Been thinking I might try this 10spd malarkey on one of my bikes, mainly cos I think I’d benefit from going down to 2 chainrings on said bike and with the wider ratio cassette I would still get all the ratios I wanted. But need to price this up really, work out what I can and can’t get away with, as if it’s too expensive it would just be a no go.

What I have at the moment is as follows…

M952 XTR 9spd long cage rear mech
M952 XTR 9spd shifters
M760 XT 22/32/44 Chainset
M760 11-32 9spd cassette
R773 10spd braze on front mech (bike is a Maverick, they use a roadie front mech, this is 10spd already so would save me a few quid).

What I really want to know is what I can and can’t get away with. Can I use a 9spd rear mech ok, or is it a no go and I have to get a new 10spd one? I appreciate shifters, cassette and chain would be a given of course.

Also, chainrings… Now I wanna go down to a 2 ring setup, like on the new XTR, probably something like 26/38 or therabouts. Who sells half decent 10spd chainrings to fit my M760 XT cranks? Or which 2 ring chainset to buy if I have to go down that route (which I’d rather not, it’s all money at the end of the day!)? I’ve seen the SRAM X7 and X9, they look ok, but I’m not so hot on the GXP BB’s, prefer the HT2 stuff.

Now just to double check, but 10spd cassettes are the same width as 9 and 8 right, so they still fit on the same hubs? I have assumed they do, just checking I’m right…

So what’s the answer, and can I change over to 2×10 on my Maverick for under £200 you reckon, all in? I’m fine with SLX level kit if it needs to be though, have checked the prices on CRC and seems not too bad, but it’s mainly the chainrings (or possible need of a new chainset for the 2 ring 10speed setup) that concerns me.

Ive a brand new boxed XT 10 spd rear mech if your interested – about to put it on classifieds.

carbon337, I may be, kinda depends if I can come in under the magic £200 bracket on it all really, otherwise it’d a no go for the moment.

You will need a different rear mech, the 9 spd one won’t work.

As for chainrings, TA do some good ones in the kind of sizes you are looking for.

I wouldn’t even look at SRAM double chainsets, the prices are ridicolous!

So you need shifters, chain, mech and 2 chainrings, you might just squeeze that in for £200, I doubt it though.

You’ll need-

rear mech- £53 for XT at pedalon.co.uk
right hand shifter- £41 for XT at slanescycles.com
chain- shimano 5600 chain- £17 at JE James
chain rings- 9 speed are fine. £19 for a middleburn 26T, can’t find a 38T one just now but they do exist. Say about £30.
cassette- there is no good reason to go beyond SLX ones now they have a carrier- £37 at pedalon

= £197

45 quid shifter
50 quid rear mech
50 quid casette
25 quid chain

Done – I would do it myself as i have the mech but cant justify the other 125 before xmas and baby due imminently

Cheers Spokescycles

Can you explain about the 9spd chainring compatability… I understood 10spd chains wouldn’t work on 9spd rings…

They’ll be fine, the internal width of the chain is virtually (if not totally) identical. Plenty of people have been running 10 speed chains on 9 speed rings for years.

I’ve not changed any of my c/rings since upgrading to 10 speed and the 9speed rings are fine. I’ve even got an 8spd ring running a 10spd chain.

This thread should help
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=646014

You might get the ratio’s doing it that way but after a go on a SRAM 10 speed set up I doubt you will get the experience. The front shifting (X7, so not too bling) was stunning. Smooth and instant shifting up and down under any kind of load I could muster. Rear shifting was also superb but it was the front shifting that was the winner for me. If I could only do one end it would be 2×9 with a 10 speed front crank set and mech, not exactly cheap but the change in shifting performance would be worth it.

Shame I can’t really afford it but one day that Yeti Big Top with a SRAM 2×10 will be mine 🙂

Yep, I agree with Tracker. IIRC you can buy a wide ratio 9spd cassette that is designed for 29ers, so you could pretty much get all the gears. SRAM 2×10 front shifting really is the nuts.

It is good, but the whole point of the wider cassette is that you don’t shift on the front as much! I often do a 3 hour ride without shifting on the front at all! It’s a bit wasted!

