If the cassette works straight off no problem but doesn't seem worth spending money or time on it.
    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • malahousemalahouse Posts: 16
    DeVlaeminck wrote:
    Genuine question, why do you want a 40 tooth sprocket ? It'll make relatively little difference as proportionally it's quite a small jump. If the cassette works straight off no problem but doesn't seem worth spending money or time on it.

    Yesterday I cycled up a 11% gradient for 1.5km with no panniers and it was a tough one on 32front/36rear. I don`t think I would be able to do it with 10kg of lugguage. And since I would like to do a bit of touring down to France/Italy I thought it would be useful to have a few extra gears.
  • malahousemalahouse Posts: 16
    I guess an alternative to make a more substantial difference in gear range would be to swap the crankset from a 48/32 to a 44-28, which costs about £70 plus a new chain I assume.
  • svettysvetty Posts: 1,904
    malahouse wrote:
    DeVlaeminck wrote:
    Genuine question, why do you want a 40 tooth sprocket ? It'll make relatively little difference as proportionally it's quite a small jump. If the cassette works straight off no problem but doesn't seem worth spending money or time on it.

    Yesterday I cycled up a 11% gradient for 1.5km with no panniers and it was a tough one on 32front/36rear. I don`t think I would be able to do it with 10kg of lugguage. And since I would like to do a bit of touring down to France/Italy I thought it would be useful to have a few extra gears.
    :shock: :shock: Any smaller gear than that and you run the risk of toppling over through being stationary whilst still pedalling - unless you're a dab hand at track stands? :wink::D
    FFS! Harden up and grow a pair :D
  • cyclecliniccycleclinic Posts: 6,865
    you will encounter chain wrap issues in that there will be no chain tension in 32t and there first three gears probably.
    http://www.thecycleclinic.co.uk -wheel building and other stuff.
  • malahousemalahouse Posts: 16
    Svetty wrote:
    malahouse wrote:
    DeVlaeminck wrote:
    Genuine question, why do you want a 40 tooth sprocket ? It'll make relatively little difference as proportionally it's quite a small jump. If the cassette works straight off no problem but doesn't seem worth spending money or time on it.

    Yesterday I cycled up a 11% gradient for 1.5km with no panniers and it was a tough one on 32front/36rear. I don`t think I would be able to do it with 10kg of lugguage. And since I would like to do a bit of touring down to France/Italy I thought it would be useful to have a few extra gears.
    :shock: :shock: Any smaller gear than that and you run the risk of toppling over through being stationary whilst still pedalling - unless you're a dab hand at track stands? :wink::D

    :lol: You can tell that to the future owners of the Trek 520. They could tackley the hill a 26front/36rear gear. That will be more of a somersaults than a topple 8)
  • perfectmarkperfectmark Posts: 117
    A 3x9 setup would probably be a better option than trying to go to 40 on the rear.
  • DeVlaeminckDeVlaeminck Posts: 8,308
    malahouse wrote:
    DeVlaeminck wrote:
    Genuine question, why do you want a 40 tooth sprocket ? It'll make relatively little difference as proportionally it's quite a small jump. If the cassette works straight off no problem but doesn't seem worth spending money or time on it.

    Yesterday I cycled up a 11% gradient for 1.5km with no panniers and it was a tough one on 32front/36rear. I don`t think I would be able to do it with 10kg of lugguage. And since I would like to do a bit of touring down to France/Italy I thought it would be useful to have a few extra gears.

    Seems fair.
    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
Sign In or Register to comment.