Tin can I mix SRAM, Shimano and Campagnolo shifters, derailleurs and cassettes? This commodity will answer that question and more than. I've commented previously on the lack of standards in the cycling manufacture. Information technology tin be, at times, rather frustrating. Some new office comes out that I really want, but lo and behold, my seat post is the wrong bore, or this tapered fork is incompatible with my straight head tube. It is a constant battle to go on up with the ever-changing times.

While the industry has advanced in leaps and bounds in the past few years, certain things accept stayed relatively the same over the decades. Di2 and EPS excluded, shifting is one thing that is basically the aforementioned. Aye we've advanced from 5 cogs to xi, and derailleurs at present have inverse to account for a varying number of forrard gears, but we are still talking about yanking on a cable a certain amount to move a concatenation upwards and downward a line of gears.

This article contains tables with data for cable pull, derailleur shift ratio and cog pitch of SRAM, Shimano and Campagnolo drivetrains. This data can be used to show areas of cross compatibility for mixing and matching groups. Besides, I desire to discuss the differences amongst drivetrain competitors and the reasoning behind some of their decisions. Before nosotros get into it all, lets define a few terms and so that nosotros are all on the same page.

The shifter determines cablevision pull. Every time you click your shift lever, the shifter pulls in or releases a certain amount of cable. Unlike brands and different drivetrain speeds (e.g. 9, 10, 11spd) pull different amounts of cable. For the about office, all the cable pulls are uniform for every shift, with the exception of some of the Campagnolo shifters. For instance, a Campagnolo 10-speed shifter pulls 2.5mm of cable v times, 3mm twice and iii.5mm twice.

Derailleur shift ratios, also referred to as actuation, are the amount of movement from side to side of the derailleur relative to the amount of cable pulled. Older Shimano derailleurs all accept a shift ratio of ane.7. This means that for every millimeter of cable pulled by the shifter, the derailleur will move i.vii millimeters.

Cog pitch is the distance from the center of one cog on the cassette to the heart of the next. Cog pitch changes between major brands and as more gears are added, usually cog pitch shrinks to fit more gears into the aforementioned width freehub torso.

These 3 numbers are related by the following equation:

Cablevision pull * Derailleur shift ratio = Cog pitch

Looking at this equation, you can imagine the thought procedure behind some of the designs. If an engineer a few years ago wanted to design 10-speed drivetrains, but they wanted them to fit on the current 9-speed bikes, then the x cogs must fit in the aforementioned amount of space on the freehub body as the 9 previous cogs. To practise this the engineer will reduce the width of the spacers between each cog. Then now all the cogs are closer together. To salve time and money, lets leave the derailleur design virtually the same; we will only slap a nice shiny 10-speed graphic on it. Only if the cogs are closer together, we need to alter the shifter design and so that information technology only pulls the cable simply plenty to go to the next cog. And so the shifter is redesigned with an extra "click" and at present each shift pulls 0.2mm less of cable than before. Plain the design process is non this elementary, only hopefully this over-simplified example helps to explain how things work.

Tables below contain measurements for cable pull, derailleur shift ratio and cog pitch for varying drivetrains. We want to go along this table updated as new information becomes bachelor, and then experience free to comment on the bottom of the mail service if there is information that you recollect we missed or should be added.

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Shifter Cablevision Pull (mm)
Shimano x Route ii.3
Shimano nine 2.5
Campagnolo xi 2.6
Shimano xi Route 2.7
Campagnolo 10 ii.eight
Shimano 8 2.8
Shimano 7 two.ix
Campagnolo new 9 iii
SRAM (Exact Actuation) 10 Road/Mountain 3.ane
SRAM (Exact Actuation) eleven Road iii.1
Campagnolo one-time nine 3.ii
Shimano six 3.2
Shimano 10 Mountain 3.4
SRAM (X-Actuation) 11 Mountain iii.48
Campagnolo 8 three.v
Shimano 11 Mount three.half dozen
SRAM (one:i) 9 Mount 4
SRAM (1:one) 8 Mountain 4.3
SRAM (1:1) 7 Mount 4.5

