Sram to Shimano with mechanical Calipers - what do i need to change?

JesseD

Morning all,

Might be a silly question but I’ll ask anyway.

I have a cross bike with a 10 speed Sram mix on it and mechanical disc brakes which all work fine, however I want to change to Shimano as I prefer the shifting action and shape of the hoods.

Will normal road shifters such as 5700 105 or 6700 Ultegra work fine with the mechanical calipers or do I need specific ones?

Idea is to keep it 10 speed mechanical for now (as I don’t want to change wheels and they are 10 speed specific plus can’t afford to move to hydraulic straight away) and just change the shifters and mechs. Will this work?

Thanks

imposter2.0

You haven't said what the calipers are, but they will work fine either way. Personally, I wouldn't go 11 speed for cross - not as long as there is still plenty of 10spd kit available anyway..

JesseD

Imposter wrote:

You haven't said what the calipers are, but they will work fine either way. Personally, I wouldn't go 11 speed for cross - not as long as there is still plenty of 10spd kit available anyway..

Avid BB5's i believe from memory.

Was planning on chucking a pair of 5700 or 6700 levers on the bike and a 5700 front mech along with a 5700 long cage rear mech.

Would that work or should I go for something like a 10 speed XT rear mech?

all will be bought from here or eBay and second hand as I want to do it on the cheap as I am also building a TT bike for next year and have to buy parts fro that as well.

imposter2.0

JesseD wrote:

Imposter wrote:

You haven't said what the calipers are, but they will work fine either way. Personally, I wouldn't go 11 speed for cross - not as long as there is still plenty of 10spd kit available anyway..

Avid BB5's i believe from memory.

Was planning on chucking a pair of 5700 or 6700 levers on the bike and a 5700 front mech along with a 5700 long cage rear mech.

Would that work or should I go for something like a 10 speed XT rear mech?

all will be bought from here or eBay and second hand as I want to do it on the cheap as I am also building a TT bike for next year and have to buy parts fro that as well.

My lad runs BB5s and 5700 levers and it works fine. I'd only go for a medium/long cage mech if you are planning on fitting more than 28 on the rear. We're running 12-28 with a short cage 5700 mech with no issues.

trek_dan

10 speed Shimano MTB mechs don't work with road shifters.

JesseD

Imposter wrote:

My lad runs BB5s and 5700 levers and it works fine. I'd only go for a medium/long cage mech if you are planning on fitting more than 28 on the rear. We're running 12-28 with a short cage 5700 mech with no issues.

I think its an 11-28 on there but was thinking maybe a 32 would be a good idea on the back for some of the trails we ride, however I don't really struggle with the gearing on there now. 5700 short cage mechs are easier to come by as well and cheaper.

Glad it works as it should be a relatively cheap and easy swap.

Tyres need to be changed as well, I am running tubeless but am undecided about width. Any thoughts?

I am running 33's on there at the moment (secondhand bike and came with them) but the rear is almost slick now. The front is a Vittoria Cross XG tubeless and seems pretty good, worth just replacing the worn one with a new Cross XG or is it worth going wider (well as wide as I can with the clearance?)

JesseD

trek_dan wrote:

10 speed Shimano MTB mechs don't work with road shifters.

Good to know, thanks trek_dan

tgotb

^ this. You can mix road shifters and MTB mechs with SRAM, but you can't with Shimano as the cable pull ratios are different.
Shimano brake levers pull slightly more cable than SRAM. This means you'll find the brakes slightly easier to set up. Some road calipers that work well with Shimano levers can be a bit finicky to set up with SRAM levers, because you have to get the cable length exactly right.

JesseD

TGOTB wrote:

^ this. You can mix road shifters and MTB mechs with SRAM, but you can't with Shimano as the cable pull ratios are different.
Shimano brake levers pull slightly more cable than SRAM. This means you'll find the brakes slightly easier to set up. Some road calipers that work well with Shimano levers can be a bit finicky to set up with SRAM levers, because you have to get the cable length exactly right.

Great, 5700 and 6700 mix it is then!

JesseD

so Checked the bike last night and it is not fitted with Avid BB5 calipers, but TRP Spyres, a quick google indicates that using these with Shimano 5700 levers will be no problem which is good.

The cassette is actually an 11-32 so it seems a long cage rear mech is the way to go as well.

tgotb

Yep, Spyres will be fine with Shimano Road levers. They're decent brakes, very easy to set up...

ravey1981

Spyres are better than avid bb5 or 7 but i recently switched out my spyres for a set of semi-hydraulic juin-tech calipers. They are very good and a step up from mechanical calipers.