 You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Someone is bound to know this. I have a mountain bike setup with Shimano XT brake levers and 11 speed XTR shifters with a single chainring. I am hoping to replace the mountain bike with a gravel bike frame and build it up. My question is about reusing existing components for a drop-bar bike.
Does anyone know if my XT flat bar brake levers and XT gear shifter can be replaced with an equivalent Shimano 11 speed hydraulic road dropbar setup? I see no reason why this wouldn't work as long as the brake reservoir connection to hose is the same and the gear shifter moves the rear derailleur the same amount for road and mtb.
I'm probably way out, but if anyone has had the same ridiculous idea I'd be interested to know.
Thanks
The cable pull and pull ratio is different between Shimano MTB and road stuff. (Cable pull is one factor, another one is how much the RD moves sideways for a certain amount of cable pull) There is an adapter that lets you use a MTB rear derailleur with road shifters:
https://www.wolftoothcomponents.com/products/tanpan
Or you can get a GRX RD that's essentially a mountain RD. This will work out of the box with road levers:
https://bike.shimano.com/en-US/product/component/grx-11-speed/RD-RX812.html
I know i've seen people using MTB calipers with road levers, but let's wait for someone else to chime in that has actual experience.
Can’t comment on using mtb derailleur as I use the Ultegra clutch mech.
However I have dura ace hydro shifters paired with XT callipers, and that combo works brilliantly with no rubbing and plenty of power.
Thanks for that. The Tanpan looks like a neat solution.