Shimano Dyna-Sys 10 derailleur w/ Road shifters?

I recall reading about all sorts of frankenbike mix-n-match drivetrains over the years, but now, like the various BB standards + crank interfaces + after market adapters, drivetrain specs and details boggle the mind.   

Props to Art's Cyclery for trying to make sense of it all here--for now, it's my go-to reference.  

I have an older 29er hardtail frameset (currently built as a 1-speed) that would be a good starting point for a drop bar XC/gravel bike conversion (swapping to a rigid fork, drop bars, etc).  I also have a spare Shimano XT/SLX 10-speed drivetrain in my parts bin, I like the rear derailleur's clutch feature for 1x drivetrains, and I want to use as many of the parts I currently own to get the project bike running.  

Details (from that Art's article):  

• Shimano 10-speed mountain shifters pull 3.4 mm of cable per shift 

Shifters pulling close to 3.4 mm of cable are:  

• Campy 8 speed shifters pull 3.5 mm of cable per shift  
• "Old" Campy 9 speed shifters pull 3.2 mm of cable per shift
• Shimano 6 speed shifters pull 3.2 mm of cable per shift 
• SRAM X-actuation 11-speed mountain shifters pull 3.5 mm of cable per shift  
• SRAM 11 speed mountain shifters pull 3.6 mm of cable per shift 

Possible solutions:  

1.  Shimano-compatible Microshift "BS-M10" 10-speed mountain bike bar end shifters (which I'm pretty sure is what Gevenalle / RetroShift uses for their "GX" Dyna-Sys compatible shifters).  
2.   Jtek Shiftmate 6, mates either Shimano 8 or 9 speed road levers with Shimano 10 speed Dyna-Sys rear derailleur (to be used w/ 8 or 9 speed cassettes respectively).  

So... does anyone have experience using drop bar road shifters for Shimano 10-speed Dyna-Sys rear derailleurs, and if so, what shifters did you use?

slo_rider wrote:I recall reading about all sorts of frankenbike mix-n-match drivetrains over the years, but now, like the various BB standards + crank interfaces + after market adapters, drivetrain specs and details boggle the mind.   

Props to Art's Cyclery for trying to make sense of it all here--for now, it's my go-to reference.  

I have an older 29er hardtail frameset (currently built as a 1-speed) that would be a good starting point for a drop bar XC/gravel bike conversion (swapping to a rigid fork, drop bars, etc).  I also have a spare Shimano XT/SLX 10-speed drivetrain in my parts bin, I like the rear derailleur's clutch feature for 1x drivetrains, and I want to use as many of the parts I currently own to get the project bike running.  

Details (from that Art's article):  

• Shimano 10-speed mountain shifters pull 3.4 mm of cable per shift 

Shifters pulling close to 3.4 mm of cable are:  

• Campy 8 speed shifters pull 3.5 mm of cable per shift  
• "Old" Campy 9 speed shifters pull 3.2 mm of cable per shift
• Shimano 6 speed shifters pull 3.2 mm of cable per shift 
• SRAM X-actuation 11-speed mountain shifters pull 3.5 mm of cable per shift  
• SRAM 11 speed mountain shifters pull 3.6 mm of cable per shift 

Possible solutions:  

1.  Shimano-compatible Microshift "BS-M10" 10-speed mountain bike bar end shifters (which I'm pretty sure is what Gevenalle / RetroShift uses for their "GX" Dyna-Sys compatible shifters).  
2.   Jtek Shiftmate 6, mates either Shimano 8 or 9 speed road levers with Shimano 10 speed Dyna-Sys rear derailleur (to be used w/ 8 or 9 speed cassettes respectively).  

So... does anyone have experience using drop bar road shifters for Shimano 10-speed Dyna-Sys rear derailleurs, and if so, what shifters did you use?

\n \nNo idea if you can use 10 speed derailleurs, but pre-Dynasis 9 speed will work with 10 speed road shifters.

Mudge wrote: \n \nNo idea if you can use 10 speed derailleurs, but pre-Dynasis 9 speed will work with 10 speed road shifters.

\n \nYes—I believe you can use any Shimano 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10 speed road shifter with any Shimano pre-Dyna Sys 6 to 10 speed rear derailleur (whether road OR mountain), and it will work for any corresponding Shimano compatible 6 to 10 speed cassette. \n \nThat's because Shimano's pre-Dyna Sys rear derailleurs were all designed to move the same amount (1.7 mm) for every 1 mm of cable pulled by the shifter. While the newer Dyna Sys rear derailleur only moves 1.2 mm for every 1 mm of cable pulled by the shift lever. \n \nBut if I want to use my Dyna Sys 10 speed mountain rear derailleur (mainly bc of it's clutch mechanism to prevent droppng a chain) with any kind of road drop or "dirt drop" bar, then I think I'm limited to using those Microshift BS-M10 bar end shifters (or other bar end shifters in pure friction mode). \n \nI've got old school SunTour pure friction bar end shifters on my touring bike, mated to a 10-15 year old XTR rear derailleur and it's a super reliable system. So I'm considering Genevalle's GX or Audax shifters that have the ability to go into pure friction mode, so I won't have to worry too much about indexed shifting compatibility, regardless of my rear derailleur or the number of cogs on my cassette. .

I'm going to use the Microshift bar ends on my ti Fargo with the 10-speed SLX crank and FD off my deceased Fargo2, and an XT RD. I trashed the SRAM Apex when I crashed in KS last week and the X9 RD is pretty beat up too.

Not sure how old this thread is but I want to add to it. I may be just bored right now and this may all pass so bear with me lol. But In the last couple days or so I have been thinking how neat it would be to remove my jones bars from my rigid hardtail 650b MTB and throw some dirt drops on for gravel. Trouble is money and not only that but the fact that I already have an awesome gravel rig on my Soma Wolverine with Cowbells. I hate to waste a few hundred dollars and then switch back later. I am afraid thats what would happen and I also hate to rip my Wolvie apart to use the parts temporarily as I go it so dialed in I don't want to touch it . If I could just spend a little money and see what it feels like and if I wanted to keep it that way. I am running Shimano 10 speed SLX clutch so that throws a wrench in the works. Of course with paragon sliders, there is always SS........Why in the world would I need 2 drop bar bikes anyways right ? The MTB gets used A LOT for gravel bike packing so drops may not even be my best option.................Interesting reading here though.

I believe the Wolf Tooth Tanpan is set up to tackle that very problem...
Haven't had a chance to try it myself, but their other products work very nicely.
https://www.wolftoothcomponents.com/products/tanpan

clarksonxc wrote:I believe the Wolf Tooth Tanpan is set up to tackle that very problem...
Haven't had a chance to try it myself, but their other products work very nicely.
https://www.wolftoothcomponents.com/products/tanpan

\n \nWell there you go—Thanks clarkson! I've been to Wolftooth's page, but mainly to sort out options for replacing the button activator for my mountain bike's Reverb post with a lever & cable system. \n \nLooks like the Tanpan is a step up pulley, similar to Jtek's Shiftmate. One model will let you mate Shimano 10 spd road shifters w/ Shimano Dynasys 10 spd moutain rear derailleur, while the other mates Shimano 11 spd road levers w Shimano 11 spd mountain derailleurs. \n \nThanks again for that info!