So Close

This XTR is a bit close. I changed out the big ring for something a little bit more modest (46), and had to muck about with the derailleur again. It's just not the right tool for the job. As you can see it's almost hitting the rear tire and the cage rubs on the front teeth when it's in the big ring. I think I need a slim road derailleur.

I think the XTR needs a large tooth rage drop between rings. When I used the 53, the derailleur was higher upon the frame and so the bottom of the derailleur cage missed the smaller ring - problem with that is, it rubbed on the rear tire. I could use a smaller ring and keep the 46. Stay posted, I will see what I have sitting around.

Getting geared up for spring

The first few races of my spring season will require more gears than I use for cross. I will need a double up front and to do that I will need a front derailleur. As luck would have it, the Gary Fisher and the Alan use the same tube frame size on the seat tube. That would leave the Fisher with just a single up front (42) and nine in the back.
I fitted out the Alan with a 36/53. It's not perfect and the derailleur rubs a bit on both ends of the gear range but it will do for now. There is also not a hell of a lot of clearance between the rear tire and the cable clamp on the front derailleur - this would not work for cross.

I also took off the top mounted interrupter brake levers and used a shorter stem. The other modification for this spring configuration was to go back to IRD fork. It's a bit heaver than the Alan (Pinarello) all carbon fork but it doesn't have that massive clearance between the tire and the top of the fork that looks a little goofy unless you are ridding fat cross tires.