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8-spd

stosh

Darth Bailer
Jul 20, 2001
22,238
393
NY
What's the best way to convert a trigger shifter SRAM system to run an 8spd rear der.?


I'm just looking for some ideas on how I could go about doing it to my MKIII.
 

oldfart

Turbo Monkey
Jul 5, 2001
1,206
24
North Van
If you just want to run an old 8 speed rear derailleur with a 9spd shifter and cassette, you don't need to do anything. The pulleys and cage will be slightly wider and there is a slight chance that the cage could be too close to the spokes in low gear.

If you are talking 8 spd cassette, I don't think you can convert a 9 spd shifter to 8 speed. With Campognolo road stuff you can convert between 9 and 10 speed with the purchase of the parts. Pretty sure SRAM don't sell those parts.
 

stosh

Darth Bailer
Jul 20, 2001
22,238
393
NY
oldfart said:
If you just want to run an old 8 speed rear derailleur with a 9spd shifter and cassette, you don't need to do anything. The pulleys and cage will be slightly wider and there is a slight chance that the cage could be too close to the spokes in low gear.

If you are talking 8 spd cassette, I don't think you can convert a 9 spd shifter to 8 speed. With Campognolo road stuff you can convert between 9 and 10 speed with the purchase of the parts. Pretty sure SRAM don't sell those parts.
I would like to run an 8spd cassette, der, and shifter.
 

MMcG

Ride till you puke!
Dec 10, 2002
15,457
12
Burlington, Connecticut
Stosh - I think you'd have to get new shifters to be able to do it, but you can use the same derailleur. And obviously the cassette?

Why the contemplation to the change?

I have 8 speed on my TEd wojcik and 9 speed on the Surly right now - but I too am tempted to convert the SUrly to 8 speed.
 

BikeGeek

BrewMonkey
Jul 2, 2001
4,573
273
Hershey, PA
MMcG said:
I have 8 speed on my TEd wojcik and 9 speed on the Surly right now - but I too am tempted to convert the SUrly to 8 speed.
8 instead of 1? :sneaky:

Stosh: a rear derailleur is a rear derailleur. I've used "8spd" with 9spd shifters and cassette, and I've used "9spd" with 8spd shifters and cassette. The shifter is the key as it controls the amount of cable pulled. A 9spd shifter will most likely give you problems on an over-the-counter 8spd cassette as the amount of cable pulled by the shifter is slightly less than needed to go from one cog to the next. You could always customize a 9 speed cassette with a spacer to only have 8 gears. That way the spacing is correct for the 9spd shifter. You just have to remember not to shift in to the 9th gear, or set your limit screw so it can't shift there.
 

stosh

Darth Bailer
Jul 20, 2001
22,238
393
NY
Hrmmm I was hoping for a slightly smaller cage too.
I trashed this der. a few weeks ago somehow the guy at the shop did a great job and got it running again but now it's falling apart again...
 

BikeGeek

BrewMonkey
Jul 2, 2001
4,573
273
Hershey, PA
Start over. What are you trying to accomplish?
Re-reading the first post it sounds as if you have 9-speed shifters and are wondering if an 8-speed derailleur will work with them. Is that right? If so, I think the answer is yes.
 

stosh

Darth Bailer
Jul 20, 2001
22,238
393
NY
BikeGeek said:
Start over. What are you trying to accomplish?
Re-reading the first post it sounds as if you have 9-speed shifters and are wondering if an 8-speed derailleur will work with them. Is that right? If so, I think the answer is yes.
Sorry, as I've done some reading today and talking I've come to realise a few things.

Yes it's possible to mix up the 8 and 9 speed parts however I'm looking for a solid system that would require little work to set up.

I would also like to run a short cage in the rear.

I guess what I'm getting at are my options are as follows

Go to grip shift SRAM and have all 8spd components
or
Go back to all Shimano and run all 8spd components in the rear.

When I started looking into this I would love to run all SRAM with real deal 8spd trigger shifters but I don't think thats possible.

Is that clear enough?
 

jacksonpt

Turbo Monkey
Jul 22, 2002
6,791
59
Vestal, NY
ok... let's see here... From what I know (which isn't always a lot, so take this with a grain of salt)...

The shifters, chain, and cassette are what determine a bike to be x # of speeds. The cassette is obvious as it only has 8 or 9 or whatever number of cogs. A 9speed chain is narrower than an 8speed chain to better fit with the additional cog in a 9speed cassette (though I've heard some people mixing chains with decent performance). The rear shifter will have either 8 or 9 clicks depending. In theory it would be possible to setup the derailleur so you could use 9speed shifters with an 8speed cassette (limiting screws primarily), then you'd have to remember not to click into that first/last click on the shifter. In terms of speeds, a der is a der... makes no difference.

