Mix and match touring gearing

#1

I’m trying to set up my crosscheck to do some touring down in Tassie (down the east coast in May).

Here are the bits I have sitting in the box

Chainsets
Sram 52-39 double 10 speed
Deore LX 44/32/22 triple 9 speed

Cassettes
11-32 9 speed
12-25 9 speed

Front derailleurs
SRAM Force road double

Rear derailleurs
Deore LX long cage 9 speed
Shimano 105 5501 med cage 9 speed
Shimano 105 5600 short cage 9 speed

Brifters
Sora 3x9

Tentative plan
Sora brifters
Deore chainset (swap 44 for new 48) 48/32/22
105 rear derailleur med cage
11-32 cassette

Get new front derailleur.

  1. Will the med cage fit the 32 tooth rear?
  2. Will the 48/32/22 work in the front, or will i be happy with the 44?
  3. Should I toss it all in and start from scratch?
#2

I reckon if you’ve got the 9sp LX, just use that. Especially if your front is going to go 48 to 22.

Having said that, 44/32/22 is probably fine. If you’re pumping away at 44/11 trying to go faster just stop pedalling and enjoy yourself. There’s a small chance your Force FD will shift 9sp over 2 cogs too, so maybe you could lose the outer ring and stick say a 42t on the middle for a 42/22. I’d go 40/22 no worries but I think the idea of that might freak you out.

P.S. - Jealous.

#3

You’ll probably have issues with:

sora shake / force FD / crankset.

44 big ring = 43T capacity, 48 big ring = 48T capacity.

5501 capacity / max sprocket = 37T / 27T
5600 capacity / max sprocket = 29T / 27T (10sp mech btw)

So:

  1. No
  2. No, forget this idea. If you want a bigger ring, get something like a 50/34.
  3. Yes.

What model deore?

RD-M592-SGS (long, shadow) has 45T capacity and 36T max sprocket. Ok for 44T big ring, but not 48T.
RD-T661 (long, non shadow) has 43T capacity and 32T max sprocket. Ok for 44T big ring, but not 48T.

Alivio RD-M4000 shadow is cheap and has a barrel adjuster built in, 45T capacity, 36T max sprocket.

For the FD you’ll need something like the FD-3503 / FD-5703 (50T max, 20T difference) if you want the indexing in the sora shakes to work, but if you used a downtube shifter (mikeD current jam) for the front you could use any old MTB triple mech and it’ll have a better cage profile for the 44T big ring.

#4

9sp LX will work fine with Sora right?

So yeah. You’ll need a shimano 9sp FD, preferably MTB triple to shift the existing crankset/chainring combo. Or a DT friction shifter and any old >9sp FD ala The MikeD Method

#5

^ mtb fd has a different pull to road fd. any shimano mtb 9sp mech will work with the sora shakes ok.

#6

I only have the one front derailleur. The Deore I have is a bottom pull top swing and the mech gets in the way of the rear wheel. New FD is required.

true.
SRAM FD is not really an option.

Deore RD-M580
Capacity: 45T
Low Normal: Yes
Speeds: 9-speed
Max. Sprocket: 34T
Min. Sprocket: 11T
Front Difference: 22T max.
Total Capacity: 45T

Thanks for those. So stick to the Sora triple road FD.
I have one of the super old original crosschecks - down tube cable stop, no shifter bosses.

In summary:
Get a Sora or 105 road triple FD
Use the Deore chainset, RD and cassette as is.
It should all work.

#7

Option 4: sora shifter into 9spd LX rear, get an old down tube friction shift lever and run any brand/age/speed triple mech across the 44/32/22 LX crank. No incompatibility issues.

#8

except:

So?

or

or

#9

the world of OS DT clamp on shifter bosses is full of ugly.

#10

Oh right. Didn’t see the bit about no down tube bosses.

#11

Oh so pretty.

I once did a tour on a racing tandem with a 1x7 with bar end shifter. Was a bunch of fun. Ride whatcha got.

I’ll see what turns up first, the Sora / 105 FD or bar end 9 speed(still need a FD so may as well get one that works with what I have) . Anyone? Anyone?

#12

I have a brand new Sora front derailleur lying around somewhere.

#13

Thanks - I already ordered one off the bay last night. should be here later this week. fingers crossed.

Now to find some bags, panniers etc. Mine were stolen a couple of years ago.

Thanks for all the help guys.

#14

Another option is running an older set of 10speed Campag shifters as 9spd shimergo. Currently running a pair of centuar shifters on the GF’s bike with a 9spd lx fd and 3x cranks. The many points of indexing on campy makes setting up the fd real easy