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Cassette Sprocket Pitch (mm)
Campagnolo viii-speed v
Shimano/SRAM viii-speed four.8
Campagnolo 9-speed 4.55
Shimano/SRAM 9-speed 4.35
Campagnolo 10-speed four.15
Shimano/SRAM 10-speed 3.95
SRAM xi-Speed Road iii.72
SRAM xi-Speed Mount 3.9
Shimano 11-Speed Mountain 3.9
Campagnolo eleven-speed iii.76
Shimano 11-speed Road 3.69

Derailleur Shift Ratio
Shimano Standard 1.seven
Shimano Standard due west/ Hubbub one.6
Campagnolo (new) one.5
Campagnolo (old) 1.4
SRAM (Exact Actuation) 1.3
Shimano x-speed Dyna-sys 1.2
SRAM (Ten-Actuation) 1.12
SRAM (1:1) 1.1

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Update 2/13/15: Please note when using the equation relating cable pull, shift ratio, and cog pitch, the calculated values will vary slightly from the those listed above. The precision of measuring equipment leads to every bit much equally a iii.24% difference in calculated and measured values. Below, the nautical chart compares the measured values of cog pitch with those calculated past multiply shift ratio with cable pull. This percentage mistake does not hateful that the numbers are incorrect, it simply suggests that more precise measuring procedures would be required to eliminate the difference.

Cablevision Pull Derailleur Ratio Calculated Cog Pitch Measured Cog Pitch Percentage Difference
Shimano half-dozen 3.2 one.7 v.44 5.fifty 1.ten
Shimano 7 2.9 i.7 4.93 5.00 one.41
Shimano 8 2.8 1.7 4.76 4.lxxx 0.84
Shimano 9 2.five 1.seven four.25 4.35 ii.33
Shimano 10 Route two.iii 1.7 iii.91 3.95 one.02
Shimano 10 Mount 3.4 1.2 iv.08 3.95 3.24
Shimano eleven Road 2.vii 1.4* 3.69
Shimano xi Mountain three.vi 1.1* iii.90
Campagnolo 8 iii.v 1.4 4.ninety v.00 2.02
Campagnolo old 9 3.ii one.4 4.48 4.55 one.55
Campagnolo new 9 three.0 1.5 iv.l 4.55 ane.10
Campagnolo 10 2.8 1.5 4.xx four.fifteen 1.twenty
Campagnolo 11 2.6 one.v iii.90 iii.76 3.66
SRAM (one:one) vii Mountain four.v 1.1 4.95 5.00 1.01
SRAM (1:one) 8 Mountain 4.3 1.1 4.73 4.fourscore 1.47
SRAM (1:i) 9 Mountain 4.0 i.1 4.40 4.35 one.14
SRAM (Verbal Actuation) 10 Road/Mountain three.1 1.three 4.03 3.95 2.01
SRAM (Exact Actuation) xi Road 3.1 1.3 iv.03 3.72 2.01
SRAM (10-Actuation) 11 Mountain 3.5 1.12 3.90 3.xc 0.06

*Shimano 11-speed groups do not have any published data regarding derailleur ratio. The ratio listed was calculated by measuring cable pull and cog pitch and solving for the ratio.

If you lot find the tables a little hard to decipher and compare, then the next sections might brand things a little easier. Nosotros will talk over popular combinations of components followed by 3 sections that each pertain to a specific manufacturer and discusses the history and revisions to the systems over the years.

While the market is large and in that location are many different varieties of derailleurs and drivetrains, I would guess that xc% of people reading this article are using Shimano, SRAM or Campagnolo 8/nine/10 or 11-Speed systems so we will focus on those combinations.

Mixing and Matching

Information technology is important to go along in listen that while you find a lot of information that claims compatibility between different brands and groups, experiences volition always vary. Things might seem to work well for a while, simply after on, concatenation's stretch, teeth get worn down, and all all of a sudden shifting becomes shady. Just keep in mind that Campy engineers didn't design any of their components to work with Shimano or SRAM or any mix in between. Mixed component group compatibilities are more of a coincidence than anything. Aye, cyclocross racers, monster 'crossers, steep route aficionados, I'chiliad talking to you. These riders are most likely to play the component mix upwards game because they desire dropbar shifters with mountain cassette ranges that require mountain derailleurs with long cages for a larger maximum tooth capacity. Until SRAM CX-1, they had no choice but to play the mix and match game. Please scout this public service announcement to gain awareness about a real issue that faces all cyclocross racers in item.

