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just wondering, if i were to go 10 speed i would obviously need the cassette and shifter, but would i need a new chain, mech, chainrings?
cheers!
In theory yes to the chain and chainrings. The internal measurement of the 10 speed chain is narrower than a 9 speed, so defintely a new chain will be needed. Swapping out the rear cassette you should probably chainge the chain anyway, even if you were sticking with the same speed. You might get away with the chainrings. Give it a go. Nothing to loose.
Front mech should be fine. Despite what the manufacturers would have you believe, the front mech is really just a crude means of hitting a chain off one chainring and onto another. The shifter tells it how far to move. The internal width might be slightly smaler with 10 speed, but not that you would notice on a front mech.
cheers. id actually be looking at 1x10 so it was rear mech i was wondering about. i assumed that because 10sp fits in the same space as 9sp that the rear mech would be ok?
Correct.
Orsum, ta!
Although... XX pulls a different amount of cable, so if you're thinking XX you will need a new mech. New SRAM/Shimano stuff should be more interchangeable.
I remember when the switch from 8 to 9 occurred the main things which needed to be changed were the chain, rear block, shifter (obviously) and the front mech, as due the the chain being narrower the mech needed to be narrower as well for it to push the chain in both directions, makes sense I guess... but never tested both an 8 speed and 9 speed front mech to see if it actually made any difference!
Although... XX pulls a different amount of cable, so if you're thinking XX you will need a new mech. New SRAM/Shimano stuff should be more interchangeable.
Are you sure about this? My (albeit limited) understanding was that all SRAM 10sp (incl. XX, next year's X0 ,X9 & X7, & the road groups) rear shifters have the same cable pull.
As rear mechs are essentially dumb & don't know how many sprockets there are on the back - the amount they move is governed by the shifter. IIRC (and I can't find a reference for this) an 8sp mech works fine with 9sp so long as the shifters & cassette match (going the other way can be an issue due to chain clearance as 8sp cages are a bit wider) - there's no reason to believe running 10sp with a 9sp mech will be any different in this regard, although the only way to find out might well be to suck it & see.
Andy
(I'd be interested to know for certain whether this works, as moving my MTB to 10sp next year would be a bit cheaper if all I have to change is the shifters, cassette, chainrings & chain)
[i]Edit - found the link I was looking for. From [url= http://www.sheldonbrown.com/speeds.html ]Sheldon[/url]:
The following parts only are "speed specific":* Indexed Shifters (...)
* Cassettes (...)
* Chain (...)
Within a given brand/style of rear derailer, all "speed numbers" are generally interchangeable. This applies to all indexable models, basically everything manufactured since the late 1980s. There are a few exceptions
Despite XX having been out for a while, I can't find anyone who has tested a 'lesser' (X0/X9/X7) rear mech with XX shifters - I'm a bit surprised by this, as I've been advised elsewhere to spend money on the shifters & not to worry too much about using a cheaper compatible mech, as in certain hands, the mech is, erm, 'sacrificial', and it would be better to write off a Deore mech than an XTR one
Sorry if this has gone a bit rambly...[/i]
You can't use an XX mech with a 9 speed shifter without modification according to SRAM (not saying it can't be done!), or vice versa. If SRAM are making XX cross-compatible with X.0, X.9 and X.7 then perhaps you will need a new rear mech.
I certainly wouldn't expect those shenanigans from Shimano, so it will be absolutely fine.
Not sure about new XO, X9 and X7, but XX definitely has a different cable pull to the current stuff.
It uses the same cable pull as the SRAM Road groupsets, so XX and Red, Force and Rival are all fully interchangable. Perhaps the same will be true of new XO, X9 and X7 but until it has been attempted, I don't think anybody knows yet.
As Njee says, you should be fine with Shimano though, and I am guessing that Shimano and SRAM cassettes will be interchangable. Certainly a lot of people use Dura Ace cassettes instead of Red because the power dome Red casette acts like a boom box and it very noisy.
It uses the same cable pull as the SRAM Road groupsets, so XX and Red, Force and Rival are all fully interchangable. Perhaps the same will be true of new XO, X9 and X7 but until it has been attempted, I don't think anybody knows yet.
I would be utterly astounded if all SRAM 10sp systems aren't interchangeable, if only for rear shifting (I think the front mech cable pull differs for road & MTB, but I confess I don't actually know for sure), as I can't see them going through the design/QA/etc for 2 10sp systems if they have one that works well already.
Shimano have brought out non-interchangeable kit on occasion (eg. changing the brake pull on Dura Ace recently) but usually either change back or bring the rest of their stuff into line the following year.
Andy