Pedpole

I have a 2003 Specilaized Sworks road bike that came equipped with the Shimano 7700 group except for hubs. I replaced the original 12-23 cassette with a 12-25 but now I am in may 60’s I would like to make it easier to climb hills. Shimano made a 12-27 in both Dura ace and Ultegra but they are hard to find. I have been looking at the SRAM 9 speed cassettes which come in 11-28., but the max capacity on my derailleur is 28 and I would be at 31 with my 39/53 crankset. Not many options for smaller chainrings due to the bolt pattern.
Has anyone run the 11-28 with a 39/53 crankset without issues? I would like to keep the Dura ace drivetrain and not upgrade the crankset to a compact design so I could run smaller chain rings. I may have to look at that option if the cassette doesn’t work. Any feedback would be appreciated.

curbtender

You could go with an 8-9 speed XT derailleur and get up to 34. You would lose nothing in shift performance.

rccardr 

The answer to your question is, yes, your DA7700 RD will happily shift a 28 rear cog. In fact, it will shift a 30 depending on how you play with the chain length, especially if you forgoe big/big. Additionally, that 7700 crankset will also accept down to a 48 or 46 big ring as well as a 38 (hard to find, but out there) inner ring, thereby multiplying your low gearing choices yet again.

Curbtender also makes an excellent point about those crafty Deore RD’s; a 9 speed one will interface with your shifter and work with a 34-36.

HillRider

Don't even consider sizing the chain short enough not to allow big-big. Yes, you shouldn't use that gear but a minor lapse in concentration means you will try to use it at some point. The chain MUST allow it or the damage will be significant. As to being able to use a 28T cog, yes it is no problem.

trashbiker

I've done something similar with record 10 which I believe has 28 or 27 capacity. My chainrings were also 53-39 and cassette was 13-29. I sized the chain using the small-small method and didnt cross chain. It worked well enough as long as you never cross chain. I accidentally did once and it yanked the rear wheel out of the dropout.

I really didn't like the solution though becasue it felt inelegant. I also still had knee pain so I decided to chance my set up to preserve my future years of riding. Traded the record crankset and phil-wood bb with a friend for a chorus medium cage and did a cage swap. Then I replaced the crankset with a 50/34 praxis something-or-other. Aesthetically, the black cranks and silver rings look a little weird, but it was hard to find silver compact cranks. The newer chainring profiles and pins shift much better anyways. It sucked to break apart the complete groupset so I get why you don't want to change to a compact crankset or change derailleurs, but it improved the riding experience so much.

I don't know how or where you ride so I'll just give you what I'd do if it were me. I'd change to compact cranks maybe 6800, get a mtn derailleur, and 11-32. You could climb for days with a setup like that.

curbtender

Yes, make room for the big/big, the chain racket will remind you if you dont shift before the small/small.

DiabloScott

Yes, I had a DA7700 RD and used a SRAM 11-28 on a borrowed wheel once when my 12-27 wheel broke - no issues at all other than a little adjusting.
But why do these cassette makers think that people who want the lower gears also want the higher gears? I'd rather have a 12-28 or 13-28 than an 11-28.

roadcrankr

Same experience for me with 7700, starting with a 23 cog, then to a 25, then a 27.
Like another poster said, go compact 50/34. I did, and never looked back.
The compact will cost you some bucks, so hopefully you can afford it. I run DA 11sp groupsets these days.
Riding a 28 with that 50/34 combo on my two main bikes. In my 60's now and figure a triple will come next!

Pedpole

Which crankset and BB did you go with when you switched?

rccardr 

Have used a Sugino TD series compact double on at least a half dozen bikes, works well with everything up to and including 10 speed; never tried it with 11.
80’s Deore triple crank arms work well too, when equipped with modern chainrings.

roadcrankr

I switched to the 7900 (10sp) entire groupset, before going 11sp. Used 50/34 on both.
These differ vastly to 7700. I forgot to mention that Shimano sold a triple in the 7700-series.
At any rate, it gets progressively more difficult to find these out-of-production solutions.
A 7700 triple (maybe numbered 7750), for example, requires a new front derailleur and leftside shifter.

Keefusb

I'm running DA7700 on two bikes both with 11-30 cassettes and DA 53-39 chainrings. You need to muck around with the B-screw and chain length to get perfect shifting across the board. I was also able to locate two Stronglight 38t inner chainrings which I will swap in once my DA inner rings are worn out.

csport

To add to what curbtender said, any Shimano compatible 9 speed MTB RD will work. I run Sora 3503 brifters with Mircroshift M46 RD - it is half the price of Shimano Deore and is specced for 45t chainwrap and a 36t max rear cog. Also, "old" (before Tiagra 4700 series) Shimano road 10 speed RD will work - for example, RD-5703.

tFUnK

The one time I sized my chain just a tad tight, I pulled my rear derailleur into my rear wheel.

tFUnK

If you don't need the 53t big ring you can go 50t or 48t to reduce the overall chain wrap and still keep your 130mm BCD crankset.

Going up to 28t or 30t for the cassette should be fine for your current rear derailleur, as others have mentioned.

Pedpole

Thanks for all the advice I ordered a sram11-28 cassette and a new chain to try and will let you know how it works for me.

ljsense

Good job keeping your 7700 group together. Going from 25 to a 28t rear cog makes more sense than losing the original crank to go from a 39 to 34 chain ring.

Dave Mayer

Good plan. Again, buy a longer chain. Last customer we had didn't and the first shift into the big-big combo resulted in the rear derailleur being torn off taking the derailleur hanger with it. These mangled remains got carried into the front derailleur, wrecking that too.

Another good suggestion was a 9-speed Shimano MTB rear derailleur; on the used market these can be had for a song. Say, an old XT 9-speed unit for less than $20 used, and you can then run at least a 32 tooth cassette. It always makes more financial sense to increase the cogs at the back than shrink the crankset, and all that involves.

HillRider

You were lucky that's all that happened. Often the damage is much more severe and can cause a crash that injures the rider. As above, the chain must allow big-big. If you exceed your rear derailleurs wrap capacity, just forgo small-small as it will just result in a slack chain, not damage.