With that disclaimer I will say that if the cable pull, ratios and cog spacing truly are matched, at that place won't be an event. The perfect case is cross compatibility between SRAM 10-speed mountain and road. These groups work together—period. Bicycle manufacturers, including Specialized, sell new bicycles with mixed groups like this. I fully encourage you to tinker and try different combinations with your new-constitute knowledge as you build your perfect steed.

Moving on from perfect matches, things get more complicated; we start mixing between brands. With varied success, at that place are a few different popular combinations today. Shimergo is the mix and match of "Shim"ano drivetrains with Campy "Ergo" shift levers. This is possible because the cablevision pull between the two is and then similar. Routing of the cablevision a little differently through the derailleur finer changes the ratio to make things line upward. This is called the Hubbub routing method. Just, as noted earlier, Campagnolo Ergo levers pull ii.5mm of cable five times, 3mm twice and 3.5mm twice and Shimano derailleurs are designed effectually consistent cablevision pull each fourth dimension. There is a fudge factor of compatibility though and there are numerous reports of success online. The methods crave a reduced speed; pregnant 9-speed levers with an viii-speed cassette. If you are interested in setting up a Shimergo setup, there are plenty of articles and forum posts out there to aid yous with your setup.

With the Shimergo setup, it is also worth mentioning Jtek Engineering science. Their most popular product, the Jtek ShiftMate, uses a caster to modify the ratio of the corporeality of cable pulled by the shifter. There are four dissimilar pulleys available to permit you to run numerous combinations of Shimano and Campagnolo viii through 11-speed systems together. Here is an article that details one rider'due south experience of moving from the Hubbub method to a Jtek ShiftMate.

Screen shot 2014-12-17 at 11.31.25 AM

JTek ShiftMates use a pulley to reduce or increase the ratio of cable pull to create compatibility between shifters, derailleurs and cassette spacing. Four different pulleys tin can exist setup eight different ways to modify the corporeality of cablevision pull in the system.

Every bit mentioned earlier in this commodity, at that place are reports that XTR 11-speed cassettes use nominally the same spacing as SRAM 11-speed mountain systems. Some people are reporting success on forum posts.

And lastly, despite differences in cog pitch, information technology seems that there has been some success with mixing cassettes between 11-speed road systems as detailed in this VeloNews article past Lennard Zinn, the author of the popular Zinn Mountain and Road Maintenance books. Again, note that merely the cassettes are being swapped, shifter and derailleur brands must still lucifer in these instances due to meaning differences in cablevision pull and derailleur ratio.

Shimano

Starting with Shimano, this could be the simplest department of them all if we could but talk near everything up to ix-speed. Basically everything Shimano did up until then was cross compatible. They used a derailleur shift ratio of one.7 on everything. While the cable pull varies from eight-speeds to 9-speeds as they moved the sprocket pitch closer together, the derailleur remains the aforementioned. Shimano 10-speed route groups adhere to this design every bit well. It's the ten-speed Dyna-Sys mount systems that veered away from the norm—More on that in a second. So permit's say you have an older viii-speed Shimano drivetrain on your bicycle and your derailleur breaks. You hunt around and tin can't find a replacement for your old derailleur anywhere… Fear not! Because a make new Shimano Ultegra 6700 10-speed derailleur has the same shift ratio of ane.7, it is completely compatible. Your old 8-speed shifter will pull the same 2.8mm of cable as before, and the derailleur will motility the aforementioned four.8mm pitch required to push the concatenation to the adjacent cog.

