Originally Posted by
smd4
And all this time I’ve just followed the manufacturer’s instructions.
Silly me.
Nothing wrong with doing so, except that chain length instructions for Shimano come with the derailleur, but SRAM come with the chain. If you buy a SRAM chain for your Shimano derailleur bike, which instructions?
The nice thing about knowing how bikes work is that you can choose options that are better than what the instructions say. At the shops I worked at we set the chain long if it caused no issues because it was better for the customers.