Danielle

I had a 9 speed ultegra last month that shifted fine except for some crunchy shifts once and a while because of a bad front shifter.
I never had a problem with the rear shifting.
I replaced my ultegra shifters with Dura Ace 7800 10 speed shifters.
I replaced my cassette with a 10 speed ultegra along with the cables and housing.
I have never been able to get the rear to shift correctly since doing this.
The limits are set on the rear derailer as per Shimano.....
HERE IS THE PROBLEM:
If I set the cable tension so that the shift from the 12-13 cog is precise without hesitation, when I go up to the 25 and back down to the 24 and 23 in succesion, the chain will ride between the 25-24 and then the 24-23. If I loosen the cable tension to adjust for this inconsistency, the high gears 11-12 and 12-13 are slow and sometimes sloppy where I may have to shift twice to attain the shift. Please help.

JonnyV

Unless I missed it, you didn't mention replacing your rear derailleur with a 10 speed derailleur. If you didn't, there's your problem.

Danielle

I was told the rear derailers were compatible on this site before I did this.

desertdork

A "9sp" Ultegra RD (6500) works fine with a 10sp drivetrain. That's not an issue.

You did replace the 9sp chain with a 10sp chain, right?
Did you cut the housing correctly and get it seated in the ferrules?
Do you have a cable guide under the bottom bracket? Is it free of grime and in good condition?

hammond9705

Did you change the chain to a 10s chain?

Danielle

Yes, I replaced with a 10 speed chain and seated everything properly. THe bottom bracket guide is clean.

JonnyV

Hmm...is it a 6500 or 6600 model derailleur?
6500 is 9 speed only.
6600 will work.

unless someone can correct me.

JonnyV

wait a second! What chain did you use? If it's a DA 7900 that has to go on a certain way, it's actually possible for it to be backwards or upside down. Seriously, I couldn't make this up.

Danielle

It's a Ultegra RD6600

JonnyV

ok, it's not the RD then. Look into the chain, like I said the 7900 (if that's what you have) is directional and will not work right if put on wrong. Next, double check the chain length. You're 100% you got the cable tension right?

banerjek

Did you remember to mount the 1mm spacer ring on your 10sp cassette?

Since you have a 9 speed hub and the 9 speed cassette is 1mm wider than 10sp, you need that ring or you'll have problems. The RD you have will work fine.

dstrong 

Do you say three Hail Mary's and cross yourself before each shift? That could be your problem!

Srsly...what JohnnyV and banerjek say...the chain and the ring. First time I put on my 10-speed cassette i couldn't get it to shift to the 25 w/o the FD occassionally brushing a spoke. Make sure you've got the ring!

Danielle

I have a CN-6701 chain installed with the HG marking outwards.
The spacer for the cassette is installed.

Mr. Beanz

How does the FD brush a spoke?

JonnyV

you just made the list.

banerjek

When's the last time you replaced the housings? If you have everything installed/adjusted correctly, it sounds like you need to set it so the 23+ cogs work good and get rid of friction elsewhere. How clean is the RD mechanism itself and is there any chance the spring is worn?

Danielle

I replaced the housings last month.
How can I tell if the spring is worn , and yes, the derailer has been cleaned.

fordmanvt

I've been using a 6500 RD with 6600 shifters and a 5600 cassette for over a year. flawless.

dstrong 

Good catch! Obviously, my RD.

Wait! Has nobody said "RD Hanger alignment"???

Also...from recent experience...make sure your RD hanger is tight. I discovered a couple of weeks ago that my hanger bolts had worked loose. It probably didn't move more than 1/16th of an inch but it sure made the shifting sloppy.

banerjek

Given the info provided so far, this would be what I'd check out next.

If that turns out to be fine, borrow another RD and see if the problem still exists. If it does, my next theory would be that the bends in your cable housings are too tight.

Mr. Beanz

I was hoping that was a typo. If not, that would have been one really bad adjustment!

irish pat

Go to Sheldon Browns website, he shows how to wire a r der to work as a 10 speed, the cable connection is different, good luck!

scirocco

I agree with dstrong; in my experience this is usually caused by RD hanger misalignment (since you have ruled out problems with cables and housings). The RD pulleys should be in a perfect vertical line same as the cassette rings. Crouch down behind the bike and see if they are in line with the rings; if not, bend the RD gently little by little by hand until they are in line. Then reset the RD H and L limit screws.

10-speed is a bit more finicky than 9-speed and you have probably just been getting away with it with your old setup.

Danielle

The derailer cogs look pretty much in line with the cassette. A friend and I checked this out today. Is there a more hard and fast way to check the alignment out? This bike has never been put down by the way.....

scirocco

Your LBS will have an alignment tool (or you can buy them - they're not very expensive). These tools can check the alignment both left-right (which you can do visually from behind the bike) and about a vertical axis (which is harder to do by eye unless you can lie directly under the bike and look upwards.)

But in my experience while 10-speed can be a bit finicky it's not so bad that RD hanger adjustment by eye is not good enough. So if the pulleys look straight in relation to the cassette the problem is likely somewhere else.

Just a thought - have you got the cable clamped properly at the RD? Shimano warn against it not being properly in the groove:

https://techdocs.shimano.com/media/te...9830611842.pdf