Now here'south where things get catchy, as more gears are added and everything gets closer together, tolerances get tighter. This means that with a picayune bit of dirt in the cable organisation, the derailleur doesn't quite motility as far as it should, and of a sudden you're in the wrong gear and your bike is ghost shifting like crazy. Enter Shimano Dyna-Sys. In the simplest terms, Dyna-Sys increased the amount of cablevision pulled and decreased the amount of derailleur movement per millimeter of cable pull. Because Shimano ten-speed route is the aforementioned 1.7 ratio as before, lets compare the 10-speed Shimano road to the x-Speed Shimano Dyna-Sys mount. The cassettes are the same width, with a cog pitch of iii.95mm. Just the difference is that 10-speed road pulls 2.3mm of cable, compared to the 3.4mm of cablevision that Dyna-Sys pulls. So in order to cease upwards in the aforementioned gear after a shift, the derailleur ratio is reduced from one.7 to the new Dyna-Sys one.2 ratio. The principal reasoning behind this design change is that with more cable pull, a plow of the barrel adjuster gives much more than incremental fine-tuning. Dyna-Sys immune Shimano to squeeze 10-speeds into the same freehub body and however maintain quality shifting that stays in-tune. While I can't speak for the engineers, I would say that Dyna-Sys was considered not necessary on road systems, because they weren't being browbeaten around quite similar a mount system, until xi-speed road was introduced. Now the Shimano xi-speed road systems have a type of modified Dyna-sys that keeps them in-melody with tighter cog spacing but is completely incompatible with 10-speed route or mountain.

One of the most interesting things to happen to drivetrains lately is electronic shifting. The derailleur shift ratio is essentially programmed into the mechanism. Cablevision pull is completely eliminated. The shifters but contain upshift and downshift buttons, with nothing internally that determines how many shifts yous can perform beyond programming. In a perfect earth you could plug your drivetrain into your estimator and tell it how many gears your cassette has and the cog pitch. The derailleur and shifters could then reprogram themselves accordingly. Unfortunately we don't live in a world like this yet. Perhaps anytime someone volition "Jailbreak" Shimano Di2 systems, allowing on-the-fly reprogramming of all components. Currently it is possible to bandy a x-speed derailleur for an 11-speed, resulting in your Di2 10-speed shifters reprogramming themselves with xi-speeds. This just works for specific models and firmware versions, so I encourage you to scout our video if you are interested in learning more.

SRAM

SRAM has basically approached the situation with the same method as Shimano with a few exceptions since they entered the arena a piddling after on. Early on, SRAM produced shifters that were cross compatible with the Shimano 1.7 ratio. This was called the SRAM (2:i) family unit of products. For the well-nigh function though, SRAM used their 1:1 actuation on seven/8/9-speed systems. Referencing the SRAM website, "Every unit of cable you pull moves the derailleur the same amount." Comparable to the Dyna-Sys release, with 10-speed systems both route and mountain, SRAM introduced Exact Actuation. The nice thing virtually the SRAM system is that all mountain ten-speed and road 10-speed are uniform, all using Exact Actuation. And then you can use road shifters, with mountain derailleurs and vice versa—though information technology volition be necessary to throw an inline barrel adjuster in the mix when using road shifters with mount derailleurs. I remember the best easter egg of all of this is that Verbal Actuation remained for SRAM 22 road groups. Pregnant that if y'all wish to upgrade to SRAM 11-speed and you already take an 11-speed compatible freehub body, all you demand is a new rear shifter, cassette, and chain. The cog pitch and derailleur ratio is the same on 10 and 11-speed road. So with a new shifter, your 10-speed derailleur turns into an 11-speed derailleur.

Unfortunately the same cannot exist said for the SRAM 11-speed mountain systems. SRAM Mount uses a new Ten-Actuation setup that in one case over again changes ratios and increases the amount of cablevision pulled. Then SRAM Mountain is only uniform with itself for the time beingness. Although interestingly enough, people on the forums are reporting that the new XTR 11-speed systems seem to run smoothly with a SRAM 11-speed cassette. Art'south examined an XTR M9000 cassette alongside a SRAM XX1 cassette and upon visual inspection and measuring as accurately as possible with our digital calipers, both cassettes seem to accept a cog pitch of roughly 3.9. I say "roughly" because I am unsure of the accuracy of measurements and would like to use more precise tools to confirm. Unfortunately SRAM and Shimano both declined to provide hard numbers after I contacted them. Please note that shift pull and derailleur ratios are still different, so while you lot may exist able to swap cassettes, you cannot use a SRAM shifter with an XTR derailleur or the other fashion around. Uniform cassettes do introduce some interesting combinations since XTR M9000 cassettes work with ix/x-speed freehub bodies while SRAM 11-Speed only works with the new XD driver bodies.

