Gearing question...sorry

[HUX]

As a 3x9 dinosaur I have no idea anymore about what is compatible with what so to avoid ending up under a pile of parts that don't work can anyone tell me if shimano 10 or 11speed road shifters will work with both mtb or road rear mechs, and will they shift ok with an mtb double chainset. Is a mtb or road front mech needed.I think I've worked out that a pro2 non evo hub will take 10 or 11 mtb cassettes but not road 11. And trp spyres are ok with the shifters.
Any advice greatly appreciated as my head is beginning to hurt

[fatbikephil]

10 or 11 speed road shifters will work with roadie mechs or old 9 speed mtb mechs, not 10 or 11 speed mtb mechs.
Any front mech will work with 10 or 11 speed shifters as Shimano has never changed the lever ration of these.

[Bearlegged]

... if shimano 10 or 11speed road shifters will work with both mtb or road rear mechs...

No. Different pull ratios. Which is annoying.

will they shift ok with an mtb double chainset. Is a mtb or road front mech needed.

I've got road shifters and mech working on an MTB double chainset. Not perfect, but the trim function helps. I wonder if an MTB mech might work better, but it's not so bad that I feel the need to buy another front mech.

I think I've worked out that a pro2 non evo hub will take 10 or 11 mtb cassettes but not road 11.

Shimano 10/11 MTB, but not SRAM 11.

And trp spyres are ok with the shifters.

Yes.

[restlessshawn]

10 or 11 speed road shifters will work with roadie mechs or old 9 speed mtb mechs, not 10 or 11 speed mtb mechs.
Any front mech will work with 10 or 11 speed shifters as Shimano has never changed the lever ration of these.

road and mtb front mechs have always had slightly different pull ratios, can't remember which one pulls more than the other. They can sort of be made to work on doubles but not triples

Gevenalle shifters are the easiest fix to this kind of shenanagins as the front is friction so will work anything. They also do shifters that will work with 10 or 11 speed mtb mechs

[Al]

I had to get my head round this recently for a gravel bike build.
I’m runnihg 105 10speed sti with a mtb double chainset. 9speed XT mechs work great as mentioned above. You can’t use an mtb front mech with road sti as the pull ratio isn’t the same - track down a shimano cx series mech - they are designed work with smaller diameter chain sets for cyclocross, so it less of a stretch to get them to work mtb rings than a regular road front mech.

Edit - someone beat me to it!

[redefined_cycles]

Main reason why people use the 9 speed mtb shimano rear mech with 10 speed road shifters is to get some ultra low gearing (in historical road gearing terms ehich eouldnt really take a 32 or 34 rear cassette kindly)...

I was running my 10 speed road ultegra shifters with my xt m770 9 speed rear mech with 32 cassette and 34 10 speed cassette.
.

[ianfitz]

There are a number of devices that will alter cable pull.

J-tec make some for loads of different speeds.

There’s also a tanpan which will let an 11 speed Mtb rear mech work with 11 speed road shifters.

[HUX]

thanks folks,more head scratching and looking to see what's on offer

[ctznsmith]

Er....what size biggest cog do you want to run? A lot of recent Shimano 10 and 11 road mechs are designed to work with a 34.

Plus there's the road link (et al.) if you want to go up to 40.

[windjammer]

im running sram apex brake/shifter levers mated to a sram clutch mtb rear mech 10 speed got a sjs cycles copy of a road link to run a 11-42 rear cassette,shimano xt front mech,shimano 10 speed cassette.all work great,front shifter lever has a trim function too

[Scud]

Depends how low you want to go.

For the Torino-Nice rally as everyone had advised "you cannot gear low enough". I used:

Ultegra 11 speed shifters, 11 speed Ultegra rear medium cage mech, 11-36 cassette and XT 10 speed 38/22 chainrings, worked really well.

Andy from here used, 10 speed shifters mated to 9 speed XTR rear mech with 11-36 10 speed rear cassette and same chainset, again it worked really well.

I think for most things in this country 11-36 rear cassette is enough with 50/34 or 46/30 front chain rings though and can be done easily.