# DA 7400 STI w/ XTR M900 cassette - compatible?



## davidpegasus (Jun 17, 2006)

I must be missing something... I understood a DA 7400 8-spd STI shifter would have the same gear spacing as an XTR 12-32 8-spd cassette, but the gear spacing, between the two, seems incompatible: If I adjust my Sachs Quartz rear derailleur to shift well across the four or five smaller cogs, it has difficulty reaching the larger cogs... and visa versa. This spacing issue aside, the Quartz derailleur tracks the cogs well fromn its perch on an '80s Campy horizontal dropout. 

I've tried swapping-out the cassette w/ a SRAM 8-spd cassette, w/ no improvement, so I put the XTR cassette back on. The chain (SRAM PC-58), and DA shift cable are new. The STI shifter, XTR cassette, and Quartz derailleur are all NOS. I know my spare DA rear derailleur won't reach the 32T cog...

Might the DA7400 STI control have an adjustable "gear spacing" I have not read about? Assuming it does not: Might any of you have a suggestion as to what I should try next? 

Thank you in advance,
David


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## sw3759 (Jul 10, 2004)

David,
i don't think that quartz derailleur is going to be compatible with shifters.the cassette spacing will work.the derailieur will not.a 7700 series may work though.never mixed 7700 w/74XX series but if i recall it had 2 cable positions so it would work with the 74XX series stuff.
hope this helps.

Scott


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## TurboTurtle (Feb 4, 2004)

Try "Alternate Cable Routing"

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/dura-ace.html

TF


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## davidpegasus (Jun 17, 2006)

*Thank you, TF; Thank you, Scott*

Thank you, Scott, and thank you, TF.

I tried running the cable the alternate way, TF, with the same result. I do appreciate the suggestion.

I have a spare 7400 rear der., Scott, but it won't reach this cross bike's XTR 32T cog. I've just bid on an XTR RD-M950 rear der. If THAT doesn't work with either cable routing, well, my rear derailleur collection will then grow by one DA 7700 triple, and I will try TF's suggested alternate cable routing again.

If I need more help on this then, I'll post again on this.

Thanks again, guys.

David.


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## davidpegasus (Jun 17, 2006)

*Thank you, Scott, and thank you, TF.*

Thank you, Scott, and thank you, TF.

I tried running the cable the alternate way, TF, with the same result. I do appreciate the suggestion.

I have a spare 7400 rear der., Scott, but it won't reach this cross bike's XTR 32T cog. I've just bid on an XTR RD-M950 rear der. If THAT doesn't work with either cable routing, well, my rear derailleur collection will then grow by one DA 7700 triple, and I will try TF's suggested alternate cable routing again.

If I need more help on this then, I'll post again on this.

Thanks again, guys.

David.


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## epic (Apr 16, 2005)

I guess you haven't posted because your XTR der. worked. I have an older Slingshot that has 7400 shifters and an M900 12-32 with an XT rear der. and no shifting issues at all, so it can work for sure.


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## davidpegasus (Jun 17, 2006)

*D-A 8-spd STI works beautifully with XTR M900 cassette*

Yeah, the XTR rear derailleur works beautifully with the Dura-Ace shifters. In fact, I've never ridden a better-shifting combination. The desired jumps are immediate and dead-on centered across all of the cogs.

Thank you, all.

David


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