Enhance Your Shimano Direct Mount Rear Derailleur with Wolf Tooth Components Lindarets GoatLink Review

Unfortunately not perfect - it lets the front derailleur work - but bad because it's placed well behind the cassette leaving less chain length in contact with the sprockets causing serious shifting problems. Get a "Road Link" instead - this extension (not a replacement like the Goatlink) results in much better derailleur placement (down and forward) and better shifting.

This article makes a world of difference when using a cassette expander. Before Wolftooth the offset was so bad that after it was as good as 2x 90% of the time I seriously considered going back to 2x. I don't think you'll ever shift perfectly with an extended 10-speed cassette, but this part makes it pretty manageable. For reference, I'm using a Shimano XT derailleur and cassette with a huge 40-tooth Wolf cog and a 16-tooth cog.

I was looking to upgrade my Shimano 9 speed to a 10 speed with an 11-42 cassette. This device is the perfect tool for that. You cannot fit a gear greater than 34 on a standard Shimano tire. Well, technically you could get 40 there by lengthening the B-bolt a bit, but then you have an overloaded derailleur running at a weird angle and with teeth. That's the right decision. The B screw does not need to be turned. This item works with modern Shimano derailleurs that have a detachable connection…