Shimano Road STIs and MTB Front Mech/Chainset

Following on from this mornings post-

Will Ultegra 6703 triple Sti levers work with an XT front mech and mountain bike triple chainset (noir)?

I think you can “feather” shimano sti’s now, so will it work?

or

Does a road triple mech have enough throw to work with a mtb chainset?

My experience is that road shifters and MTB front mechs are not compatible but that was some time ago and 9 speed. On the crosser I currently have ultegra triple shifters working with a 105 triple mech on a XT ‘trekking’ chainset (26-36-48).

Spin –

ultegra triple shifters working with a 105 triple mech on a XT ‘trekking’ chainset (26-36-48).

Well i’m running the XT trekking rings on a noir chainset

I was looking at this exact set up – did you have to do anything special with the BB spacers to get it to work with the road triple mech or is there plenty of throw to shift easily??

i run older ultregas with an xt front mech and xt “touring” triple
…think the answer is “just about” seems to at the limits of pull and takes a bit of setting up (getting cable tension correct to extreme of stop – ie the end of the pull has to match the stop or won’t have enough pull to get full range) plus moves out of adjust easily cos of cable stretch (older style ultegras with cables out of hoods use canecreek barrel adjuster to take up some stretch)

– if you want super smooth – first time changes every time then probably no, ifhappy with other benefits can put up with a few missed changes then yes

edit 9 spd

Can you offset a braze on front road mech by using a band on adapter and spacers maybe?

On my Fargo my LBS had to use a front road mech to get everything working, MTB front mech just wouldn’t work with my 105 9 speed shifters.
I used a tiagra 9 speed triple shifter (less than £20) and it’s been faultless for nearly 2000 miles.

Using a deore trekking chainset (48,36,26) and xt cassette & rear mech.

Rik – I’m curious to know what it is you’re putting together.

Druidh – I already have my freak (road) bike.

Started out as a Chromag frame now a Ragley TD1 proto, 400g carbon disc fork, Campag 9 speed record with XT/SRAM noir chainset, XT front mech, bb7 brakes, bell lap bars, Thomson finishing kit. Dt240 wheels. 35mm or 28mm tyres for speed.

Just over 20lb, rides super fast even compared to a normal road bike, tweak of the adjustable rear dropouts and it’s monstercross (not tried this yet- happy as my road/touring bike). Fred whitton last year, hopefully Raid Pyrenean this year (unsupported with camping gear)

But not happy with the shape of the Campag ergo, I have small hands so need to change as its not comfy on the drops reaching the levers. So either Campag 10 new shape levers or Ultegra Sti’s. Both seem to be less adaptable than Campag 9. Hence the questions.

It’s gonna seem cheeky, but why not swap to a road compact/triple at the front? If it’s so fast, you’ll benefit from the taller range.

Limited by chainstay interference of a mountain biking frame – trekking ratio works but is the max. Don’t really mind if I spin out at 40+ mph so the trekking seems to work well

Gotcha!

Would like to stay Campag which I can with a jtek pulley and shimano rear mech and cassette, but the buggers have changed the front mech cable pull now! Shimano seems to be front mech as well is the problem. Spin seems to be okay though which is encouraging.

did you have to do anything special with the BB spacers to get it to work with the road triple mech or is there plenty of throw to shift easily??

I don’t recall doing anything special though it’s possible that I shifted a washer from the drive side to the non-drive side to shift the rings inboard a bit.

As on the CTC forum. Plenty there.
The problem is not the place where the CS sits so much as how far the FD moves when the STI shifts. Road and MTB are different and the FD doesn’t always end up in the correct vplace. A bit like SRam and Shimano mixing but not as severe.

MTB chainsets with 50mm chainline are at the very limit of a road FD’s reach.

It’s a PITA that Shimano have happily ignored for a very long time. Just 1 non-series FD would be great for touring bikes. As it is, barcons are a good option for proper touring, or a bodge it on a non-HT2 external bearing crank (47.5mm CL)

SRAM may be more adaptable here. SRAM 10spd road and MTB mixes too.

I’m thinking making an offset mount for the braze adaptor band for the seat tube might be the easiest way then use a road triple front mech.

I can get the adaptor band for £5 at on-one.

Matt – Campag shifters have micro adjust, I thought shimano did too.