Cead_tinne

It was suggested to me I could get a lower gear set up with 9 speed MTB derailleur on my road 10 speed shifters. I found a few post with people saying they did this successfully. Anyway I can't seem to get it shift
smoothly through the middle gears. I don't consider myself a bike mechanic, but i feel I'm competent at installing and adjusting derailleurs. Anyone have a suggestion?

Shimano Ultegra 6700 Double 10sp STI Lever
Shimano XT RD-M772 9 Speed Rear Derailleur
Shimano SLX CS-Hg81 10 Speed Cassette 11-32
6701 shimano 10 speed chain

Eggman84

Shimano 9 speed MTB RDs, like the one you are using, should work with the 10 speed Shaimano road shifter. If the shifts are good at both extremes (large adn small cogs) but rough in the middle than something eles is goig on besides incompatability. Many will recommend you check that your reraileur hanger is straight. Does is shift fine going one way on the cog, and than not so good going the other way on the cog? If so, it could be bad cables/housing preventing the RD from moving smoothly across teh full range.

Cead_tinne

I don't think the hanger is bent. It worked fine on the Ultegra derailleur.

The shifting problem seems worse going up from 4 to 5. To get it to shift all the way into the largest cogI have the cable adjusted pretty tight.. I've never had to put that much tension a shift cable before.

I can buy some new cables tomorrow to test it, but these ones seem in pretty good shape.

cobba

Post a photo of the derailleur attached to the bike.

If the b-link on that shadow derailleur is in the incorrect position, it can affect shifting performance.

shelbyfv

It should work just fine. The 6701 chain is directional, FWIW.

Metaluna

I concur with the other posters that this combination of components should work fine.

It's kind of a longshot, but have you checked that all the cog spacers on the cassette are installed correctly? I have cassette that actually takes two spacers at one position (the transition point between the cogs that are joined on a carrier and the first loose cog (FWIW, I think it's a SRAM 11-36 10sp). If I put one of those spacers in the wrong place, most of the cogs would be spaced correctly but it would get pretty weird in the middle.

Other than that, if you've ruled out the hanger, I would just start over with the cable tension. Make sure the b-screw is set properly as cobba mentioned, then remove the chain, and let out both limit screws so that the RD is free to move completely with cable tension alone and isn't running into any hard stops (i.e. give both screws a few turns counterclockwise). Press the right hand upshift paddle (i.e. the one that takes you to smaller cogs on the cassette) at least 10 times to make sure it's in the lowest tension position. The upper pulley on the RD should be perfectly lined up with the smallest cog, or pretty close (sometimes you have to pull the cage down and forward to simulate chain tension, and/or put a sheet of white paper behind it to get a really good look). If everything looks okay, start shifting "up" the cassette (i.e. to bigger cogs/lower gears) and eyeball it at each cog position. This should tell you if anything looks odd at any point through the gears. If things look weird, especially the alignment at the upper or lower cogs, I would release and reattach the cable and start over with the cable tension. Hopefully there's a barrel adjuster somewhere in your shift cable run.

cobba

I was referring to the Bracket Axle Unit which is commonly called a B-Link.

It needs to be attached to the derailleur hanger in a horizontal position, I've seen people incorrectly attach it in a vertical position and they have shifting problems.






The bracket axle unit can also rotate on the derailleur hanger, this can also cause shifting problems.

Metaluna

Ahh, okay, yes good point. I almost did that myself once. It's not intuitive if you don't pay attention to the instructions.

Cead_tinne

Thanks for all advice. It's shifting a lot better now, still not as smooth as the road derailleur. I adjusted the jockey wheel to have 4mm of space between it and the largest cog, i had 6mm before. That seems to have helped a lot. I'm goign to new derailleur cable tonight.

Cead_tinne