SRAM 11sp shifters with mtb derailleur/cassette

Hello,
I have sram force 22 on my surly cross check and as I'm planning to travel with a lot of weight I am wondering if it could work with a mountain bike rear derailleur and if yes, witch one (sram 11sp, shimano 11p?)

I was riding ultegra 6500 with acera derailleur on a look previously, but 11sp SRAM might be different!

Thanks in advance!

As far as I know, sram 11 speed road shifters will work with sram 10 speed derailluers but not 11

then I could have sram 10sp mtb derailleur and a 11sp mtb cassette?
are mtb cassettes similar for sram and shimano or it's two different ratios?

Hi Cosme,

The short answers to your question are in bold, but I'll also try to give as much info as possible around them.

Sram and Shimano both make cassettes that have wide gearing rations (that is, there is a big difference between the size of the smallest and biggest rear sprockets). It is worth mentioning however, that Sram's wide-ratio mtb cassettes use a specific freehub body ( or 'driver') called the XD. If you are touring with a lot of weight, you probably have (and if you don't have them then you'll want them) multiple chainrings. If this is the case, there is no real need to have a rear sprocket that is larger than 36T, and therefore no need to buy an XD cassette with the accompanying driver. Note: if you keep with Shimano, you can have as big a rear sprocket as you like with the standard Shimano driver.

However, this brings us to the issue of having a Shimano cassette and Sram shifters. The short version of this is that you'll probably get away with it. the long version is as follows. The thickness of, and distance between, sprocket teeth and manufactured with respect to the dimensions of the chain that with fit onto them. Disregarding brand-specific tooth profiling, any cassette should work with any chain, provided they have the same speed designation (i.e. 9sp, 10sp, 11sp). So when you hear people saying you can't use Sram with Shimano, it's not always true.

Where genuine compatibility problems due occur is the interaction between rear mech and shifters. The rear shifter is a lever attached to a ratchet. When the lever is pushed a specific distance, the ratchet rotates a specific distance about its axis, a specific length of cable is pulled, which causes the rear mech to move a specific distance. The relationships between all these movements are dictated by the fulcrum position on the lever and the pivot point on the rear mech, which form its 'parallelogram'. That a lot of things working in harmony and, you guessed it, manufacturers use different standards. The conclusion is that you should use a Sram mech (preferably a Force mech) with your Sram Force shifters to get the best shifting result

The main difference between a 10sp and 11sp mech is the range, which is dictated by the limit screws. If this were the only difference, you could use a 10sp mech with an 11sp cassette by backing off the limit screws. However, because the spacing between sprocket teeth is smaller on an 11sp cassette, the mech is designed to move a shorter distance with each click of the shifter. Therefore the mech would theoretically be fine with the cassette, but wouldn't quite work with your 11sp shifter. The only way to get round this is by using a friction (non-indexed) shifter.

I could go on but perhaps that's enough for now.

Hope that helps.

This is quite clear, thanks a lot!
Conclusion is I could get a 10sp mtb derailleur and a 10sp mtb cassette and use them with my 11speed levers BUT DONT PRESS TO THE LAST POSITION !

Nope, nonsense. Rear mechs aren’t indexed and an 11 speed cassette is only slightly wider than a 10 speed. SRAM 11 speed road and 10 speed mountain bike have the same cable pull ratio. They will work as if they were designed together.
You can run 11 speed with your shifters and an 11 speed cassette and a 10 speed derailleur, road or mtb

I'm going to try this! thanks a lot!

Here is the conclusion, I run:
11 speed SRAM Force Shifter
11 speed Shimano Road Cassette
10 speed SRAM X9 mountain bike derailleur

That shifts perfectly! Thanks for the advice!

11 speed SRAM Force Shifter
11 speed Shimano Road Cassette
10 speed SRAM X9 mountain bike derailleur

What was the reasoning behind using an X9 here? To get the type II clutch?

Howard, you're a mountain bike guy now right? Have you got any Sram clutched mechs spare?

I think I do. But they are spendy ones like XO.

Well anything south of 50 quid and I'm your man

Getting something cheap to run cassette going to 32 or 34 teeth. Road models like 11sp wifle or long cage ultegra are expensive. And if I want to run 40 teeth cassette with 1x crankset later...

Ah I see, just a way of getting the WiFli set up with a long cage and 32 cassette or something?

Max cog on the X9 is 36 I think, could be wrong. Not sure if it would work with a 40, but frame design might be the final arbiter of that.

exact! I'll post a picture of the result :)

Rear mechs aren’t indexed

To be fair to @GoSteady he didn't say they were.

Rear mechs can be designed to move different distances for a given cable pull, known as the shift ratio, however I think what is agreed here (but i dont actually know) is that 11 speed road shifters and 10 speed mountain mechs operate with compatible cable pull/shift ratio and so are interchangeable.

Edit - read your reply again. We're all saying about the same thing :/

;)