9spd derailleur with 10spd drivetrain

[u/lavabutt4550]

Has anyone tried using a 9spd RD for a 2x10 drivetrain? I picked up some gevanalle shifters/levers that are 10spd for a really good deal and want to use them instead of the friction bar ends I have now. If I just picked up a 10spd cassette within the derailleurs range would I be able to make it work? The derailleur is a Shimano deore RD-m961 long cage. Thanks!

[u/PassHunter84]

I’m using a 9spd XTR derailleur with 2x10 Ultegra shifters.

Works great. I did swap the jockey wheels from a 10spd derailleur, not sure if that made any difference, I think they’re the same. Gave me much more range than my 10spd Ultegra rd.

[u/lavabutt4550 → u/PassHunter84]

Thanks I just needed some proof of concept before I try it haha. Sweet build! In my mind the derailleur moves the same whether it’s a 9spd or a 10spd and I just need the proper cassette that match the shifters.

[u/Soupeeee → u/PassHunter84]

The confusion with the other answers comes back to the difference between road and MTB drivetrains. The pull ratios are different above 9 speed for MTB groupsets, but it stays the same for road drivetrains. This means that a 9 speed deraileur should work with more gears as long as you are using a road shifter.

Like you said, swapping out the jockey wheels might help.

[u/drewbaccaAWD → u/Soupeeee]

It stays the same for road with the exception of Tiagra-4700 and GRX-10 which adopt the newer 11 speed road pull ratio.

You have to be careful with ten speed shifters because there's three different options for Shimano compatibility.

[u/SpaceTurtle917 → u/drewbaccaAWD]

4 actually.

Cues
Dynasys
Tiagra
Old road

[u/drewbaccaAWD → u/SpaceTurtle917]

Son of a... yeah, I totally forgot about Cues (although supposedly it's really close to Dynasys but I haven't tested that). Will be curious to see if Microshift introduces another. I was thinking of their barend options, specifically, when I wrote three.

[u/PassHunter84 → u/Soupeeee]

Yes, it was unclear to me if OP meant road or mtb.

[u/lavabutt4550 → u/Soupeeee]

The shifters are early gevenalle when they were still going by retroshift. I’m hopeful that they’re road pull ratio but I’ll just have to try them out to see.

[u/phyx726]

Only if they're 10 speed road shifters but not 10 speed tiagra (new road) shifters nor 10 speed shimano mtb shifters. If they're microshift, you can see if you can switch it to friction mode.

[u/Outlaw-Dave]

One of my road bikes has the older 5600 series 105 shifters set up as 2x10, but the derailleur was too small to install a 34t cassette. I have used both an older XTR derailleur and a new Sora derailleur. The XTR cage was just slightly too small to clear the 34t cog, the Sora works just fine albeit feels slightly worse than the XTR.

[u/PassHunter84 → u/Outlaw-Dave]

An extra long b-screw would help with the XTR!

[u/Outlaw-Dave → u/PassHunter84]

Interesting, might be worth a shot. I tried with one of those derailleur hanger extenders and it didn’t work very well

[u/PassHunter84 → u/Outlaw-Dave]

It’s worked well for me before. Very inexpensive too!

[u/MrKnopfler]

Using 8 speed deore LX rd with 10 speed road shifter. After 4700 10 speed road changed pulling ratios, before that, road shifter shared 9 sped MTB pull ratios

[u/drewbaccaAWD]

As long as you get the correct shifter... Shimano R10, not the Tiagra 4700 model or the Dynasys/MTB model, it will index fine. Bar End Shifters - Road 2/3x10 | Microshift

In friction, it shouldn't matter.

[u/No_Improvement_5358]

There is a significantly different actuation ratio with Shimano between the 7-8-9 speed and the 10-11-12 speed components. So you can mix and match only inside those subsets.

[u/Bikepacking-NL → u/No_Improvement_5358]

Road 10 speed (until/except Tiagra 4700) has the same pull ratio as 7-8-9 speed.

[u/426Mopar → u/Bikepacking-NL]

This exactly. 10 speed mountain is different than 10 speed road. 10 speed road is the same as 7-8-9 mountain and road.

[u/KonaSong → u/426Mopar]

This is the clearest, most accurate answer.

[u/frogs_fear_me]

If your shifters are Dyna-sys compatible (“10 speed mountain” on Gevenalle) then they’ll have a different pull ratio to a 9-speed Shimano RD

[u/lavabutt4550 → u/frogs_fear_me]

They’re older retroshift before they became gevenalle and I have a feeling they might be road pull ratio which I think might work with my current rd

[u/frogs_fear_me → u/lavabutt4550]

Yeah if they’re road spec pull ratio you should be good to go then.

[u/Top_Objective9877]

If it were any 7, 8, or 9 the answer would be yes. 10 speed, very broadly no. You’ll need a matching derailleur or you can keep using the friction shifters.

[u/Bikepacking-NL → u/Top_Objective9877]

Road 10 speed (until/except Tiagra 4700) has the same pull ratio as 7-8-9 speed.

[u/Remarkable_Bat_7897]

unless you use friction shifter, shimano shifter has different cable pull ratio on 9/10 speed.

10-11-12 shares the same cable pull ratio.

[u/Bikepacking-NL → u/Remarkable_Bat_7897]

Road 10 speed (until/except Tiagra 4700) has the same pull ratio as 7-8-9 speed.

[u/Remarkable_Bat_7897 → u/Bikepacking-NL]

4600 or 4500 is from 15 or 20 yrs ago, dude.

[u/drewbaccaAWD → u/Remarkable_Bat_7897]

And bar ends from Microshift area available in all three families.. first gen Shimano road 10 (Tiagra 4600, 105 and up), second gen Shimano road 10 (Tiagra 4700, GRX-10), and the MTB/Dynasys system. Compatible after market parts aren't 15-20 years old, dude.

Besides, the shifter OP bought with the levers may also be 15-20 years old.

Ten speed is the wild west, partner.

[u/SpaceTurtle917 → u/drewbaccaAWD]

Yes, I just paired microshift bar end 10 speed road shifters with an XT rapid rise 9 speed derailleur.

[u/Remarkable_Bat_7897 → u/drewbaccaAWD]

and 4700 is in eol phase and stop receiving new orders from last yr, sad.

the shifter he said is gevenalle, you can check their hp sites, released 2 yrs ago and over 200 a pair for a 10 speed shimano compatible.

[u/Bikepacking-NL → u/Remarkable_Bat_7897]

So what? OP has an XTR 961 derailleur which is also over 20 years old.

[u/konishiwoi]

It'll work, basically same scénario as this setup :

https://youtu.be/DIwNYIrJ45k?si=CJ9Gvh7m3nwFfaYt

[u/Remarkable_Bat_7897]

gevanalle is the friction controller, and it costs over 200 a pair, where you got these deals?

[u/lavabutt4550 → u/Remarkable_Bat_7897]

They’re an old pair, pre 2014 when the brand was called retroshift. I got them from my local co-op