SLX 11-speed shifters - front derailleur??

johngti

Re the flat bar conversion I’m building towards for my Giant Contend frame set, if I’ve understood correctly, if I were to buy a set of SLX 2x11 speed trigger shifters, by cleverly adjusting the limit screws I should be able to use any front mech (including a road one) albeit that the movement won’t be perfect? Turns out that finding a braze on SLX mech is very difficult. I do understand that the rear mech has to be a good match (so SLX or equivalent).

TIA

Wheelspinner

MTB's basically have not used braze-on design for front mechs since at least last century, so you won't find one now. There are a stack of different "standards" but nothing directly comparable.

Worth also noting that MTB derailleurs are shaped to suit seat tube angles typically a fair bit slacker than roadie-type frames, so might not be a match for your frame anyway even if you did find one that fit the mount. The Contend seems to be about 73 deg seat tube, and most MTB are in the mid to high 60s.

I'd be surprised if the road front derailleur doesn't work passably as you suggest - a road one using the SLX shifter. The Shimano drive trains use the same actual chain for road and MTB (same spec dimensionally anyway) so I'd expect the chainring spacing to be pretty close. Your only concern will be shifter cable pull ratio and whether it's close enough.

An alternative might be to remove the braze-on mount - in a few pix I've seen of the Giant it looks like the tab is bolted to the frame, not actually brazed? In that case you could fit a band-on SLX mech that is a "low clamp" design and see if it works with the seat tube angle.

johngti

Wheelspinner said:

MTB's basically have not used braze-on design for front mechs since at least last century, so you won't find one now. There are a stack of different "standards" but nothing directly comparable.

Worth also noting that MTB derailleurs are shaped to suit seat tube angles typically a fair bit slacker than roadie-type frames, so might not be a match for your frame anyway even if you did find one that fit the mount. The Contend seems to be about 73 deg seat tube, and most MTB are in the mid to high 60s.

I'd be surprised if the road front derailleur doesn't work passably as you suggest - a road one using the SLX shifter. The Shimano drive trains use the same actual chain for road and MTB (same spec dimensionally anyway) so I'd expect the chainring spacing to be pretty close. Your only concern will be shifter cable pull ratio and whether it's close enough.

An alternative might be to remove the braze-on mount - in a few pix I've seen of the Giant it looks like the tab is bolted to the frame, not actually brazed? In that case you could fit a band-on SLX mech that is a "low clamp" design and see if it works with the seat tube angle.

It’ll definitely unscrew but the seat tube isn’t round so band on would be impossible. I could try for one that mounts on the spindle but I think I’ll just try the road mech idea first.

Thanks WS , nice to have some degree of confirmation 🙂

akh

If you want flat bar shifters for a road front and rear derailleur, Shimano make them.
That's the fancier of the two (11 speed) models, there's a lower spec version but I can't remember the model number.

https://bike.shimano.com/en-EU/product/component/105-5800/SL-RS700.html

johngti

Thanks 🙂

I’ve ended up getting deore 5100 shifters for a very decent price. Those with an 11-speed rear mech, 5800 front mech and a pattern cassette for just over a ton. Shifters, cassette and rear mech are all brand new.

Now my problem will be the rear wheel. Got a set of giant pr2, through axle. Assumed that the qr adaptor I have would just slot in but the stock axle is a tiny bit too long. Wheels were cheap so I’ll just try trimming it a little. If it gets facked up it’s no great loss but can’t really see that there’s going to be a problem with it!

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