Just gone down the route of changing to an X0 crankset up front and kept 9 spd at the back. As I’m running twist shifters there was no need to change front mech, not ridden it yet but it all worked fine on the workstand last night and it should hopefully stop me surfing the middle/outer combo all the time.

I think I’ll stick with this setup for a while until I can come to terms with no 10 spd twist shifters 😥

mboy – I got a 10sp SLX drivetrain groupset from Woolly Hat Shop a couple of weeks ago when they were doing a 10% off code.

Cost me £220. Even without the 10% off you could sell the bits you don’t need, maybe the crankset, and get under £200 easy.

Much appreciated so far guys

SpokesCycles and njee, good to know about the 9spd ring compatibility. As fortune would have it, I’ve got a 24/36 Raceface setup in good condition kicking about in my toolbox, not quite as high as I’d ideally run, but would do to get me started and save a load of cash buying new chainrings.

StuE, much appreciated, just had a good read of that thread and its cleared quite a few things up for me.

Tracker1972, I understand where you’re coming from, I’ve had a go on a 3 ringed Shimano full 10spd XT setup and was mightily impressed with the front shifting experience. But I don’t want 3 chainrings, the SRAM stuff is mega-priced (and heavy for what it is), and the whole point of going 10spd for me, would as njee says, be to shift less up front. I couldn’t help but thinking on the 30spd XT bike I tried out that marvellous as it was, the front shifting quality would be totally wasted as I’d rarely use it. So if 9spd rings work fine with a 10spd chain (and there seems to be plenty of evidence it does), I’d be prepared to try it for the interim at least…

bol, I wouldn’t consider one of the wide range 29er cassettes, I don’t want the bigger gaps in the ratios. Also they’re only Deore quality, and weigh a bloody ton!

chapaking, cheers for the info, will check out what the woollyhatshop are still doing. Though this might not be an immediate upgrade anyway, and would prefer to just buy what I need rather than have to sell anything expensive on like cranks, although if it worked out it was worth it…

Cheers again guys

Hmm, this is interesting. Pleased to hear that 9 speed rings work with 10 speed chains.

Once my cassette is worn out, I can see me going to 3×10 using the existing chainrings/crankarms, by swapping the rear shifter, mech, cassette and chain. Then when the front chainrings are gone, I can just go to 2×10 by replacing the front shifter and rings.

At least I now know there is an easy migration path rather than having to replace the whole drivetrain in one day at huge expense.

also wippermann connex chain works a treat on 10sp xt.

Another question…

Bearing in mind I’ve used SRAM chains for a long while now, primarily cos of the SRAM powerlink, what chain would be best for 10spd use in my proposed setup of the following…

M773 10spd XT rear mech
M773 10spd XT shifters
M773 10spd XT 11-36 cassette
M760 9spd cranks with 24/36/bash Raceface rings
R773 10spd flat bar road bike front mech (already on the bike, needed cos it’s a Maverick)

Now I’d like something that’s as quick/easy/convenient as a SRAM powerlink chain, but I’ve read the new 10spd Shimano chains are significantly better in use… What’s the answer as to what chain to run?

Nobody got any 10spd chain advice then?

One other alternative not yet mentioned is to get a r770 shifter which is 10 speed and works with 9 speed rear mechs so you’d then just need a 10 speed cassette and chain.

You can get a rh one alone for £45ish if you do some searching.

http://www.madison.co.uk/productinfo.aspx?catref=SLR770PA

KMC Quick link in a Shimano chain.

Cheers clubber, was tempted by the R773 shifter option, I’d want a matching pair though, and so far can’t find any for cheaper than about £110… At that price, it’d be cheaper to go for proper MTB 10spd shifters and a rear mech, certainly if I can sell my old 9spd stuff. Shame really, as if they were more in line with SLX/XT prices they’d be ideal.

njee, cheers again, didn’t know KMC did 10spd quick links.

or buy a wippermann 10s8 chain which has a connex link inc(works very nicely on my 10sp xt set up). the kmc links are £8 each! for emergency repair use a sram powerlock, while not being reusable, are cheaper than a kmc. i got all the dyna sys stuff when i had a 10% voucher for crc. woollyhatshop had some good prices.