# 11 speed chain on 10 speed cassette



## ishmaelmuscat (Oct 30, 2008)

For convenience reasons, I recently had to replace one of my road wheels' 11 speed cassettes with a 10 speed cassette.

Just wondering, would riding using 11 speed setup on 10 speed cassette cause the 11 speed chain to adapt to 10 speed cassette? Thus when the racing season starts and I would shift back to the 11 speed cassette, would the 11 speed chain have issues with the 11 speed cassette?

I just fear the 11 speed chain gets used to 10 speed cassette after a few hundred kilometres of riding.

If issues would later arise, I would immediately use my 11 speed cassette for precaution reasons.

Please let me know.


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## orange_julius (Jan 24, 2003)

ishmaelmuscat said:


> For convenience reasons, I recently had to replace one of my road wheels' 11 speed cassettes with a 10 speed cassette.
> 
> Just wondering, would riding using 11 speed setup on 10 speed cassette cause the 11 speed chain to adapt to 10 speed cassette? Thus when the racing season starts and I would shift back to the 11 speed cassette, would the 11 speed chain have issues with the 11 speed cassette?
> 
> ...


Aside from issues from an 11-speed shifter/RD's pull/spacing mismatch with your cassettes, your 11-sp chain will get worn at a much faster rate with a 10-sp cassette. Think about it: your 11-sp chain is narrower than a 10-sp chain. Or to say it backwards, your 10-sp cassette cogs are a little too wide for your 11-sp chain. It will probably be noisy, and it will definitely get worn at a faster rate. 

Combined with the difference in the cable pull, you'll have a noisy drivetrain. And you will have to either over-tighten or loosen your cable so that your last shift is a dud shift. So your cable will also get worn. Are these acceptable to you? 

Reading your post, it is not clear to me what your expectations are. You will have to adjust at least your RD limit screws and cable tension to be able to use the 10-sp cassette. But if it makes you feel better, lots of people used 10-sp Campagnolo with a 9-sp Shimano wheelset and cassette only a few years ago, and most of them found it to be acceptable. However, I think most of them ran Shimano 9-sp chains.


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## C-40 (Feb 4, 2004)

*bad idea...*

The biggest issue issue is the cog spacing issue. 11 speed cogs spacing is much narrower, at 3.8mm compared to 4.15mm, so the shifting should be lousy. You need to get an 11 speed cassette back on the bike or change the shifters to 10 speed.

The chain itself should not be an issue since the inside dimensions are nearly identical to 10 speed.


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## ishmaelmuscat (Oct 30, 2008)

*agree*



orange_julius said:


> Aside from issues from an 11-speed shifter/RD's pull/spacing mismatch with your cassettes, your 11-sp chain will get worn at a much faster rate with a 10-sp cassette. Think about it: your 11-sp chain is narrower than a 10-sp chain. Or to say it backwards, your 10-sp cassette cogs are a little too wide for your 11-sp chain. It will probably be noisy, and it will definitely get worn at a faster rate.
> 
> Combined with the difference in the cable pull, you'll have a noisy drivetrain. And you will have to either over-tighten or loosen your cable so that your last shift is a dud shift. So your cable will also get worn. Are these acceptable to you?
> 
> Reading your post, it is not clear to me what your expectations are. You will have to adjust at least your RD limit screws and cable tension to be able to use the 10-sp cassette. But if it makes you feel better, lots of people used 10-sp Campagnolo with a 9-sp Shimano wheelset and cassette only a few years ago, and most of them found it to be acceptable. However, I think most of them ran Shimano 9-sp chains.


Thanks! I have unused 10 speed wheel and wanted to conserve my new 11 chorus cassette... but i agree with you totally, i should not use 10 cassette with 11 chain.


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## ishmaelmuscat (Oct 30, 2008)

*thanks*



C-40 said:


> The biggest issue issue is the cog spacing issue. 11 speed cogs spacing is much narrower, at 3.8mm compared to 4.15mm, so the shifting should be lousy. You need to get an 11 speed cassette back on the bike or change the shifters to 10 speed.
> 
> The chain itself should not be an issue since the inside dimensions are nearly identical to 10 speed.


thanks! totally agree


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## oldawg (May 20, 2007)

So the 11 speed chain will work OK with 10 speed cassette. I ask because it seems to be more difficult now to find 10 sp campy chains.


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## ishmaelmuscat (Oct 30, 2008)

*no*



oldawg said:


> So the 11 speed chain will work OK with 10 speed cassette. I ask because it seems to be more difficult now to find 10 sp campy chains.


apparently it doesn't, that's what I understand from above.

I've used 9 on 10 speed but i guess 10 on 9 speed or 11 on 10 speed is not advisable.


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## orange_julius (Jan 24, 2003)

ishmaelmuscat said:


> apparently it doesn't, that's what I understand from above.
> 
> I've used 9 on 10 speed but i guess 10 on 9 speed or 11 on 10 speed is not advisable.


I think the summary of comments is as follows:
1. If you have a 10-sp drivetrain except for an 11-sp chain, you'll end up with a noisy drivetrain and a chain that wears out quickly. 
2. If you have an 11-sp drivetrain except for a 10-sp cassette, you'll have both noise and wear issues with the chain, AND you have to contend with the difference in cable pull & cog spacing. Not to mention that you have to set the inner and outer limits of your RD carefully so that you don't overshift. 

Issue 2 is worse than issue 1, I think ....


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## wim (Feb 28, 2005)

orange_julius said:


> If you have a 10-sp drivetrain except for an 11-sp chain, you'll end up with a noisy drivetrain and a chain that wears out quickly....


That assessment is based on the incorrect notion that the 11-speed chain is too narrow to fit over a 10-speed cog. As said above, the inside dimensions of a 10-speed and 11-speed chain are virtually identical, so there's no problem running an 11-speed chain on 10-speed cogs. What's narrower is the _outside_ dimension of an 11-speed chain compared to a 10-speed chain.


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## C-40 (Feb 4, 2004)

*no...*

There is no reason for an 11 speed chain to cause excessive noise if used on a 10 speed cassette. The narrowest space between the inner plates in nearly identical to a 10 speed chain.

Using a 10 speed cassette on an 11 speed drivetrain makes no sense at all, since the cag spacing is not even close to the same.


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## clm2206 (Sep 12, 2006)

C-40 said:


> There is no reason for an 11 speed chain to cause excessive noise if used on a 10 speed cassette. The narrowest space between the inner plates in nearly identical to a 10 speed chain.
> 
> Using a 10 speed cassette on an 11 speed drivetrain makes no sense at all, since the cag spacing is not even close to the same.


So, is it ok (and safe) to use an 11 speed chain on a 10 speed drivetrain?


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## cxwrench (Nov 9, 2004)

clm2206 said:


> So, is it ok (and safe) to use an 11 speed chain on a 10 speed drivetrain?


yes...


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