Robbykills

So I have a Shimano Deore derailleur sitting around (a triple purchased in 2005), if I hook it up to a set of 2005 Sora STI shifters will it be all weird? I.e. the backwards shifting or will it be alright?

caotropheus

I suppose the combination will work. Try it and check if it works.

Proximo

Just to clarify, when you say "backwards shifting" you are describing a "low normal" *rear* derailleur?

MrCjolsen

Derailleurs do not care what or who is pulling on thier cables. They just do what they are told.

Proximo

So a shimano rear derailleur is going to work just fine with campy levers?

maddmaxx 

If I read your post correctly I think you are talking about a front derailleur. If so, it will not work properly with the Sora brifters and the pull ratio is different between the Shimano Road and Mountain Groups. You will need a road front to work with Sora.

If you look at a mountain front and a road front, the upper half of the pull lever where the cable attaches is almost twice as long as the equivalent lever on a road derailleur.

Additionally, the mountain derailleur will foul the front edge of the rear wheel on most road frames due to the narrow clearance between the seat tube and the tire. Road derailleurs work outboard of the centerline and do not get between the frame and the tire.

cs1

Sure it will move just not where you want it to. I think you understood the original post. He was asking if Rapid Rise derailleurs would work with a Shimano road shifter. The answer is the rear will work fine. You need a Shimano road specific front to use the Sora front brifter.

Tim

HillRider

This is an interesting point and not limited to MTB front derailleurs. Shimano's 8-speed RX-100, 105 and Ultergra road fds had actuating arms (distance from the pivot to the cable anchor bolt) much longer than their 9 and 10-speed fds. I ran into the rear tire clearance problems when I first installed a 105 8-speed triple fd on my '96 Litespeed. I had to use a band-on fd and a 115 mm bottom bracket (118 was recommended) to keep the arm from hitting the rear tire when in the big chainring.

When I finally upgraded to 9-speed the problem disappeared completely.

maddmaxx 

Did those 8 speed derailleurs have a bend in the actuator arm. The reason I ask is that I am sitting here looking at the more modern "flatbar" front derailleur. It has the long arm of an MTB derailleur but the arm is almost straight up and down so that the mechanism still stays outboard of the tire. I wonder if this derailleur would be a fix for the situation that you describe.
I wish we could compile a table of all of the mix and match variations of Shimano FD's ratio's and matching levers. Seems like this question comes up often.

Proximo

Actually, I was just responding to MrCJolson's obviously silly statement that derailleur's don't care what's tugging them. They do if you want them to shift correctly.

'nother

If the OP could clarify whether the Deore in question is a front or rear derailer, and if rear, whether it is Rapid Rise or not, his question could be answered quite easily and without dragging Campy into it.

DogBoy

if you are asking about the rear, all modern Shimano Derailleurs use the same pull ratio, so if you use 7/8 or 9 speed shifters with your Deore derailleur it should work fine. as long as the shifter/cassette matches. For example I use a 2006 deore XT low normal derailleur with my 7 speed system...the cassette matches the shifter. On my touring bike I use an XT derailleur with my 105 brifters and it works fine too.

To the other question, yes, Shimano Derailleurs work fine with campy shifters, so long as you adjust the pull ratio via a jtek shiftmate. Lots of users on this forum do this. Campy shifters work well with any front derailleur, since the shifters are essentially friction based.

TallRider

DogBoy has it right. I kept reading down the thread hoping that someone would summarize what's up, and he did. So thanks.

This is assuming the OP is talking about a rear derailler.
Shimano's front deraillers have different cable-pull ratio in road groups than in mountain groups.

DougG

I was about to make a similar post, but I think this thread answers my question. I currently have a Sora (triple) FD with ST-R500 shifters. I'm thinking of upgrading to a 105 FD, and I'm now assuming that this is basically a no-brainer -- correct?

I'm running 8 speeds in the rear and the 105 FD is listed as for 9/10 gearing, but I also assume that the FD doesn't really care what cassette you've got behind it.

maddmaxx 

DougG...your setup will be fine.

Robbykills

actually I'm talking a rear derailleur. And I had read that it made it shift backwards (i.e the lever for a bigger cog dropped it into lower cogs and vice versa) but in retrospect that may just be for the front. and now that I think about it my road downtube shifters worked with the same MTB derailleur. Sorry for the confusion and thanks for the advice!

cs1

I stand corrected.

Tim