Road mechs on MTBs

[benjabbi]

I have also done this since back in the day, I just think short cage mechs look neater. Here's the stripped and polished 6400 on my Orange.

 

[F Shaw]

This was my Alves in 1991. Ultegra rear mech.

 

[ishaw]

I'm sure I ran a 105 (I think it was the sc version) rear mech on an MTB bitd. Nice kit iirc, don't remember any issues but it was a long time ago.

Wondering if doing it the other ray round is acceptable practice? With all this gravel malarkey going on, MTB rear mech seems sensible to me?

 

[Fatal Swan]

Wondering if doing it the other ray round is acceptable practice? With all this gravel malarkey going on, MTB rear mech seems sensible to me?

Not just for gravel either. They're a straightforward replacement if you want to run wide ratio 11-32/34 cassettes on an old 9/10 speed road bike. Nearly all 10-speed Shimano road STIs are compatible with MTB 9-speed and the XT/XTR level mechs are much so much easier to get hold of than the medium cage Ultegra/Dura Ace 9-speed models of the era. SRAM 10-speed MTB mechs also work with SRAM 10/11 road shifters.

 

[ishaw]

Interesting. I've got some 9sp sti, will they work with s 9sp MTB mech?

 

[Fatal Swan]

Interesting. I've got some 9sp sti, will they work with s 9sp MTB mech?

Yep, if it's Shimano then up to 9-speed, road and MTB rear mechs are compatible. Even road 10 speed STIs (apart from one or two particular models) kept the same pull, so you can use the same 9-speed MTB rear mechs perfectly with 10-speed STIs too.

The point when the compatibility stops is 10 speed MTB, which is the point when Shimano changed the shifter pull, so the 10 speed MTB rear mechs aren't compatible with road STIs.

 

[legrandefromage]

10spd barcons with Mt60 mechs

 

[rogerzilla]

I've just put an RD-5700 (105 10-speed) on my Kilauea with 7-speed thumbshifters. It looks boss.

 

[sickpup]

iirc 30 years back when I worked for Madison it was very common for people to use a 600 Ultegra as it was about £31 whereas an XT Short cage when available was £36 or £37.
At that point Madison (from what I can remember) only had a Shimano delivery every 3 or 6 months by ship, they had to wait to fill a container so if they had a run on something you could easily wait 3-6 months for it to come back into stock.
The biggest difference between the 600 Ultegra and the XT Short cage I think was the seals on the jockey wheels.

12-28 was probably the most sold cassette size at the time, at least in London as most people used their bikes on the road as well.

 

[Elfman]

I have run a Dura Ace 7402 with 12-28 cassette and 732 8-spd thumbies (index, not friction) for many years with total success. And I can run the 12rear - 46front combo no problem.