We joke around that Wolf Tooth Components turns out new products fast enough that we have to visit their booth every day at trade shows just to make sure we don’t miss anything new. In all actuality, we’re only partially joking. After checking out the new stainless direct mount rings, prototype oval rings, and the new 64 BCD rings and bash guard, we stopped by the very next day and WTC had the new Lindarets X WTC GoatLink, plus this interesting blue derailleur cage.
Still very much in prototype phase, the 3D printed cage hints at what’s to come in the near future…
One of WTC’s biggest concerns when designing the derailleur cage is to eliminate the potential of the chain catching on the lever arm of the derailleur. According to WTC depending on your set up, current designs have the potential of jamming up since the offset upper pulley places the chain closer to the derailleur but it is very bike and set up dependent. The use of 3D printing allows WTC to quickly create working prototypes that allows them to test the clearance of different set ups before turning on their machines. Like other replacement cages the WTC cage will offset the upper pulley, but the question lies in the geometry of the cage.
Information on pricing and availability is still pretty far out, but we’re guessing this will be something for one of the trade shows later this year…
