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Compatibility question....

Hoping for a little bit of guidance please...it's time to swap out my nine speed Tiagra derailleurs and, there being some great deals right now, I'm thinking 105 shifters and derailleurs. From various websites, derailleurs, shifters, cabling, cassette & chain come pretty much bang on £200; painful, but doable! However, if I have to lay out another £100 for a chainset that would be a deal breaker....
Does it really matter if I don't upgrade the chainset? My concern is running a ten speed chain on nine speed chainrings; is that a big deal?
Advice much appreciated.

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8 comments

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Al'76 | 10 years ago
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Thanks all for the feedback; guess I'll give it a go and cross my fingers (tightly!). 10 speed on the winter bike; awesome  4

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jason.timothy.jones | 10 years ago
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It will be fine, I have used the same chain-set on a 9 and 10 speed

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drfabulous0 | 10 years ago
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I wouldn't recommend using a nine speed chain with ten speed block but a ten speed chain with nine speed rings is unlikely to be an issue. I successfully run six speed with a Sturmey crankset on one of my bikes. I have seen an 8speed chainring break a nine speed chain but only once and it was bent.

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antigee | 10 years ago
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I'm running a 1x10 set up on my shopping bike with the front ring off a 9 speed chain set with no problems if that helps - guess I might still worry about the front mech a bit as logic would say chain is narrower so movement from 1 ring to another is smaller? My guess would be little issue with a double but if a triple? - anyone have a definitive answer? - had same issue recently went I smashed a 9 speed lever on my CX in a dumb crash just after having replaced chain set and struggled to get a replacement at an OK price so nearly went to 10

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Jack Osbourne snr | 10 years ago
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It'll work fine.

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allez neg | 10 years ago
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I run an 8sp chain and back end on a 9sp chainset on one of my mountainbikes with no issues.

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mike the bike | 10 years ago
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A ten-speed chain is narrower than a nine, so sayeth the experts. This may mean it won't seat properly on your rings or change from ring to ring cleanly.

But tales on non-compatibility between components are often exaggerated and maybe someone will post a reply saying they have done this without trouble?

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William Black replied to mike the bike | 10 years ago
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mike the bike wrote:

A ten-speed chain is narrower than a nine, so sayeth the experts. This may mean it won't seat properly on your rings or change from ring to ring cleanly.

But tales on non-compatibility between components are often exaggerated and maybe someone will post a reply saying they have done this without trouble?

I've run a 9sp chain on a 10sp mountain bike to get me out of a pinch...it worked absolutely fine!

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