Originally Posted by
Geepig
Playing around with the calculators is fine, and one day I might do the same. However, if you are trying to create a combination which is not recommended you risk falling outside what the calculators are designed to do. I am not saying that should be a barrier, because as an R&D engineer I would write the specs to keep the company from legal/guarantee consequences and the potential negative consequences of future developments, not to define what was possible.
Don't worry about the chain length now - get the new cassette you clearly want and see how your current new chain fits. Development begins with many theories, but until you have something to test the theories are nothing but theories. Testing is where we learn to understand.
Agree, the calculation was only to see if I needed to order the new chain, and for my own learning. I see the drawings and videos and I cant really tell when they show a RD thats to tight vs not.....I’m not good at that! I also do not want to screw up this bike, I have other bikes that are more suitable for experimentation. I think the 10-33 is the way to go for now and given there still is snow on the ground I can always order the chain after I install the cassette. I also didnt know how to determine if my existing chain is ok with the new cassette. For example, if I do big big and its 13/16” of an inch, thats not an inch but probably ok. What if its big big and only 1/4”? I was trying to understand all that as well. So it was a combination of experimentation (10-36 even though SRAM says 10-33) plus learning (is big big plus 1/4” ok)?
Txs