[Closed] 11 speed XT with 11 Speed 105

You'll need a Wolftooth Tanpan or JTEK shiftmate

What he says. Tanpan 11 works perfectly %

Okay thanks, after having to use something similar years ago for compatibility I'm not too keen on that idea. Are GRX mechs compatible with normal road shifters or are they only compatible with GRX shifters?

I have a 11 speed Tanpan I need to sell if you want one. Worked perfectly with RS505 levers and XT 11-42 mach and cassette. £42 new, I'd do £25 posted. Is the inline version so can be used in both modes, used for 6 months before splitting the bike.

Why do you want a MTB mech? I'm using an Ultegra mech on an XT 11-40 cassette with 105 shifters. No Wolftooth/Tanpan or anything.

Because I have an XT mech sitting around and my Ultegra rear mech is only a short cage.

Thanks for the offer GeoforceJunky but I'd rather not go down that route.

Another vote for the tanpan here- 10 and 11 speed here for ooh, 6 years and the only times I’ve thought I’ve had problems have been when it turned out I’d neglected cable maintenance badly anyway.

Another why? I dont think you need to mix n match mtb and road kit. I do on my turbo to make a bike from parts to stay on the trainer and having used the jtek shiftmate its spot on for dry inside. Would i run it through muck and grime, not a cat in hells chance. It’d clog within 5 minutes.

I went 1x11 on my road bikes many a year ago and never looked back.

I’ve run shortcage 105 and ultegra mechs with 11-42 no issues. Granted not 2x. But i ran 11-34 with shortcage no issues on 2x too and could climb 25%+ on the road so if you are 2x i’d question why you really need it.

Bigger than 34T with shortcage and I need to run a roadlink to get b-screw clearance. But go for the sunrace one at about £10 and way cheaper than the Wolftooth one.

Mech capacity; yes i’m well outside recommended tolerance but a link shorter chain usually sorts that and one of my bikes set up this way is currently just over 10k miles and nothing like shimano recommended spec. But runs and shifts far quieter than the guys i ride with running stock 2x11

Search the auction place for “SunRace Rear Derailleur Extender Link Wide Ratio Cassettes Bike Bicycle”

£10.90

Mates just offered a Wolftooth road link so I'm now okay for the mech side of things but looking at the old cassette I was going to use though looks past its sell-by date so looks like I just need a new cassette now.

silasgreenback it's going 1x11

Apologies for the thread hijack (and looks like you're now sorted Kuco) but what are my options for going 1x on 10spd Road stuff?

Got an old cannondale caad8 that needs an overhaul and I'm wanting to go 1x10 on it, currently got 105 on it (other than cranks).

It may need a new rear mech at some point so with the 1x10 in mind what's the best mech to go for so I can run a 40 or 42 cassette? Or failing that what cassette and other mods would I need to make the 105 work?

Cheers.

TBH, getting hold of parts for anything will be your hardest part.

Depends what you want to do and why you need a new mech? Want or need are very different!!

Crap shifting - i swapped jockey wheels on an old 105 when i first went 1x and that plus new cable was like new bike. some ceramic BBB rollerboys were half the price of a new mech.

But you’ll be stuck with matching to shifter so IMHO, just reuse and refurb given the current parts situation plus inflated prices.

Get a sunrace 10spd casette, the sunrace road link, possibly some new jockey wheels, new cable and A 1x chainring and chain and away you go. Superstar or ebay for aftermarket bling jockey wheels or just get new stock wheels. Not overly cheap though as its not far off replacing your whole drivetrain.

I think 105 is a bush in the jockeys rather than a bearing so wears and jockey wheels wobble. The difference in shifting wheni put new jockey wheels with a bearing on was unbelievable.

Spend a little time looking at gear ratios you use mostly in 2x setup so you get the right size chainring to keep gearing ratios similar. Bet you only really use about 5 gears tops.

First time “switchover” and there’s a tendency to over gear but check out wolftooths website. Loads of info on gear ranges. But i’d bet 11-42 and a 40 or 42 chainring will do you just fine.

