Antonio's OM-1 hack

[Adam S.]

I must not be the only one who noticed Antonio's OM-1 hack in the newsletter last week.

I ordered a couple microshift XLE derailleurs as soon as I saw it and they arrived today.

I'm happy to report it couldn't be easier to splice the XLE cage onto the OM-1. You don't even have to take the pulleys off. The entire cage separates after removing the connection pin in the arm.

I currently use a road-link + Shimano LX rapid-rise rear derailleur on my Surly Midnight Special (which has a chain wrap capacity of 45 already). I was curious if the longer cage might let me swap out the road link, but not such luck. I run a 12-36 9sp cassette with 46-30 crank, so capacity wasn't really an issue anyway.

I think the MS has too short of a derailleur hanger to get enough clearance for the big cog even with the b-screw maxed out. I think it would work flipping the screw around but since I have the road link already, I prefer to keep using it.

After a few rides I'll likely swap the Shimano back in and throw the OM-1 on another bike, but it was a painless and successful experiment nonetheless.

- Adam; Washington, D.C.