Shimano XT instead of 105
 

I've contacted Sheldon Brown for advice. Asking him for replacements for my 105. He told me that 105 is nothing special, and his personal choice would be XT.


Thus, his personal choice would be mountain bike der for your road bike. Why?


Is XT better than 105, Ultegra, Dura Ace? I got the sense off him that it is stronger and shifts faster, but isn't lighter, but who cares. What are you thoughts on this one?

XT would shift nicely - of the long-cage options out there, it's probably among the best. I have a friend whose Trek Madone has XTR for a rear der (with a 11-30 ten-speed cassette) and a compact double (34-50) in the front - a setup he bought for last year's Death Ride. He says it shifts as well as his Dura Ace setup ever did (he still has the DA brifters and front der).

"Mountain bike" and "road bike" are marketing terms, not technical terms when you're talking about derailers and many other parts. The XT is what I would call a "wide range" derailer, vs. medium range (105 GS) or narrow range (105 SS). Wide range derailers were also formerly called "touring" models, but in the late '80s, the marketeers decided that "touring" was a worn-out term, so they re-named all of the touring stuff "mountain." It's a mistake to get suckered into thinking that there's some incompatibility where none exists.

The XT would permit a later change to a wide range cassette, while the so-called "road" models generally won't handle anything bigger than a 30 in back.

In terms of "level" (again, mainly a marketing issue) XT is the same "level" as Ultegra. Indeed, I replaced the Ultegra that came on my Raleigh Cadent 4.0 with an XT. I actually didn't change the gearing, so the XT is working at a small fraction of its capacity with the 12-25 10 speed and triple front.

I switched to the XT partly so that I would have the option of going lower in back at a later date, but mainly because it is the low-normal "RapidRise" version which provides slightly better downshifting. The use of a low-normal in back also reduced confusion when I would go back and forth between my Campagnolo equipped bikes and the Raleigh.

Sheldon "Reality, Not Marketing" Brown

I can vouch for the XT as it shifts just as well as my Ultegra. I climb a lot, and being a clyde, the lower gearing is a plus without going to a triple. I went with the top normal design to keep the same shifting pattern on the brifters.

Perfect. I'm getting me a nice XT for the rear. They cost kind of same as 105, out of china.


I'm still looking for front der solution, I want same specs for front as XT only top pull. Tiagra I have totally bad. That's what caused me to break chain in the first place, because it wouldn't shift from 2nd to 3rd front.

Yup!

If you have a Tiagra (road) front derailleur how can you replace it with a top pull? Almost all road frames and fd's I know about require bottom pull shift cable routing.

If you are using STI shifters, you have to stay with a road front derailleur as MTB fd's have different geometry and don't shift well with STI brifters. That said, I have trouble believing the Tiagra fd was the cause of your chain breakage and that an MTB fd would do any better.

Sheldon is correct that "touring" and "MTB" rear derailleurs are pretty much the same animal except for marketing but the new name was really out of necessity. In the 1980's the touring market completely tanked and the MTB was just catching on and was destined to really be "the next big thing". Continuing to call wide range rear derailleurs "Touring" derailleurs was not going to work.

Also, as the MTB caught on, rear derailleurs were modified to meet their specific needs for ruggedness and dirt resistance. By now it's much more accurate to say that Touring bikes can use MTB rear derailleurs rather than the other way around.

Yea, looking back, I do believe the chain breaking was caused by a cross shift, or mis shift. I think I shifted front, and it didn't go through all the way, and then I shifted back...


All the while I was clanking like crazy on me. Now I know the signs...


When this new XT arrives, I'll install it, and test it while bike upside down. Then I go out there and learn to shift properly...



Do you think I could reuse the chian? It had 1 bent element, where it brocke. I fix that with some pliyers. It is straight now, and able to hook.

I wouldn't reuse the chain. Chains aren't that expensive and $7-10 USD is a whole lot cheaper than another new RD if a damaged (but not obviously so) link in that chain were to break...

I agree. A chain with a damaged link is just waiting to break at an inopportune time. Replace it as soon as you can.

what about the width difference between the 105/ultegra and the xt?
pothound

What width difference do you imagine there is?

Sheldon "Width?" Brown

If I knew what that man knows before I bought my bike, I wouldn't buy it. Instead, I'd buy a frame, handle bars, seat post and seat, pedals, drive train, two derailers, other stuff, and build a bike I love to use for about the same money.

You can still do this for your next bike. It's a very rewarding experience so long as you don't do it primarily to save $.

i broke a link the other day the guy at lbs said it was ok to take that link out and just reconnect it, as long as it wasnt too short in 1st place

Reconnecting it with the proper pin or master link is a bit different than "straightening it with pliers". :)

I just built up one of my frames with 9-speed STI and a 12-25 cassette, and am using a 1995 XT long-cage rear derailer (labeled "8-speed"). Shifting works very well, although I don't need the extra capacity for either total chainwrap (53/39 double crank) or large rear cogs. It's just the derailer that I had sitting around.

I have a Deore rear der on my CrossCheck. It shifts at least as well as the Tiagra it replaced. It was a spare in my tool box.

my 105 rear hub assembly is 130mm. i think the xt rear assembly is 135mm. correct me if i'm wrong.
thank you
pothound

True, but your 105 rear hub will accept Shimano-compatible cassettes (road or mountain) and so will your XT hub. In other words, the cassettes don't mind if the hub they're going on is "road" or "mountain," the freehub body on the hub accepts either one-

Makes no difference. The hub width has no bearing on the rear derailer. The derailer only does what the shifter tells it to. You can use it on a 6/7/8/9 and maybe 10 speed cassette and on any hub spacing you can think of. The derailer doesn't care.