CAAD 8 is FSA cranks isnt it? FSA do a 1x specific chainring which is what i had on first conversion. 105 rear mech, roadlink and the 1x ring. The 1x fsa ring isnt cheap though.

I’ve never run stock rings - always narrow wide 1x specific. you might be ok with them and maybe a chainguide to stop the chain drop.

Superstar do some 1x rings but i didnt think it was up to much. similar profile to a 2x chainring and it dropped the chain for fun.

Awesome, cheers @silasgreenback
Re. The mech, it seems fine other than a bit of play around the main bolt where it mounts on the frame so will just go with it for now as shifts ok on the turbo at the minute.

I’m no bike shop mechanic but when i’ve had that its been a case of tighten the bolt or the dropout if replaceable. You might be lucky!

On my Elite trainer with planet-x london road (only ever lives on the trainer) i recall having a similar issue and it was down to the axle spacing not being quite right in the trainer. And the drop out wasnt being help in place so ended up with a bit of play. Cannot for rhe life of me remember what i did but think it was just a case of resetting and tightening things. Tis fine now!

Hopefully you just need an allen key 😁

Cheers.

Think I've found all the bits.
I can get a Hope chainring for a fiver more than than a superstar one, or some cheapo ones on ebay for about 18 quid...

Which 10spd chain would you recommend, anything, or stick with shimano?

Not KMC any more!

I’m currently on SRAM but i’d stick with either of the big S’s. What you can find and whats affordable! Think my last chain change was for SRAM X something. £25 ish. Runs sweet on grx810 and sram 11-42 with ultegra mech.

KMC uses to be fine but since 2020 every KMC i’ve used has sounded horrible and grindy. SRAM has been miles better.

Not used 10spd for a while but i think chains are backward compatible but not forward. Certainly for 11sp The inner dimensions are the same as 12sp so on one of my 11sp bikes i’m running a 12sp chain with no issues. The clearance with squeezing more gears in comes from shaving the outer plates on the chain, not the inner. Was part of trying to eliminate the KMC grind. Bird Bikes suggested it….it definitely works!

For £5 go hope. Buy cheap….buy twice sadly seems to prevail a fair bit with aftermarket stuff.

Sell everything you have and go baller AXS, road up front, GX MTB rear. Will work a dream with giant range and no adaptors needed.

@silasgreenback how did you get on with regard to chainline on your 1x set ups? Do any of the chainrings have offset in them to help?

@jackal - no issues on chainline. Just had a look at the bikes. shimano 24mm BB with grx and ultegra cranks. 68mm shell with 1 spacer on drive side, no spacers on non-drive which i think is just stock spacing for a 68 shell.

The GRX 1x and my wolftooth are shaped to sort the chainline of a 1x and most 1x chainrings should take care of the spacing. Thenproblem i had with the superstar wasnt so much chainring, it was the ring teeth just being standard shaped and not slightly fatter as dedicated 1x rings should be.

On the road, chain line hasnt been an issue with 1x. Tis the mountain bike where i need to faff as “industry standard” seems crap so I’ve always got spacers in sligjtly different places to Bb instructions.

If i were you I’d leave as is, get the specific 1x chainring and should be fine. Worst case is maybe swap the spacer from one side to the other but for 1-2mm IMHO you’ll be fine. If anything, better than 2x as the ring will sit in the middle of a 2x set where only about 2 gears are quiet and the rest of the time rattling on the front mech!

And just took my other bike apart - ultegra cranks with wolftooth ring. 68mm BB shell with Uberbike ceramic bottom bracket and i can run this with the standard 2mm spacer on drive side but i’ve set it up with no spacer between frame and bottom bracket and instead of the uberbike 2mm spacer, i’ve put some plastic shims i had from another BB between the BB and cranks. So a 1mm spacer instead of 2mm.
Bith works fine but its slightly quieter across the full gear range this way.

No matter the “std” tolerances, all hubs, rings, BB brands are ever so slightly different spaced due to their tolerances so all GRX for example - do as the manual says. Heinz 57…..a little trial and error!

I went with a Hope 44t front ring and very happy with it. It's going to be paired to an XT 11-40t cassette.