Hi all,

I have XTR RapidRise rear shifter and derailleur (about four years old), which I’ve hated from day one. So, have a quick question – can I simply replace the rear derailleur with a normal one, or do I have to replace the shifters and derailleur together?

–Kristan

yes. just put a normal mech on.

yep as bassspine says just put a new mech on. I have to agree rapid rise was crap, only problem I have now got is that i keep miss shifing now that have changed back to good old normal.

KR, you want to give it away?

I got on OK with Rapid Rise until I bought another bike that was “normal”. Going from one to the other was a nightmare. I swapped the mechs with no probs and now the RR one is my emergency – hope I never need it – spare

Rapid Rise is great, (as long as all your bikes have it).

Thanks for all the help, everyone. As mentioned by Dibbs, RapidRise in and of itself works fine, but it blows chunks when you’ve been riding normal derailleurs since RapidFire first came out! I’m still missing shifts, four years on, as the muscle memory is still for normal RapidFire.

So, next two questions. Thinking about XT or XTR Shadow derailleurs:

1) Any real difference between XT and XTR, other than bling factor?

2) I’m running a pretty normal 22/32/42 up front and Mega 9 11-32 on the rear. I never go into Big/Big or Small/Small gears, so can I get away with a “Medium Cage” derailleur, or should I go for the “Long Cage”?

–Kristan

Blimey! I had rapid rise on one bike, conventional mech on another, sram on the next, thumbies on t’other one and adapt in 5 mins when switching between bikes. How can you not have the hang of it after 4 years!?!? Hey, keep trying, it’s great once you get it! 😆

i love rapid rise. I use it with conventional shifters, up is down and down is up, works for me !

medium cage is better than long cage I reckon.