I’ve been running a 34t cassette and mid cage XT rear mech on my road bike for some time. Whilst I’m waiting for my Defy to be delivered I’m curious if any Defy owners have a got the stock Ultegra RD working with either a 30t or 32t cassette?

11 or 12 – 30 ?
I’d have thought you’d have big issues with overall capacity, unless you’re on a single chainring (even before you worry about the mech actually fitting over the sprockets)

I’m not so worried about capacity at this stage but more of whether or not the ultegra mech / mech hanger combo on the Defy clears a 30 or 32t cassette.

Worst case I may end up fitting my trusty 9 speed xt mech.

mmm my old defy had a 11-28 with Ultegra rear mech.. reckon maybe 30t would be fine but maybe not 32t!??

FWIW, a 9sp mtb mech will just about fit a 36 cassette

No idea of relative placement of pivots etc though

Done this with no worries at all on the 105 Defy set up (Defy Advanced 2 2012).

32T SRAM cassette fitted to my Defy last year specially for old legs doing the Fred Whitton. The rear derailleur barely needed the B-tension adjustment changing from its original 28T setting.
Cannot see any reason why the Ultegra should be any different.

I am still running the same set up for hilly rides in the Pennines round where I live and finding no problems at all!

Mickb – thanks, just what I wanted to hear; I’ve gone for a 30T ultegra cassette to see how I get on as I want to keep the gear ratios as close as possible.

Got a 30t on my cx bike with ultegra rear with no issues

At the worst you’d need a mid cage ultegra mech. The shimano specs say 33t maximum range (50-34 + 28-11 = 33 teeth). The mid cage has a greater capacity. I was worried about only having 34 28 on my Defy Advanced 2012 coming off a mountain bike. So far I’ve not used it.

Hope you enjoy the Defy, I love mine.

I’ve recently fitted a 12-30 to three bikes, in prep for the Fred Whitton. All had std short cage rear mechs and 34/50 compacts. Two handled it with minor tweaking to the tension screw. The third was a bit more reluctant and needed the chain shortening a link, and the tension screw on pretty much max. It was okay in the end though.

Shimano 6700 Ultegra (and 5700 105) mechs are designed to work with cassettes as follows…

SS Short Cage up to 30T
GS Medium Cage up to 32T

That is for a dual ring setup with a maximum gap of 16T between front rings (ie. a 34/50 compact setup). In a triple ring setup, you have to run a medium cage GS mech, and you are limited to a 30T cog on the rear (but then you’ll have a 30T chainring up front anyway).

Climbing on a road bike is, sadly, more of a case of grinning and bearing it! You can climb most climbs on bog standard gearing if you pedal hard enough, but of course sometimes it’s nice just to be able to relax even just a little bit after many miles in the saddle.

FWIW I swapped a 12-28 Tiagra cassette out for a 12-30 (with a compact 34/50 up front) on my road bike when I bought it, thinking I’d really appreciate the lower gear as there are a lot of steep climbs round here. In practice, I never really used the 30T cog on the back unless I was already exhausted. Swapped it for an 11-28 105 cassette after a few hundred miles, which I found has better ratios overall for my riding, and still just about a low enough gear to get up the short 25%er’s as long as I get right out the saddle.

The Defy will come with a compact crank so you won’t need to bother with a 30 or 32 tooth cassette

The Defy will come with a compact crank so you won’t need to bother with a 30 or 32 tooth cassette

but it’s handy if it’s hilly or like me you’re mortal

Swapped my Defy’s 11×28 for a 11×25. The jumps in the stock cassette are a little large. 34×25 took me up Ditchling Beacon twice today without really needing more (and no need to get out of the saddle to honk, either). I have the 11×28 on a light set of wheels for climbing. 32 will have you pulling wheelies!