If I buy a new bike with Ultegra Di2 6870 can the 11 speed shifter and rear derailleur be programmed to shift across a 10 speed cassette?
If it is possible will the new, narrower 11 speed chain work well on a 10 speed cassette? Or, would it be necessary to change the chain back to a 10 speed chain when programming the shifter and RD from 11 speed to 10 speed setup?
I’ve tried searching the forum and followed Zinn’s technical articles but these specific questions weren’t answered in anything I’ve found.
My older Zipps cannot be upgraded to 11 speed.
If I buy a new bike with Ultegra Di2 6870 can the 11 speed shifter and rear derailleur be programmed to shift across a 10 speed cassette?
If it is possible will the new, narrower 11 speed chain work well on a 10 speed cassette? Or, would it be necessary to change the chain back to a 10 speed chain when programming the shifter and RD from 11 speed to 10 speed setup?
I’ve tried searching the forum and followed Zinn’s technical articles but these specific questions weren’t answered in anything I’ve found.
My older Zipps cannot be upgraded to 11 speed.
Don’t overcomplicate it. Just run 10 of the 11 cogs on your Zipp wheels leaving all other components the same.
I’ve set up a few bikes with 11-25 or 11-28t 11 speed cassettes by just installing the first 9 cogs then adding a 12t last position cog + lockring to give you 12-25 or 12-28 10 speed cassettes that otherwise fuction with 11speed. Limit screws prevent the derailleur from overshifting.
Don’t overcomplicate it. Just run 10 of the 11 cogs on your Zipp wheels leaving all other components the same.
I’ve set up a few bikes with 11-25 or 11-28t 11 speed cassettes by just installing the first 9 cogs then adding a 12t last position cog + lockring to give you 12-25 or 12-28 10 speed cassettes that otherwise fuction with 11speed. Limit screws prevent the derailleur from overshifting.
-SD
Thank you!
That’s makes a lot of sense and is certainly less complicated than I had been thinking.
Another option is to install the Campy freehub body on your Zipps. If your Zipps are compatible with an 11 spd Campy freehub body then you can run an 11 spd Campy cassette on the Di2. The downside is that the Campy cassettes are usually more expensive than Shimano and might not have the exact cassette range you want.
I just tried using an 11 spd Ultegra 6800 cassette on a Campy Record EPS set up and couldn’t notice a difference in the shifting quality.
I am going the 6770 RD route as I have a couple of brand new 10spd chains and cassettes. Then 2 of my wheels have 10spd hubs and 2 have 10/11spd, easy change but the biggest kicker is the roadie is still 11spd. So whenever I make the jump to 11spd it will be when I get a new roadie and then the TT bike will just need a new RD. Will let you know how it works out with the 6770. From the other thread the firmware might just need to be updated, will let you guys know.
Like a CHAMP! Literally pulled it out of the box and plugged it in and it worked. At first my 11spd gruppo hadn’t come in and I just had the RD and needed to go get a fit. We took the 10spd Ultegra RD and plugged it into 11SPD Dura Ace and shifted it to the middle for the fit. Then once the 11spd Ultegra Gruppo came in we plugged the 10spd RD into it and it worked. No problems yet. Just got back from my first actual ride on the bike.
If I buy a new bike with Ultegra Di2 6870 can the 11 speed shifter and rear derailleur be programmed to shift across a 10 speed cassette?
If it is possible will the new, narrower 11 speed chain work well on a 10 speed cassette? Or, would it be necessary to change the chain back to a 10 speed chain when programming the shifter and RD from 11 speed to 10 speed setup?
I’ve tried searching the forum and followed Zinn’s technical articles but these specific questions weren’t answered in anything I’ve found.
My older Zipps cannot be upgraded to 11 speed.
Don’t overcomplicate it. Just run 10 of the 11 cogs on your Zipp wheels leaving all other components the same.
I’ve set up a few bikes with 11-25 or 11-28t 11 speed cassettes by just installing the first 9 cogs then adding a 12t last position cog + lockring to give you 12-25 or 12-28 10 speed cassettes that otherwise fuction with 11speed. Limit screws prevent the derailleur from overshifting.
-SD
Am confused by your answer. I am in the same situation as the OP. I have an older zipp disc that cannot be updated to an 11 speed. I have a 11/32 on it.
