10 speed front mech with 9 speed drivetrain

[Sweep]

Am pretty sure that a front mech labelled 10 speed can be used with a 9 speed drive train.

Can someone confirm this?

It would be for use with a triple.

I gather that 10 speed chains are narrower but, question, this shouldn't cause a significant issue with a 9 speed chain should it?

Is it even possible that Mr Shimano has, at least in some cases, just taken some 9 speed stuff and relabelled it 10 speed, judging that its not worth the production changes for something so small?

Apologies to you nice folks - the question is doubtless buried in here - but I have specific questions and follow ups.

[Brucey]

10s chain is about 0.4mm narrower than 9s chain. This can make for plenty of rubbing if you use 9s chain in a 10s FD.

cheers

[reohn2]

I've never had a problem with 10sp 105 and Ultegra FD with 9sp Sram 971 chains

[Mick F]

I didn't have a problem with a 10sp Campag front mech with the rest of it being 9sp.

I don't think there is any difference, or if there is, it's so minimal, it matters not.
(at least with Campag, as I've not tried any other make)

[foxyrider]

FD's may be 9/10 speed specific but there is quite a lot of leeway in the cages. There may be issues going the other way and of course there is a simple fix - use 10sp chains!

I've been successfully using 11sp chainset with 10sp chain and FD but there again, that is Italian not Oriental!

[nigelnightmare]

10s chain is about 0.4mm narrower than 9s chain. This can make for plenty of rubbing if you use 9s chain in a 10s FD.

cheers

Yes, but are the FD's also 0.4mm narrower?

[Sweep]

Yes, that's what I wonder.

I know there is an obsession with weight saving and shaving stuff but is it worth shimano's bother on the same mech redesigning it when it is reborn as 10 speed?

[peetee]

Most 10 speed work but if you have drop bar style integrated 9spd shifters/brake levers then the Tiagra 4700 front mech will not work.

[Sweep]

Am a flat bar person, but thanks for the reply.

Brucey, any comments on tbis from sheldon?

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/speeds.html

?

I use rapidfires but have a nice stash of old left shifters with an extra trimming click or two

[Sweep]

Part of the reason I asked the original question was this:

https://www.merlincycles.com/shimano-de ... 08891.html

Seems hard to believe they would have bothered changing it from the 9 speed with the same model number.

May order one for the spares box and when it arrives try to do some measuring.

[Brucey]

Q on 10s vs 9s FDs, are the cages narrower?
A. usually, yes.

Hence my earlier reply.

If you define FD perfection as

- never rubs
- always shifts promptly
- never derails off the inner or outer chainring
- never skates on the middle chainring

Then I have never had a 'perfect' FD. Those setups that have come closest (with flat bar setups) have been with systems using matched parts (of high stiffness) and with medium/small chainrings.

With 'road' setups it is worse than that; I have never had a system (that didn't also occasionally unship the chain off the big ring) that I also couldn't make rub when it shouldn't, very often on both sides at once. This varies with how stiff the frame, BB and chainset are, how true-running the chainset is, and of course how hard you push on the pedals. The idea of choosing to make the FD cage narrower than standard (even by a tiny amount) would never occur to me; I have new, unused FDs that came as part of road groupsets that I couldn't use because I couldn't stop them from rubbing (even with n+1 or even n+2 chain running through it); they were replaced with slightly wider ones and I lived with the slightly increased risk of the chain unshipping.

I once tweaked an FD to make the cage narrower, but that was a FD that was designed for 5s chain and I was using 8s chain in it. Even so I couldn't narrow it much before it rubbed again.

Every rider and setup is different anyway and some folk happily ride setups that they think are 'perfect' when really they are 'good enough for them' and would quickly drive some other folks nuts.

cheers

[nigelnightmare]

Thanks "Brucey" that helps.

[mikeyg123]

I'm using a 10sp 105 triple fd on a 9 speed tiagra setup as that was all I could find at the time I needed a new FD.
It works pretty well but there's some light rubbing in about 4 gears when using the largest chainring. The way I have it adjusted it's the lowest 4 but it could be the upper 4 if I wanted.
However it's not very loud at all - in fact the sound is usually completely drowned out but the chain noise from any other uncared-for commuter bike nearby. And if it bothers me I drop down to the upper end on the smaller chainring and return to silent running.
I'm pretty happy with it.

[Sweep]

Interesting.

I have a stock of nice left hand/front shimano rapidfires which have a very nice trimming function to help alleviate any slight incompatibilities/my cackhanded installations. Not sure if they still do these things? If not, can't think why not.

Have ordered one, can't resist an apparent bargain. Will try to measure with my dodgy measuring when it comes.

[gxaustin]

I have just compared a 4700 Tiagra 10sp FD with a 6800 Ultegra 11sp FD and they are identical - colour, materials and the gap for the chain. Both are doubles.