A good comparing between SRAM xi-speed mountain and road systems lies in the Force CX-1 Drivetrain. It is the result of a drunken hookup between a SRAM Strength 22 route group and a SRAM mountain grouping. The consequence is a cassette with cog pitch, cable pull and derailleur ratio (Verbal Actuation) from the route group. But with technologies like X-Horizon and a Roller Bearing Clutch made popular by the mount grouping. Because the CX-1 derailleur is basically an X1 derailleur with some modification, information technology is easy to prove the almost substantial differences by putting them side-by-side.

IMG_1740

Force CX-1 and X1 Mountain derailleurs side by side. Main differences viewed here lie in the design of the muzzle. The mountain derailleur on the correct is designed for larger maximum tooth cogs (42T) and accept upwardly the extra concatenation slack required in the mountain system. This picture shows the two derailleurs without cable routing devices installed—seen in the next picture.

IMG_1749

These two cablevision routers (Left: Forcefulness CX-1, Correct: X1 Mountain) are designed differently to change the angle of entry of the cable into the derailleur torso. They are interchangeable between the 2 derailleurs, but it wouldn't do yous much good as it will modify the way the derailleur works. The CX-1 version has a built-in butt adjuster since the shift lever doesn't accept i like its X1 counterpart.

IMG_1736

After running through the cablevision routers pictured previously, the cable runs around a lever arm guide before being clamped in the cable bolt. Comparing the two lever arms in the above picture, we can come across how the length of the arm has inverse to modify the derailleur shift ratio so Force CX-ane will be compatible with xi-speed route instead of xi-speed mountain with a different cog pitch.

Campagolo

And finally we discuss Campy. This department is infinitely less complicated. At that place are no mount components to contend with, merely route groups. Lets discuss viii through 11-speed groups. Instead of Dyna-Sys, Dyna-Sys11, one:1, Exact Actuation, X-Acuation or any other fancy marketing terms y'all could possibly come with, we will refer to the systems equally Campy "erstwhile" and Campy "new". Campagnolo inverse the shift ratio and cable pull between the two systems. eight-Speed systems are Campy "old." 9-speed systems come up in both varieties. The "new" 9-speed systems were produced after 2001. Most likely you lot accept a newer grouping, but if you are unsure, one-time-fashion controls are absent of graphics or accept the groupset name on them and new-style will be printed with "9-speed." Newer nine-speed derailleurs moved the "B" adjuster screw downward past the cage, as opposed to the onetime-style that places it where Shimano derailleurs typically have information technology by the frame and mount indicate. After that its easy, ix/x/xi-speed systems are all the same. Merely match the number of gears on the cassette with the number of clicks in the lever (minus ane, because 10-speed shifters make only 9 clicks) and yous are proficient to go. The derailleur ratio remains the same across the range.

This is a lot to absorb afterward one reading then I encourage you lot to reread the specific sections that pertain to you. I promise this sheds a significant corporeality of lite onto the industry and compatibility amid components. I remember that 1 affair I took away from the process of researching for this commodity is that most of the decisions made around these differing designs were made to try and make upgrades easier. Then while we might complain that eleven-speed is expensive and yous have to supplant everything, just remember that without Dyna-Sys11 or X-Actuation shifting, the cassette would probably get wider, and and so we would demand wider wheels and wider frames and information technology would snowball from there. The tables before in the article show collected information for cablevision pull, derailleur ratio, and cog pitch for most component groups. I hope to go along this table up-to-date with new drivetrains and information, so feel free to comment beneath with whatever information you believe should exist added as we try and make this a resource for anybody.

Scientific discipline Backside the Magic delves into the inner workings of your ii-wheeled steed. Spider web Content Editor, Brett Murphy, uses his mechanical engineering science background to explain the latest industry advances and breakdown component pattern.