We know, there’s no such thing as a stupid question. But there are definitely some questions too embarrassing to ask your local shop or riding buddies. AASQ is our bi-weekly series where we get to the bottom of your questions – serious or otherwise.
This week, our sole question bridged an interesting topic – compatibility of road and mountain groups to create the ultimate wide range gearing set up for bike packing. We’ve seen a progression towards 2x and now 1x, and while there are a few 1x set ups with mega range, it still doesn’t always work out. Whether the rider is looking for smaller jumps in gearing, or in this case even more range than the widest range 1x cassette can provide, sometimes more really is better…
Question: Can you run an 11speed XT m8000 derailleur and 11-40 tooth cassette, with an 11speed Ultegra 6800 series shifters? Any other good options to increase the gear range on a gravel/bikepacking bike with a 11-32 and 50/34 combo?
Shimano’s Response: Modern road and mountain components aren’t compatible with each other so using an XT derailleur with Ultegra shifters wouldn’t work. Back when mountain bikes went to 10 speed and road bikes went to 11 speed we gave up interchangeability in favor of making each group more suited to the task at hand. The result is mountain shifters that are powerful enough to pull cables through full length housing and still overcome the clutch tension and road shifters that have a shorter stroke, lighter action, and better consistency in feel across the range of the cassette. Back in the 9 speed days, there wasn’t such a difference in the way road and mountain components worked.
Actually, if you mounted up a 50/34 crank and 11/40 cassette on a gravel bike you would probably find that the chain rubs the top of the front derailleur when you are in the 50 tooth ring and the larger cogs of the cassette. There’s a physical limitation there beyond just the component compatibility. The new R8000 rear derailleur can go up to an 11/34 cassette but that’s as far as we can push it with current designs.
So that answers that. Or does it? I wondered what SRAM would have to say, so I posed the same question to them, only in terms of their own road and mountain groups to see if such a range would be attainable.
SRAM’s Response: There’s nothing in the 11 speed world that would accommodate that type of range. Our 11 speed road and MTB derailleurs use different cable pull ratios, and any road derailleur designed to take a cassette bigger than 11-32 is 1x specific. If you use 10 speed parts, you can pair a long cage MTB derailleur with a road shifter and run an 11-36 cassette with a 50-34 crank, which gets you to a 480% range. I don’t know of any way to officially achieve the whopping 535% range they’re looking for, but my recommendation would be to run a flat bar and install a GX Eagle group. That’s 500% range in a super robust package that’s designed to work together.
Again, not the answer our reader was looking for. But then, I happened to see Jay Petervary and his Salsa Cutthroat that was set up exactly how he had raced it for the Tour Divide…