Derailleur compatibility

biphaeboh

100 W
Joined
May 21, 2019
Messages
112
Location
Calgary, Alberta
I put a BBS02 on an old Norco Kathmandu bargain basement mountain bike. The installation was pretty straight forward, and it works well, but am running into some problems with shifting. I installed a Gustavo (leckie knock off) 42 tooth chainring on the front, so I wanted a larger toothed cassette on the back to get some lower gears, as I intend to use this as a mountain bike. I got an after market 11-42 tooth 8 speed cassette. I used a microshift 8 speed thumbshifter. The orginal Shimano Altus derailleur shifts okay but it can't handle the 42 tooth cog, there just isn't enough clearance. I ordered a microshift Acolyte derailleur, supposedly good for up to 46 teeth. It doesn't work.

I can't even get if to shift onto the second biggest cog. It seems like the shifter/derailleur combination isn't pulling enough cable. If I tighten the cable, I still can't get it to shift all the way, and it is so tight I can't shift back onto the smallest cog. The low gear limit screw is about as far out as it can go.
Some of it might be related to chainline, as even with the aftermarket chainring, the chainline for the big sprocket is bad.
I restacked the cassette putting a small cog on the inside , which moves the big cog out one space, and effectively makes it into a 7 speed. It still doesn't work.

I could always go back to the original set up with the Altus derailleur and the original cassette, I wouldn't have any low gears, but it would work, crappy chainline and all. The whole thing is very frustrating and I cannot figure out what is wrong with it.

Any ideas?
 
I think it could be that the derailleurs have capacity with the gears, you could have too much rear gear being 11-42, not enough chain wrap I think the term is.
 
Microshift Acolyte derailleur must be used with its matching shifter. The pull ratio is incompatible with any other shifter.

Other 8 speed systems are mostly compatible, but Campagnolo 8 speed and Microshift Acolyte are not. Acolyte uses the same sprocket spacing as more common systems, though.

https://cambriabike.com/products/microshift-acolyte-8-spd-right-trigger-shifter
 
Chalo said:
Microshift Acolyte derailleur must be used with its matching shifter. The pull ratio is incompatible with any other shifter.

Other 8 speed systems are mostly compatible, but Campagnolo 8 speed and Microshift Acolyte are not. Acolyte uses the same sprocket spacing as more common systems, though.

https://cambriabike.com/products/microshift-acolyte-8-spd-right-trigger-shifter

Okay, thanks for that.
Microshift thumbshifter not compatible with microshift derailleur. That's the world we live in.

I should have asked here before spending all that time dicking around.
 
biphaeboh said:
Microshift thumbshifter not compatible with microshift derailleur. That's the world we live in.

Confusing brand vs model thing. Microshift would be like Shimano, then Acolyte would be like Dura-Ace, not compatible with other models of the same brand.
 
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