This seems to be the case: 11 speed road doesn't look to have friction. 10/11/12 speed mountain all work would work with your rear derailleur in friction mode. Shimano bar end shifters stopped having friction with 10 speed. Dura Ace and Ultegra rear derailleurs are interchangeable if they are both 11 speed. On another note: I don't think dialing the indexing on the bar end shifter will be any easier than on a brifter. Each requires achieving the right tension. So no reason to give up on the brifters unless you just prefer friction (as I do, so know judgment).
Youtube is your friend here. There should be quite a few videos for any Shimano rear derailleur. When I've been stuck, I've found videos useful for sorting out the shifting for a particular model. This may sound jaded, but I suspect I'm not the only person who took over their own bike maintainance after having one too many shop mishaps. Good luck! Zach in ABQ On Saturday, April 11, 2026 at 3:26:36 PM UTC-6 Ben Miller wrote: > I think I might have responded to Patrick's message directly already, or > it just got lost... > > But an 11 spd MTB shifter in friction will certainly shift an 11 spd road > RD. It just can not be indexed. > > On Saturday, April 11, 2026 at 2:18:56 PM UTC-7 [email protected] > wrote: > >> I currently run the shifter below with a gevanelle/microshift 10 speed >> rear derailleur, and I've used the 11 speed version of the shifter, the one >> you're interested in, on a medium cage 10 speed era ultra derailleur. I'd >> bet a paycheck it'll work. I'm using the shifter below on 4 bikes. >> >> microSHIFT | Right Bar End... >> https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YF3ZW9L?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share >> >> >> Fair winds, >> >> Captain Conway Bennett >> 239.877.4119 <(239)%20877-4119> >> >> >> >> On Sat, Apr 11, 2026, 3:48 PM Patrick Moore <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> Conway: Please elucidate: are you saying that the MS 11 speed ROAD BES >>> have a friction option? That’s not what their website seems to say, tho’ >>> damn them, vendors are never, ever precise about product specs. >>> >>> 12 speed no go, as my cassette is 11 sp and I want an indexing fallback >>> to any friction option. Also, all black. >>> >>> Curious, question for all: will *Dura Ace* 11 sp BES work with *Ultegra* 11 >>> sp *road* cassettes? >>> >>> >>> https://www.ebay.com/itm/125882095548?epid=2255520713&itmmeta=01KNZ4NJB726GW4WCHST8ZSNPE&hash=item1d4f2857bc:g:klcAAeSw95tpwBrJ&itmprp=enc%3AAQALAAAA4DKQclQvzFwZQpmMrsO4LurZvTdUPSVGUpq2Qt6OYtHq5fEKyvotROm70bRqHb9bDYMs9MYAoz0QxYJFcHWIAXoqrgWb3oOC0QPPdyUP5Cfvezp5Yqg694zIYfaqAB01u6n4tQVwzwH2I0wz64JHhG2mEVAqrCQ8FQlWjxuEj83cqnaK0JOBm2noKLOjqO3EVQ5a9x5HnNLbxFfcS2Pml5I%2BrsmkP%2B%2Foi5O3AcNgyPMsVp8IwqGYkVY1OB45WZscLnlOb8Yoy1DzK5vLmy%2Bj3YO3ZXpgvet%2BB%2Fv0C4R4t5Lm%7Ctkp%3ABFBM3KXW5K9n >>> >>> >>> >>> On Sat, Apr 11, 2026 at 2:38 PM Conway Bennett <[email protected]> >>> wrote: >>> >>>> Tldr--i just learned that, but I assure the microshift bar ends shifts >>>> friction. Jus buy the 12 speed version though, but know that there are a >>>> Shimano and sram version. >>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the >>> Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this topic, visit >>> https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rbw-owners-bunch/LwiJPs-IqYM/unsubscribe >>> . >>> To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to >>> [email protected]. >>> To view this discussion visit >>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CALuTfguGu-uygEt1Wm%2BoXD%3D8o_3Gu6YCGy7m2CmYKaA5TOFTGQ%40mail.gmail.com >>> >>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CALuTfguGu-uygEt1Wm%2BoXD%3D8o_3Gu6YCGy7m2CmYKaA5TOFTGQ%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>> . >>> >> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/a0adacb7-c6ea-4eb9-a5d3-5a34d3499dfen%40googlegroups.com.
