Tech help: SRAM 10sp pulley cage swap

[saintruggler]

I have a medium cage SRAM XO 10sp rear derailleur in excellent shape. I really want to expand my rear cassette range without buying a new mech.

Does anyone know if it's possible to swap the pulley cage assembly on my medium SRAM XO derailleur with a long-cage version?

Bonus points if you've done it yourself and/or have photos to share.

Even more bonus points if you know where I could acquire a long-cage assembly for this older gen mech. My jockey wheels are in great shape, as mine was lightly used. I just desire the longer cage capacity.

Let me know!

[jtbadge]

The longer cage on these older derailleurs will only allow additional chain length capacity for use with a triple crank and does not allow for clearance of a larger cog, so not sure it's really going to help unless that is your goal. Until the current GX 10 speed derailleur you're only going to get 36t large cog clearance.

[tellyho]

+1 to this. What you really want is a parallelogram swap, which is unfortunately not possible. Or a road link or hanger extender.

[saintruggler]

Really? I have a long cage XX clearing a 40t large cassette cog right now. However, chainwrap is my issue. The XX is beautiful, but only spec'd for 41t chainwrap.

My understanding is that the XO long cage of the same era has a 47t chainwrap, which is what I'm after.

[saintruggler]

I appreciate the mention of a Roadlink doodad here. That might help address a larger than 36t rear cog, but it doesn't help me address the chainwrap issue. Hence, why I'm seeking any real-world experience with modding a medium cage SRAM derailleur with a long cage assembly.

I should also have noted that this is for an "old" derailleur, circa-2012 era 10 speed, without the clutch retention.

Originally Posted by tellyho

+1 to this. What you really want is a parallelogram swap, which is unfortunately not possible. Or a road link or hanger extender.

[owly]

I did a short to medium switch, however on a clutch 2.1 XO 10sp.

Found a Sram tech doc online showing how to break down the whole unit i.e. remove the cage etc. Bit of a head scratcher winding the assembly/plates back on correctly again, but figured it out eventually.

Some time later I replaced the inner plate (bent it a little, I think) with a carbon inner from J&L in China through ebay. Stupid weight-weenie stuff.

Originally my 1x setup short-cage handled the 36t cassette no probs.
Now that I'm on a 40/22 with [mainly] 12-28, I can't remember why I went to or needed? the mid. Perhaps a chain-wrap thing.

[tellyho]

Originally Posted by saintruggler

I appreciate the mention of a Roadlink doodad here. That might help address a larger than 36t rear cog, but it doesn't help me address the chainwrap issue. Hence, why I'm seeking any real-world experience with modding a medium cage SRAM derailleur with a long cage assembly.

I should also have noted that this is for an "old" derailleur, circa-2012 era 10 speed, without the clutch retention.

I guess I'm surprised you'd be adding enough teeth to make the wrap situation drastically different. Going 11-23 to 10-52? I don't remember the wrap limitations of 10s derailleurs and honestly never paid much attention. Are you at the tooth limit for the current setup? I'm assuming 1x, but maybe not?