Triple - comp or champ?

[smiorgan]

Hello - first post

I want to move from compact to triple on one of my bikes for hilly rides.

I have 9sp 2004 veloce levers. I recently bought some 2011 veloce derailleurs which I believe have different pull ratio - fine on friction of course, but I'm guessing I will have problems with the ergos (should have done a little more research). My only other rear mech is a short cage 9sp centaur, so that's no good.

So I can get Comp or Champ rear derailleurs. The cage shape looks the same as my centaur mech...

1/ Do you think it will work? (I assume a 9sp chain will fit through the Comp rear mech's cage)
2/ Champ is cheaper - but it looks like it's plastic like the Xenon RDs which I heard bad things about - is it plastic or alloy? Any reliability issues?

[MartinC]

The 2011 mech will definitely be working to a different cable pull to movement ratio than the old 2004 mech. How far out this will be I don't know. I haven't tried a mix and match and I haven't come across anyone who has yet.

The Champ mech is Xenon quality, lots of plastic bits in it. Xenon mechs had a bit of a reputation for breaking. The Comp mech is much better - not sure whether it was intended to match Centaur or Veloce (can't remeber the colour of the boxes it came in!). Many people run triple set ups (even with 28 or 29 sprockets) without using a long cage mech - a medium will often have enough capacity.

[g00se]

I built something similar recently - a 9 speed triple. Keep an eye out for recentish but pre 2011 centaur/mirage rear mechs with medium cages. Look on ebay and various forums and you should be able to pick up one with a couple of hundred miles for 25-30 GBP / 35-45 USD.