Looking to upgrade my 9 speed training bike to 10 speed so i can use a 10 speed PT wheel on both bikes w/o having to swap out cassettes each time.
Can I do this piecemeal - or do I have to upgrade the whole 9 speed group?
Front and Rear Derails, chain and shifters.
Don’t even need to change the derailleurs. Only need a new cassette, chain and shifters. 9 speed derailleur stuff works fine with 10 speed shifters.
I would upgrade the crank first before the derailleurs… the “10 speed” cranks look much nicer than the 9 speed ones, although you can use either.
I made the swap from 9 to 10 on my roadie… shifters and cassette of course, and new chain to match the casette (might as well with a new cassette, even if the old chain would fit). Derailleurs aren’t mandatory since the pull ratios are the same, but I did anyway since the 9-spd set got swapped onto another frame. Still running the 9-spd cranks, though. It would have been the most expensive of the non-mandatory upgrades (don’t forget you’d need a new BB as well since the whole interface changed when they rolled out the 10-spd groupsets) and the difference in front shifting is less exact than the rear.
If you camp out at bonktown.com, you can get some pretty good deals with shifters as well as cranks. Keep in mind that in the 5600/6600/7800 series of shimano 10 speed parts, triple shifters can also be used for double cranksets (occasionally, you find them for cheaper than doubles).
You can do this piecemeal.
The minimum you will have to change is the cassette and the chain.
Going from 9 to 10 speed has little or no impact at all on front shifting, as the only change is a slightly narrower chain.
For the rear, it depends. If you use bar-end shifters or frame mounted shift levers that can be set to friction mode (and you get along well with friction shifting) then you won’t need to swap your rear shifter.
Otherwise, you will need to upgrade your rear shifter - unfortunately that’s one of the most expensive parts in a groupo.
The rear derailleur doesn’t care whether you’re running a 9 or 10 speed cassette/chain. It only needs to be readjusted (L/H limit and cable tension) for proper shifting with the new cassette.
You will find more information on Sheldon Brown’s 6-speed, 7-speed, 8-speed, 9-speed, 10-speed? page.
Sardus - About to pull the trigger on new shifters and I realized that I can find much better deals on SRAM Force used shifters than Dura Ace 7800 used shifters, and oh by the way, they are lighter. Can I use the SRAM Force shifters with the 9speed Dura Ace FD and RD? (yes, I know I will need a new cassette and chain).
Cheers.
Can I use the SRAM Force shifters with the 9speed Dura Ace FD and RD? (yes, I know I will need a new cassette and chain).
Technically, no. SRAM uses a different pull ratio for the rear than Shimano.
You could use a j-tek shiftmate and it’ll work fine. BUT that might eat up all your cost savings.
Just to jump in here and echo some comments based on experience:
For a no-hassle approach to what you want to do, you’re looking at shifters and chain as long as you’re swapping the same wheel back and forth. If you’re adding another rear wheel in the mix, add another cassette.
Used 105 level 10-speed shifters can often be found inexpensively.
I wouldn’t count on a JTek shiftmate right now. It’s my understanding that the man behind the awesome one man show that is JTek, Jay Guthrie, is literally in the fight of his life against colorectal cancer and has shuttered operations for the time being (Let’s wish him well!)
I hopped from 8-speed to 10-speed in '05 by replacing the cassette and chain. I was already running the 8-speed shifters in friction mode so I spent about $100 for two extra gears. That got me the 16-tooth and a 25. Now I swap out the 12, add in a 28 and have a great 13-28 10-speed cogset. It works very well for spinning the high rpm with shorter crankarms in the tri position.
Chad