nwvelophile

Are Shimano indexed road shifters (Claris, Sora, Tiagra, 105, Ultegra, Dura Ace) compatible with Shimano MTB rear derailleurs (Deore, etc), and vice versa?

Or do they have different cable pulls and require their own flavor of shifter?

I ask because I have bar-end shifters and Deore RD, am considering upgrading to 10-speed (Tiagra or 105) RD, and need to know if I'll need to replace the indexed shifter.

Thanks!

Tim_Iowa

If you want to index 10 speeds, you'll need to buy a 10-speed shifter, 10-speed cassette, and 10-speed chain. That should be it, if you have an 8 or 9 speed system now.
(The Shimano 10 speed bar-ends are only $50 right now at Nashbar, I just converted my and my girlfriend's bikes to 10 speeds.)

A 10-speed road shifter will perfectly index 10 cogs with your existing Deore RD.

So, changing the RD will have no impact on your ability to index 10 speeds. If your RD needs to be replaced, replace it. Changing to 10-speeds isn't a reason to upgrade it.


Shifters control the indexing (number of speeds).
* Shimano SIS is cross-compatible: 7, 8, 9, 10 speed Road, and 7, 8, and 9 speed MTB.
* Shimano Dyna-Sys is 10 speed MTB, not compatible with SIS.

I'm not sure what they call 11 speed Road and 11 speed MTB, but they're not compatible with anything else (AFAIK).

Slash5

Yes, a 9 speed or less Shimano MTB derailleur will work with 10 speed or less Shimano road shifters.
However a MTB front derailleur will not work with an indexed front road shifter - not a problem with the friction bar end shifter.

Darth Lefty 

And just to add to this, the left/front cable pull is longer for MTB than for road. But pretty much all road groups are the same and pretty much all MTB groups are the same SFAIK, and if you are running friction on the left it won't make any difference.

@nwvelophile what shifters and RD do you have now? I know that Microshift makes 10-speed Dyna-sys bar-end shifters and that Surly puts them on the Cross Check and Long Haul Trucker with a 10-speed Deore trekking RD. If you have a setup like that then none of it will be compatible with road-group hardware.

nwvelophile

I have a 2013 Surly Cross Check:

• Microshift 2/3x9 bar-end shifters, front friction only, rear index-only. Unsure of model, but would guess BS-A09
• Shimano Deore RD-M591 rear derailleur
• Shimano HG509 11-32 cassette
• Andel RSC6-217 48/36 crank to which I added a 26T (result is same as RSC6-317)
• Shimano Sora FD-3503 front derailleur

The advice here is that a 10-speed Shimano road-compatible bar-end (eg: Microshift BS-T10) would shift the Deore RD-M591 just fine. Did I understand that right?

Question: would the Andel triple work with a 10-speed chain? Would there be any issue with the chainring teeth being too wide, or chain rings being spaced too far apart so the thinner 10-speed chain could drop between them?

fietsbob

10 speed chainrings are kind of like 8 speed ones if the 10 speed chain settles over the teeth you're good to go
1/2 inch pitch is the same , tooth thickness may vary.

Tim_Iowa

Yes, the 10 speed Shimano road-compatible bar-end (BS79 aka 7900) or Microshift road-compatible bar-end (BS-A10 or BS-T10 -- the T10 does index or friction, the A10 is index only) will perfectly index your existing Deore RD-M591. They're all on the compatible "SIS" standard. I used that exact combo (BS-79 and RD-M591) on my girlfriend's bike.

Your current triple crank with 9 speed rings should work just fine. The differences in width between 9 and 10 speed chains aren't enough to cause problems with your crank. A 10-speed-compatible crank (instead of 8- or 9-) would shift the 10-speed chain a tiny bit better with an index front shifter (which usually suck), but with a friction bar-end you'll never notice.

Both my and my girlfriend's bikes shift great with the BS-79 shifters, 10-speed chain, 8-speed triple cranks, 10-speed cassettes, and 9-speed MTB rear derailleurs.

Darth Lefty 

Yes! Good summary. And the Dyna-sys compatible barcons on the current 10-speed LHT & CC are model BS-M10