str8jakett

I've been riding my TCR with a SRAM Force/Rival and 11-32t. My Propel with Red mechanical, short cage RD and 11-28t has been off the road since last fall. I'm putting it back together and I'd like to match the cassette options of the TCR, regardless of the crankset (50-34 vs 52-36). I'm looking at Red 22 medium cage derailleurs for $275, or a KCNC OSPW 14t/16t for $90. Both expand capacity to 32t. My cons for both are I don't want to spend the money on the RD and I'm unsure of the longevity of the KCNC and generally just don't like the way they look.

So if money WAS an object, would you take a chance on the KCNC or just buy the derailleur?

primov8

I was in a similar situation when I sold the eTap pieces and went back to Campy Record 11. I wanted to be able to swap to 11-32 when needed and at the time, I could not find a medium cage SR/Record 11 rd; this was prior to the pandemic too. I ended up buying a Ceramicspeed OSPW that I got on sale at CC and cost less then what a SR/Record 11 rd would have been.

The aesthetics of the OSPW has grown on me. For the most part, I forget its even there and no problems throwing on a 11-32 on the Helix without having any shifting or drivetrain issues.

Elvo

cxwrench

This does NOT increase the capacity of the rear derailleur to wrap the extra chain you'll need for the larger cassette. It moves the derailleur down so the upper pulley will probably clear the larger cog but if you don't put a longer chain on (one that will now sag in small/small) you'll ruin the derailleur in big/big. I would never recommend a road link for this situation, it's bad advice.

str8jakett

Thanks for sharing your experience here. I put the Propel back together yesterday after returning from a 65m ride with 6k feet of climbing, on the TCR. That's typical for the area although my weekday rides are normally about half that. I realize that I just can't do the 36/28 combo anymore so I'll have to make a decision either way.

I had read quite a bit about people having success with a 11-32t cassette and the short cage SRAM Red derailleur. Yesterday, after setting up the Propel, I moved an 11-32t cassette from my Kickr to a spare wheelset, swapped that onto the Propel, started adjusting away before I realized it was a 10 speed cassette. Dumb moment. With the B screw maxxed it, it really did look like it would clear the 32 but I don't know if I like the idea. Plus, I didn't have another chain to size correctly to put the TCR wheelset on instead. Maybe all I really need is an 11 speed cassette and a chain to really find out if I need the additional OSPW or RD.

str8jakett

Reviving this thread because I tried the cheap OSPW method. Bought the KCNC for $82 and swapped an 11-32t from the TCR onto the Propel. The cage is rated up to a 32t cassette. Top jockey wheel rubs the 32t gear and B screw is maxed out. Derailleur doesn't seem as if it would have more range with a longer B screw. Should I pick up a Roadlink and new chain? Still keeps me way under the medium cage Red derailleur price and I'm pretty sure I can't return the cage now.







Sorry for the busy background on the pictures. Have to admit, I kind of like the big fat blingy over-the-top look of the OSPW. Red wheels to match the SRAM Red 22 and Firecrest highlights.

Branko D

Yeah, looks like a good application of the roadlink at this point.

​​​​​​If the cage isn't too far forward in big-big, maybe the current chain would be long enough.
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SSRI

I did a OSPW conversion on a DA9000 RD. -
I got it to shift 11-34 with a 50/34 compact crank without a wolfs tooth.

It order for shift through the entire cassette I had to replace the upper pulley wheel with and 11t pulley wheel so it will have enough clearance for the 11T cassette.

str8jakett

I can get a 12t jockey wheel to replace the 14t upper. I'd assume that would give me plenty of clearance. I'd really rather do something like that than add an extra component into the mix. It's nearly 40% the cost of the whole cage, but still much cheaper in the long run.

Kimmo 

12t > ugly extra bit adding flex to your RD mount

str8jakett

I do hope it is the solution, I ordered a 12t this morning. Noticed the KCNC cages for the Shimano RDs ship with a 12t upper, so I'm curious as to why the SRAM cages are 14t.

RNAV

So let me tell you a story . . . (TL;DR: the short cage and medium cage derailleurs actually have different knuckle bodies, so the short cage ones won't work well with 32T cassettes even if you put a larger cage on them).

I have a Sram Red 22 short cage rear derailleur that suffered the all-too-common cage retention post / retention bolt failure. Couldn't find a replacement cage, and the OSPW ones cost more than buying a new rear derailleur, so I bought a new one and chucked the broken one in the parts bin.

Then I picked up a Specialized Crux with a Sram Force 22 WiFli medium cage rear derailleur & 32T cassette. So, I think to myself, "Eureka!" I can just swap the Force cage body onto the Sram Red 22 rear derailleur in my parts bin and save some grams, yo! So I do. And I throw it on the bike, and discover that I'm only barely able to get the top pulley wheel within specs with the B screw screwed ALL the way in. I was able to get the shifting to be pretty good in the stand, but under load it was total crap. So I swapped the Force medium cage back to the Force WiFli rear derailleur and the shifting is MUCH better. I'll take the ~30 extra grams for the much better shifting.

Bottom line: swapping cages won't help you, buy a WiFli derailleur and you'll be set.

Kimmo 

As an aside (I doubt this adds anything to wrap capacity), I squeezed 12/14t into my 9070's standard cage, had to cut off one cage pin and hack the other one:


Oh yeah, by the way, a Red cage takes these pulleys with no modification.

Branko D

Thinking of it, it probably does add a tooth or so to wrap capacity on account of being effectively a longer cage plus pulleys.

str8jakett

Thanks for sharing that. I hope it's not the case here but it does bring up the point that the third, and previously unvoiced option, was that of the Force 22 medium cage at a used price of around $90 to $130 new. That would have been on par with what I have spent so far. I didn't originally take that route because I was being a bit purist with this Red groupset since the mix of my other bike already drives my OCD nuts. I suppose I'll know in a few days, and the items purchased can't be returned to go the Force route, so if it doesn't work, I'll have essentially bought the Red medium cage without saving the OCD tic!

So what you are saying is, I should take my newly discarded 14t from the OSPW and stick it in the bottom position of the Rival medium cage on the TCR?

Kimmo 

Yeah, I guess it's the distance to the edge of the pulleys that matters, rather than the distance between them? Or not so much? Circles can be confusing sometimes
Anyway, it definitely requires a longer chain.

Kimmo 

Sure, why not see how it looks. Might do the job

str8jakett

So this turned out to be a waste of time, effort, and money. The 12t did not provide the clearance needed to shift into the 32t. As mentioned above, I got it shifting well on the stand in all functional gears, and took it for a neighborhood test ride, where it shifted like crap, so I re-installed the 14t jockey wheel and put the 28t cassette back on the bike. I suppose I'll need to pick up the Force 22 medium cage or splurge on the Red but for now I'm annoyed at the waste so I'll just bling on the flattest routes with this bike.

str8jakett

So, is this chain too short? I'm not positive how the OSPW should sit.



Shifts fine into all combos but looks terrible in big/big, which I don't tend to do often.

drsmoooth

New chain and OSPW for both my bikes! 118 links on the red bike and 116 links on the black with no issue. I like the way they look on my bikes!