Anyone running a grx front derailleur and cranks with 105 5800 rear derailleur and cassette, thinking of changing front cranks to the grx for more off road/gravel riding and lower gearing for climbing and take strain from my knees. Bike is a Salsa Vaya. Any opinions?

Cheers

I don’t have any personal experience but GRX has been designed to be compatible with other road groupsets.

https://bike.shimano.com/en-US/information/news/gravel-upgrades–mixing-and-matching-shimano-grx-and-road-compon.html

That should all work fine. Cable pull is the same.

I run GRX cranks with tiagra front mech and rear mech without any issues. Front mech required a bit of adjustment to work as the chain line is out 2.5mm but got it working.

Not quite but I run GRX cranks and front mech with 105 shifters an ultegra rear mech and an XT cassette. All seems to work just fine although technically the spacing on the XT cassette is slightly different to the road cassettes.

Thanks for that guys seems a go.

What about just fitting a Wolf Tooth Roadlink and a bigger cassette?

I’ve just done this with my old Ultegra 6800 setup. I bought a second set of wheels to use as a more gravel/off-road pair and wanted better gearing for off-road hills than the 50/34 – 11-32 I’ve got on the road ones. So I got a Roadlink, a new chain and a 11-40 slx cassette and it works absolutely fine.

That’ll give a lower gear for climbing than you’d get with a 46/30 GRX and a 11-32 (if that’s what you’re using).

@DougD I’m running 50/34 and 11-40 with an Ultegra RX rear mech and no Roadlink. Works perfectly.

Ah, interesting, may take a look again, thought it just looked a bit too neat without. Though no shifting issues at all with the RL.

Been looking for an Ultegra RX rear mech for a while but they’re bloody hard to get hold of now, guess they’ve just replaced then with the grx ones.

TBH it worked with a standard Ultegra too but was a bit sloppy when in small/small (which, of course, no one ever uses…)

@Dougd would my 105 rear derailleur with a road link allow for the larger 11-40 cassette

This chap certainly seems to think so, may depend on what cage mech you have. Scotroutes had success without a Roadlink, I was probably being precautionary but it definitely works fine with a 6800 Ultegra one

11-40 cassette on road bike

@Dougd super informative video even for a non technical person like me. I suppose it comes down to weight and cost

Grx Chainsetvs11-40 Cassette and roadlink

And the availability seems cassettes are scarce at the moment

@Dougd – I have an unused Ultegra RX doing nothing….DM me if interested.

So what’s the better option

1. Keep 105 crankset and add a roadlink with an 11-40 cassette or

2. Change cranks to 46-30 grx and keep 11-32 cassette

And by choosing option 2 am I in a better position to upgrade complete drivetrain to grx?

Is GRX actually an “upgrade” from 105?

Good question it seems most of the gravel bikes are being specced with grx ( another marketing ploy?)

So which option would be better ?

So just ordered a roadlink, slx 11-40 cassette and a new chain. As a result I have a brand new 5800 105 cassette 11-32 for sale.

after a test ride of mrs antigee’s ruby I found out that there is a 105 variant specially for small hands (7025) and wow the hoods felt great compared to my regular 105s so just ordered some to run with a grx 800 crankset front mech and the ultrega clutch rear mech to replace my aged 10speed triple set up with 9speed mech…looking at what would be possible rear cassette wise came across this (i think) useful video…the key bit being not just can the B screw be adjusted enough but what does contact look like..is it long term sound and what to look for when using an extender

fudge9202

So what’s the better option

1. Keep 105 crankset and add a roadlink with an 11-40 cassette or

2. Change cranks to 46-30 grx and keep 11-32 cassette

And by choosing option 2 am I in a better position to upgrade complete drivetrain to grx?

guess depends a bit on type of riding and cadence – downside of 46 is possible spinning out on road sections only bothers me when riding with roadies as I don’t have a road bike ….. don’t forget the grx crankset has chainline think 2.5mm further out and so needs a grx specific front mech

Cheers I’ve opted to keep the 105 chainset and bought a new 11-40 cassette, chain and a wolftooth roadlink to see how it goes. Same as you don’t ride with roadies so not worried about spinning out, I’m more in the “go slow and enjoy the ride camp”. Might possibly update to grx in the future when this wears out. The Salsa Vaya frame set is a fantastic base for upgrading but concentrating now on a set of tyres for it.

So just installed new slx 11-40 cassette, new chain 116 link and a wolftooth roadlink. Everything went smooth except that the rivets on the cassette are slightly rubbing on a few of the spokes. Anyone else experience this? Is it anything to be concerned about or just ride on and enjoy?

gravel bikes are being specced with grx ( another marketing ploy?)

Not at all, the lever shape is much better for your fingers on technical off road sections. Someone has thought about it both on the hoods and drops. Much better than the road lever blades

I’m running a 11-51 deore cassette with a grx rear mech and 40T chainring with no road link

@rOcKeTdOg is that a GRX812

@stainypants yep

https://ukgravelco.com/2020/06/18/shimano-deore-cs-m5100-cassette/

Yes had that light bulb moment and fitted shim before fitting cassette.

Good mullet options and info here for the mullet curious Mullet

Is GRX actually an “upgrade” from 105?

Depends which version – 400 series is approx Tiagra level, 600 series is approx 105 level and 800 series is approx Ultegra level.
All have more ergonomic hood shape though.

Can a grx 812 long cage derailleur be run with as a 2×11 with an slx 11-40 cassette?

I think so. The ultegra rx one can as that’s basically what I’m running and I think the grx mech is functionally the same as the ultegra rx