MTB vs Road shifting - is road inherently smoother than MTB?

[coffeebreak]

Recently built up a Salsa Journeyer with Deore M5100 and earlier a Diamondback with M6100 - both with Sunshine cassette before switching to SRAM NX and Shimano XT. Because the shifting was terrible. While it improved with SRAM cassettes, I can never get the same feeling as my road groupset - Ultegra/105 or even Tiagra 4700 all of which are positively smoother shifting with almost no "bad" spots. The Ultegra especially is near perfect despite being years old at this point.

On the other hand my M5/6100 groups always have 2 or 3 indexing problems which I can't seem to get rid of. I tried changing their default shifters to SLX and XT (M8100) but that didn't help. So apparently shifters aren't the problem.

Should I just assume that jumps between cogs are much larger on MTB compared to road cassette causing the inferior shifting performance? Or is there a trick to index mtb groups which is different from road groups? I read that you should let your brand new chain and cassette run in for some period to settle them down with each other which I did. The M6100 has about 200 miles while the M5100 has close to 300 but shifting hasn't improved. Do they need even longer run in period? I'm baffled.

[carbonazza]

A good cable tension or lateral position of an electronic derailleur are generally easy.
The right chain length and a B-screw well set, are to me what generally makes a smooth shifting, even on an MTB.

[bxcc]

The right chain length and a B-screw well set, are to me what generally makes a smooth shifting, even on an MTB.

I find that most bikes, even from reputable shops, have the B-screw in too far (pulley too far from cassette) and the chain is at least two links too long. Those two adjustments make a significant difference in shifting performance.

[coffeebreak]

Been playing with the the B screw to no avail. These Shimano derailleurs also have a marking on the underside to indicate 51t cassette teeth mark. Adjusted accordingly and there is slight improvement but is still not 100%. Under load shifting is painful. From the ongoing sale on AliExpress I got 12s groupset and DT Swiss MicroSpline freehub + 10-51 M6100 cassette while the chain will be 12speed SRAM or Shimano which I already have. With this I will have eliminated all Chiner components from the drivetrain. Fingers crossed!

[carbonazza]

Been playing with the the B screw to no avail. These Shimano derailleurs also have a marking on the underside to indicate 51t cassette teeth mark. Adjusted accordingly and there is slight improvement but is still not 100%. Under load shifting is painful. From the ongoing sale on AliExpress I got 12s groupset and DT Swiss MicroSpline freehub + 10-51 M6100 cassette while the chain will be 12speed SRAM or Shimano which I already have. With this I will have eliminated all Chiner components from the drivetrain. Fingers crossed!

The chain length is quite important to have a smooth shifting too.

[coffeebreak]

An update/closure to this thread. Got the 12s 6100 cassette today. Quickly got to install and go on a ride. The shifting is near flawless, even the upshifts. The VG sports chain has also been replaced by SRAM NX that I had in reserve. One factor to note though - 12 speed Deore cassette is Microspline only so I had to change my freehub to MS hub. While my previous cassettes were all HG compatible. Not sure if MS cassettes make a difference though HG cassettes are supposed to work fine with Shimano MTB derailleurs.
Anyhoo all is well that ends well.

[numberzero]

The springs on MTB derailleurs are harder than on road. Especially with 1x drivetrain.
You see the difference on shimano, without cage lock engaged it's smoother.
It's the same mtb vs road where you don't need the same tension and chain retention thus you can't expect same feeling.

[TidyDinosaur]

The springs on MTB derailleurs are harder than on road. Especially with 1x drivetrain.
You see the difference on shimano, without cage lock engaged it's smoother.
It's the same mtb vs road where you don't need the same tension and chain retention thus you can't expect same feeling.

I noticed this too on my Sram 12 speed derailleur for the hardtail I built a few months ago. The chain tension is REALLY high... And I mean really, really high. I have even been thinking of disassembling the derailleur and to look for a solution to this. The shifting is very clunky and noisy...