Rear derailleur replacement advice.

alex.r.carruthers

Hello all,

My rear Shimano derailleur recently broke on my old racer. I want to replace it but it's too old to get the same model and I can't seem to find an equivalent.

Ive measured the old one and it looks to be a short cage which makes sense with my gear ratio. However it has 9 speeds and all the 9 speed shimanos I can find are all medium cages.

Basically does this matter can I still use a medium cage?

Thanks so much for your help!

shirley_basso

You can easily get a replacement 2nd hand.

Search ebay for the following series numbers:

5500 (105)
6500 (ultegra) or
7700 (dura ace)

Here's one, short cage:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/333611778529?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=710-134428-41853-0&mkcid=2&itemid=333611778529

ugo.santalucia

You can even get 5600, 6700 and 7800 series derailleurs.

If you have barrel adjusters on the downtube, you can also get 9 speed MTB derailleurs, like XT, Deore or Alivio

veronese68

Yes, you can use a medium cage to replace a short cage. The longer the cage the wider the spread of gears it can accomodate, so to go shorter may create issues but longer is not a problem.