Shimano front der. compatibilty- 9/10 sp?

Hi!
I'm fixing up my Jamis Quest Femme and need a new front derailleur. I have ST-R700 shifters (Ultegra level 10 speed) and a FC-700 crank (also Ultegra level 10 speed, kind of an Ultegra predecessor). Rear is all 10 speed as well. I happen to have a 6500 front derailleur which was made for Shimano 9 speed systems. Does anyone know if I can use this derailleur or should I buy one specifically from a 10 speed groupset? I found some compatibility charts online but didn't really help with the 6500... maybe front derailleurs aren't so picky since it's just a double?
Thanks!

The front derailleur doesn't really care how many speeds the rear cassette has, within reason. 9 or 10 speed doesn't matter to the front derailleur, for road use. I used a Dura-Ace 7400 (9spd) on my 10 speed Ruby till I crashed it and the replacement frame used a different width attachment band so had to replace it. What does matter is the cable take-up match the front shifter, and you are GTG there running all Shimano. The only other thing, and most importantly, is how many front chainrings, two or three, that you have. This should match, a triple throw designed front derailleur has a different shaped cage, to handle the wider range, from the smallest front ring to the biggest.

So I would say, as long as that front derailleur physically fits (direct mount, or with a built in band) and is designed for the same type of crankset (double or triple) it should work fine as long as it is installed and adjusted properly.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tzvia

The front derailleur doesn't really care how many speeds the rear cassette has, within reason. 9 or 10 speed doesn't matter to the front derailleur, for road use.

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As chains started getting narrower, 8 to 9 to 10 speed, the front derailleur's cage also got narrower. This means the 9 speed 6500 might shift a bit worse than a 10 speed derailleur. In particular, it might be hard to tune it to handle both upshifts from small (front) - smallish (rear), and downshifts from big (front) - biggish (rear). That's because the business side (the side that will do the pushing) of the cage will be a little farther from the chain.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tzvia

So I would say, as long as that front derailleur physically fits ... it should work fine as long as it is installed and adjusted properly.

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It is definitely worth a try!

AS long as the derailleur "fits" the circumference of your seat tube, then you shouldn't have any issues. "Laura" mentioned the difference between 8-9-10 speed, but truly you shouldn't have any issues if the derailleur is set up right to begin with. People have been doing this sort of thing for quite some time.