Question on rear derailleur cage sizes and Goatlinks

[robadub]

Hi guys,

For my 2004 Cinder cone i have recently purchased a Sunrace MS8 11-46 cassette for a 1x11 set up with 32t on the front.

Reading conflicting things about rear derailleurs, so thought i'd ask the experts on here

Basically, medium or long cage ? looking at XT RD-M8000-GS but the long cage seems to be ALOT cheaper than the medium, just wondering which would be best suited to the above set up ?

Finally Goatlink needed for the above, yes or no ?

Thanks !!!

 

[hamster]

Two things to check in the Shimano tech docs:
1 Tooth difference the mech can take up (this is the surplis the mech cage can wrap)
2 Max sprocket size - otherwise the slope of the mech will push the top pulley into the cassette.

The goatlink / mech dropper fixes the collision issue, not the wrap. Hope this clarifies things a little.

 

[drcarlos]

M8000 medium will run a 46t without a goat link on a 1x, shimano changed the guidance after the slx m7000 came out.

 

[robadub]

Will go for Shimano Deore XT M8000 11-Speed Shadow+ Rear Derailleur Medium cage then.

Any recommendations on chains while we're at it ?

 

[sam_white]

Might be worth checking out Planet X for chains. I've just bought an 8, 9 and 10 speed chain from them, prices are good and they look nice out of the packet. Remains to be seen how well they last. They do have 11 speed chains too.