Drivetrain compatibility - in pictures!

[Woz]

Great thread.

 

[Splatter Paint]

9 speed shimano cassette and chain, 11 speed xt shifter mated to xt m739 v brake levers, stainless single speed chain ring and 10 speed Zee derailleur. In true franken form it doesn't work perfectly, the largest cog needs a double shift to push it over the line, but everything else works fine.
Inspiration from Hucking Kitty
Edit: The best resource for figuring out all the combinations and permutations is Science Behind the Magic | Drivetrain Compatibility – Art's SLO Cyclery

Woah, woah, woah!
A: how can an 11 speed shifter work on 9 speed?
B: how did you attach the shifters to the levers?

 

[Splatter Paint]

@ Joglo, I love the first two drivetrains, they look great!

 

[Woz]

Woah, woah, woah!
A: how can an 11 speed shifter work on 9 speed?
B: how did you attach the shifters to the levers?

Ditto. That one peaked my interest.

 

[Woz]

Question - why would you want to run say an 11 speed chain with a 9 speed cassette? How does all that bed in?

An 8 speed cassette with a 9 speed chain OK, the internal width is the same.

 

[Splatter Paint]

Question - why would you want to run say an 11 speed chain with a 9 speed cassette? How does all that bed in?

An 8 speed cassette with a 9 speed chain OK, the internal width is the same.

I have a couple of modern bikes running 11 speed. Perceived wisdom (of the internet) is that 11 speed chain should be changed at 0.5%, therefore I have spare part-worn expensive 11 speed chains….. perfect for a beater bike build! So the reason is that I’m a cheapskate

 

[Woz]

Ah OK. The old pecking order of which bikes get the new goodies and those that get the pass downs. Can fully relate to that

 

[TheAntsPants]

A: how can an 11 speed shifter work on 9 speed?

Because I threw a 10 speed derailleur in to the mix
From the link I posted above, the formula is:
Cable pull * Derailleur shift ratio = Cog pitch

I wanted 9 speeds (cheap, available and enough range) and a Zee derailleur (ultra short cage, almost as light as XT), so from the maths settled on a 11spd shifter:
Shimano 11spd * Shimano 10spd derailleur = 9 speed cassette
3.6mm * 1.2 = 4.32mm derailleur movement (vs 4.35mm actual cog pitch)

B: how did you attach the shifters to the levers?

Short answer: dremel.
Ispec II (not Ispec A or B) brake levers clamp around the Ispec mount, so just dremel the mount and a space in your brake lever clamp to fit. Don't have a pic of the lever, but you can see the mount that fits between the bar and lever. Works perfectly. Just don't tell the retro-fundamentalists .

 

[Woz]

An old build from 2013 that had to go dormant. I am currently in the process of rebuilding it.

Middleburn 8 speed 32 chainring
Blackspire 8 speed DH 42 chainring (no ramps and pins)
10 speed Shimano Tiagra ST-4600 shifters
8 speed Shimano FD-M565
9 speed Shimano RD-5501
9 speed SRAM PG-950 12-26 cassette
9 speed Shimano HG73 chain

[BTW: The answer of how all this worked is not in any table]

 

[Woz]

The addition of a front derailleur barrel adjuster did help enormously to get the front indexing right; I had to butcher an old rear derailleur though to make it.

Initially it was 10 speed, but it ended in tears. The thin chamfered edges of the outer plates on a 10 speed chain made the upshift to the big ring virtually impossible. With a 9 speed chain it worked a charm. To be honest, for MTBs I'm staying on 8 or 9 speed for longevity.