cpg

Hello all. I have been looking into bar end shifter and rear derailleur comparability. I am considering getting some Shimano SL-BS64-8 bar end shifters. The Shimano documentation states “these shifters are exclusively designed for Shimano 600 Ultegra 8 speed system. Use in combination with the rear derailleur RD-6401”.
The document does not state that these bar ends will not work any other derailleur. Does anyone have any actual experience of using these bar end shifters with a rear derailleur that is not and RD-6401 and if so did the index shifting work correctly? Ideally I would like to be able to keep the current rear derailleur the bike is fitted with, a, RSX RD-A410. Thank you.

Steve B.

Don't know the numbers, but I've used for years a Shimano 9 spd. barcon set with an LX 9 sd rear derailer. Works just fine. I'm pretty sure the shifters are designed for use with road derailers, but with 9 spd. you got some flexibility as what stuff worked with other Shimano parts.

Kontact 

Those will work with any of the 10 or earlier Shimano road RDs or 9 or earlier mountain RDs, with the exception of Dura Ace 7400. They will also work with the 8/9/10 Microshift derailleurs. All with Shimano, or SRAM 8 speed cassettes and clones - not Sachs 8 speed freewheels.

You can also buy the Microshift clones of the Shimano bar ends and they'll have the same compatibility.


I think that warning is a left over from when 6400 and 7400 were not compatible, but there wasn't 105 8 speed yet. So at that moment the 6400 shifters only had Ultegra - as a group - to work with.

Crankycrank

Can't see any reason why it wouldn't work. Here's a chart of various derailleurs and their specs. The main go/no go number to match with shifter and derailleur is the "pull ratio" which is 1.7 for the shifters and your derailleur. Bicycle Cassettes & Drivetrains - Google Sheets Go to rows 270 and 271 for the RSX and 295 for the 6401. All the specs are about the same and would appear to be interchangeable. Different numbers of speeds are not a factor in your case.

Joe Remi

The long, detailed answers are all correct, the shorter one is:

RSX came out a few years after the 600 mech at a lower price point; the lineup at the time was 600/105/RX100/RSX, all the same pull ratio, you're good 👍

delbiker1 

I am using 6400 bar end levers, but I am using them in friction mode. I use either 10 or 11 speed cassette, from 11-28 thru 11-36. The rear derailleur is 6500 short cage. Front is 46/36. Good info above for using indexed.

cpg

Thank you everyone for your posts and the information, I appreciate it.