Don't Do the Crime if You Can't

You know the rest.
It must have been the weather for the washing machine hit both spin cycles with nary a shimmy or sound.
The load must have been perfectly balanced in there for if it is just one underwear off, the machine starts to shake like a Polaroid picture.
Haven't heard that one in a while.
So anyways, I was telling you about how wonderful the XTR derailleur shifts and all that. Well it does.
I thought XT was good compared to the POS(positively outstanding shifting) Alivio stuff and it is. It was also about the same as SRAM X5, which came on the bike.
The SRAM X5 stuff seemed to like to shift better under load, which I do from time to time. There was nothing wrong with it except the rear shifter is a bit different from Shimano in that you don't pull to upshift, you push.
The reason I went to XT is because I just had to know what all the hype was about.
XT was about all I was willing to spend on. Notice I said was. It shifted great, but if you read my Best Chain Lube of the Modern Era, you know that it was a bit fickle.
Well let me tell you, this XTR stuff shifts. And shifts. And shifts.
The engagement is nothing short of brilliant.
Here's the thing. You absolutely cannot cross chain on this set up.
I run a 44/32/22 up front and a 12-23 in back. According to Shimano, I am just over the capacity of a medium cage derailleur. There's no way I would have tried this if I was running say a 11-32 or something in back.
Here's what it looks like big ring small gear:



Sorry about the quality of the pics but I had to run my flash.
Anyways, that looks pretty normal.
Wait, this gets good.
Here's what it looks like big ring, big gear:



That still looks okay. In fact, the XT long cage derailleur was stretched out much farther than this.
The combination where it gets ugly is this:



Gee Mr. Flat Tire, what happened to your derailleur? Did something scare it?
It's still there all tucked away. In fact, that's what it looked like when it came in the mail. I didn't even try turning the cranks.
I must remember not to try the combination of the granny gear and the small gear.
So the medium cage works, as long as you take care not to cross chain.
Now to be honest, I'm not sure if the quality of the shift has to do with the XTR being a medium cage or not.
All I know is that it engages.
Positively, thank you very much.
I got some XRT cables coming in for if you look really good, you still won't be able to see the extra cable coming off the end of the derailleur. That's because there isn't any.
Extra cable I mean. Okay, maybe like 3/16 of an inch is hanging off there. Not even enough to crimp on a cable end thingy.
So what's up with the doing the crime thing?
Well, I was about to launch myself out the door this afternoon, when domestic responsibilities reared their ugly head.
See washing clothes above.
Gotta have clean jerseys don't you know.
So to atone for my laziness, I went and cut my hair.
Finally.
The girl with the clippers made me pay.
I still can't believe she laughed at me.