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I have a trekking bike with a slightly short reach for me. On the other hand I wish to get a drop bar bicycle. I could check on this bike that the position is good with drop bars.

On this bike I have on front wheel a Magura MT5 disc brake, and on rear wheel a HS11 Magura rim brake, of course both hydraulic. My frame is rim brake only at rear. It used to be a 26in bike, but I could put 27,5 (584 mm) and adjust rear brake on it.

I have read that MT5 can work with Shimano road levers, but could not find information about HS11. I guess the question is on piston area.

Is it possible to make work HS11 and shimano hydraulic road lever (such as Tiagra 4700, GRX 400/600, or 106 R7000, to be defined).

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    Bear in mind the hydraulic fluid when mix-and-matching hydraulics. Shimano and Magura both use mineral oil, although they recommend that you use their mineral oil with their secret sauce. Campagnolo also uses mineral oil, and I believe Magura has been involved in Campy's hydraulic-brake development, so I wouldn't be surprised if those two had good cross-compatibility. SRAM uses DOT brake fluid, and is definitely not compatible with the other guys. Exposing equipment meant for mineral oil to brake fluid (or vice-versa) will degrade the seals, leading to brake failure.
    – Adam Rice
    Dec 7, 2020 at 16:31
  • I'm in the same situation, maybe willing to match hs-11 with shimano 105 road levers but worried that the cylinders volume are not the same and that it would not function. Did you try to match hs-11 calipers with shimano road levers ?
    – Louis
    Jun 7, 2021 at 9:17
  • Finally, I did not do that way. I put mini V-brake on the rear, and now the bike is fitted with cable brakes only.
    – rvil76
    Jun 8, 2021 at 6:18

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Yes but not optimal/recomended.

Technically, the lever will push the caliper pistons, but Magura's disc levers, such as the MT5, push a different amount of fluid than their rim brake levers, such as HS11. And the shimano levers have a more similar push to the Magura disc levers. So it won't be optimal.

In trials riding, they say you shouldn't mix disc levers with the rim calipers as there is a large chance for the brake to fail (even if it's a momentary minimal slip) when you need them the most.

In normal, non action sport, conditions it will probably be ok. It just won't feel as good as matching the road levers to the disc caliper.

If you choose this method, (same goes for the MT5 caliper) make sure that you choose the correct fittings for each end, otherwise you risk fluid leaking and no more braking.

As a little side note, Magura did release drop levers for rim brakes called HS66.

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