itsyoboirobika

Hi guys, I have a question for y'all! I just broke my Sram X5 10 speed shifter, and I couldn't find any new shifters in stock anywhere. I mean I found some, but all of them are 9 speeds. My question is, that can I run a 9 speed shifter, with a 10 speed casette and derailleur? I know, its minus one gear, but I don't really use my highest gear, because I live at some flatlands in Hungary. Thank you for the answers, have a nice day!

Kapusta

No it won’t work well if at all. The amount of cable that the 9 speed shifter pulls for each gear change is different than what the 10 speed derailleur needs to move one gear on the 10 speed cassette.

Darth Lefty 

SRAM 10 speed shifters and derailleurs are unique, they are not compatible with basically any other speeds or brands. Only with SRAM road bike stuff. "Exact Actuation"

3speed

I know nothing of the derailleur ratios for Sram 9/10sp, but if the “exact actuation” implies a 1mm derailleur movement for 1mm lever travel then 9sp “exact actuation” might have the same derailleur travel ratio. Of all else fails, you would be able to put on a 9sp shifter and cassette and have a 9sp bike. This is just an idea that you’d have to research and confirm, though.

Darth Lefty 

It doesn't. SRAM 1:1 up to 9 speed, X-Actuation 11-12 speed, and Shimano Dyna-Sys 10-12 speed are all about the same but SRAM 10 speed is the SRAM road bike ratio and not usefully close enough to anything else.

It's hard to trust all the Shimergo tables out there. Many of them are copies of earlier ones and the original research or confirmation with measurements is lacking. But tons of people are mixing and matching Shimano 10 and all brands 11 and 12 speed stuff. That's why Tanpan works, for instance. But SRAM 10, not.

rosefarts

Microshift thumb shifters.

3speed

Sounds like you're pretty knowledgeable on this. I've searched and can't find any info on using a Sram 9sp derailleur with Shimano 11sp shifters. The Sram derailleur and Shimano 11sp mountain derailleurs should have the same pull ratio from what I found online. Do you have any info? It probably wouldn't be very useful on a 1x11 MTB due to the large cassette, but could be great on a flat bar gravel/bike-packing bike or something with a smaller cassette. Theoretically you could use a nice quality, light weight derailleur like the Sram XO for $10 rather than a new, heavier, but lower end, more expensive 11sp derailleur.

Darth Lefty 

Yeah, you are pretty deep into mix and match territory here. I don't think 9 speed SRAM was that popular to begin with. No 11 speed MTB cassette is small enough for a 9 speed RD. So you would be looking at a road bike cassette, which also means a road bike hub, or one specific Shimano R7000 cassette that will go on the narrower MTB freehub. Then if you are going 2x because that cassette is small enough for it, you need to figure out front shifting too because if it's a gravel bike it's got a road bike FD that uses different pull than a MTB FD.

All of this was more important in the early-mid 2010's when XO1 was the new winner and everyone was trying to eke out their premium Shimano 10 speed systems a few more years with 1x10 conversions. Wolf Tooth and 1Up got their start making 1x10 conversion parts. But a lot of those things are no longer available, they're not needed any more.

prj71

How about just buy a SRAM X5 10 speed shifter?

https://www.amazon.com/SRAM-SH21011-...SBU?th=1&psc=1

3speed

Maybe he can't get stuff from US amazon in Hungary.