So I need to find out if I buy a new bike with Di2 6870, can I use my older zipp 10 speed 11/32 on this somehow? So this is no running 10 of the 11 cogs I believe since I only have 10 cogs?
Am confused by your answer. I am in the same situation as the OP. I have an older zipp disc that cannot be updated to an 11 speed. I have a 11/32 on it.
So I need to find out if I buy a new bike with Di2 6870, can I use my older zipp 10 speed 11/32 on this somehow? So this is no running 10 of the 11 cogs I believe since I only have 10 cogs?
As long as you run all new 11sp components, you are fine. You would need a new 11sp 11-32 cassette. Dave is just saying to run 10 of 11cogs of the 11sp, not the 10 cogs of a 10sp.
I am kinda in the same situation,but I have heard, that with the new firmware for Etube, it should be possible to reprogramme a 6870 to 10 speed. Does anyone know, if that is true?
Am confused by your answer. I am in the same situation as the OP. I have an older zipp disc that cannot be updated to an 11 speed. I have a 11/32 on it. So I need to find out if I buy a new bike with Di2 6870, can I use my older zipp 10 speed 11/32 on this somehow? So this is no running 10 of the 11 cogs I believe since I only have 10 cogs?
His answer is essentially the same as we have posted on our blog. But his solution just drops out a different cog to make the “hybrid” 10/11 cassette (a hybrid cassette = cassette with 10 cogs but those 10 cogs are spaced narrower per shimano’s new 11-speed standard, so it works flawlessly on new 11-speed drivetrains).
If you have a Zipp disc just swap to a Campagnolo freehub and use their 11 speed cassette. The spacing and shifting function for 11 speed Shimano Di2 allows it to function perfectly with 11 speed Campag.
Am confused by your answer. I am in the same situation as the OP. I have an older zipp disc that cannot be updated to an 11 speed. I have a 11/32 on it.
So I need to find out if I buy a new bike with Di2 6870, can I use my older zipp 10 speed 11/32 on this somehow? So this is no running 10 of the 11 cogs I believe since I only have 10 cogs?
As long as you run all new 11sp components, you are fine. You would need a new 11sp 11-32 cassette. Dave is just saying to run 10 of 11cogs of the 11sp, not the 10 cogs of a 10sp.
Why would anyone use 10 of 11 cogs on an 11sp?
The OP said he had a older zipp with a 10 speed, and we know you cannot put an 11 speed cassette on older 10 speed hubs. (Yea, I know some mill and put 11 on this 10 but too risky for me.)
This is why I did not understand Dave’s response and still and trying to understand what he was thinking.
If you have a Zipp disc just swap to a Campagnolo freehub and use their 11 speed cassette. The spacing and shifting function for 11 speed Shimano Di2 allows it to function perfectly with 11 speed Campag.
Thank you for your attention to important details.
If you have a Zipp disc just swap to a Campagnolo freehub and use their 11 speed cassette. The spacing and shifting function for 11 speed Shimano Di2 allows it to function perfectly with 11 speed Campag.
Okay, if I hear you correctly, I can take my older zipp disc, change to a campag freehub and can only use a campag cassettee on this campag freehub? Would be a possible solution but
campag does not make a 11-32 setup that I can find or was I looking in the wrong place?
Man have the bike makers made things SO complicated without having backwards compatibility? How would you like to buy a new smartphone and none of you apps worked anymore?
Or upgraded to a new OS and none of you sw worked anymore?
Seems all that has to be done is put some firmware into the Di2 6870 or 9070 or 9080 that adjusts for the 10 speed spacing. Should be pretty easy if they cared about true needs of customers
and not forcing them to buy new stuff or do some of the hack jobs I have read about.
Why would anyone use 10 of 11 cogs on an 11sp?
If it helps, from that blog page:
“Well, we had to do it because we bought a frameset. And we already had some great race and training wheels, but they were old enough that they couldn’t be modified to fit 11-speed Shimano cassettes. So, what were our options? We could have tried to buy 10-speed components for our new frame, but new 10-speed parts were getting very hard to find with the options we wanted and they often cost more than similar 11-speed components. Plus, Shimano 11-speed drivetrains have some significant functional improvements that we wanted to take advantage of.” The extra cog is the least of those improvements.