Now... short/med/long cage derailleurs... If you're running a full cassette and 3 chainrings, I'm almost certain you can't get away with a short cage der. If you are only running 2 chainrings up front, either no granny or a bash guard, then a short cager should be fine.

As far as your options go... you can keep your 9speed triggers, buy a new der and run a 9speed setup (which is what you want to avoid, correct?). You can keep your triggers, buy a new der (to replace the broken one) and an 8speed cassette/chain and setup your triggers for 8speed use. It will work, but I don't think it meets your "easy to setup/use/maintain" requirement. Or you can buy 8speed triggers (or grip shifters if that's your thing), cassette, and chain (either sram or shimano) and have at it.

If it were up to me, I'd search around for some used 8 speed XT/XTR triggers. 8speed cassettes and chains are still very easy to find new, so that shouldn't be an issue.
 

stosh

Darth Bailer
Jul 20, 2001
22,238
393
NY
SuspectDevice said:
What's your issue Stosh?
Just buy 8 speed X7 shifters and a medium x9 or xo rear deraileur.
THats what I'm thinking about doing.....
 

stosh

Darth Bailer
Jul 20, 2001
22,238
393
NY
jacksonpt said:
ok... let's see here... From what I know (which isn't always a lot, so take this with a grain of salt)...

The shifters, chain, and cassette are what determine a bike to be x # of speeds. The cassette is obvious as it only has 8 or 9 or whatever number of cogs. A 9speed chain is narrower than an 8speed chain to better fit with the additional cog in a 9speed cassette (though I've heard some people mixing chains with decent performance). The rear shifter will have either 8 or 9 clicks depending. In theory it would be possible to setup the derailleur so you could use 9speed shifters with an 8speed cassette (limiting screws primarily), then you'd have to remember not to click into that first/last click on the shifter. In terms of speeds, a der is a der... makes no difference.

Now... short/med/long cage derailleurs... If you're running a full cassette and 3 chainrings, I'm almost certain you can't get away with a short cage der. If you are only running 2 chainrings up front, either no granny or a bash guard, then a short cager should be fine.

As far as your options go... you can keep your 9speed triggers, buy a new der and run a 9speed setup (which is what you want to avoid, correct?). You can keep your triggers, buy a new der (to replace the broken one) and an 8speed cassette/chain and setup your triggers for 8speed use. It will work, but I don't think it meets your "easy to setup/use/maintain" requirement. Or you can buy 8speed triggers (or grip shifters if that's your thing), cassette, and chain (either sram or shimano) and have at it.

If it were up to me, I'd search around for some used 8 speed XT/XTR triggers. 8speed cassettes and chains are still very easy to find new, so that shouldn't be an issue.
See I'm pretty happy with SRAM...

The last comment you made about SRAM was "I wouldn't have spent all the money on them if I was to do it again" meaning it wasn't worth the extra $ to buy SRAM. Is this still your feeling?
 

Changleen

Paranoid Member
Jan 9, 2004
14,335
2,448
Hypernormality
Set it up as normal, but simply use the top adjust on the rear derallier so you can't overshift on the top gear. If you get it right the shifter will just refuse to shift that last gear. As for the spacing difference between 9 and 8 speed, if you focus the tuning on the central gears (4 and 5) it seems to work OK.
 

mattv2099

Monkey
Aug 16, 2004
192
0
Bellingham, WA
I have some never used 8-speed Shimano XT shifters I was going to slap up on Ebay within the next week... let me know if you want them I can slap them up like today with a buy it now price or something.
 

partsbara

Turbo Monkey
Nov 16, 2001
3,996
0
getting Xtreme !
mattv2099 said:
I have some never used 8-speed Shimano XT shifters I was going to slap up on Ebay within the next week... let me know if you want them I can slap them up like today with a buy it now price or something.
if stosh isn t interested i am.. pods only yeah ???
 

mattv2099

Monkey
Aug 16, 2004
192
0
Bellingham, WA
sorry to hijack your thread, bro.

I'm going to slap these on ebay tonite. Although I've bought stuff on ebay, I've never sold anything yet. These shifters are new in box, never used.

I'll set the reserve for 50$ and set a buy it now price of 75$

reason for selling shifters: I bought these as backups for my XTR 8 speed shifters on my XC race bike. I never had any problems with my XTR's, thus I never used the XT's. Now I am retiring the 8 speed race bike and do not need backup 8 speed shifters.

I'll post a link to the auction when I get on there and figure everything out. I ship UPS ground (I work at UPS) and I will weigh and measure the package to get accurate shipping cost.

photos.











 

jacksonpt

Turbo Monkey
Jul 22, 2002
6,791
59
Vestal, NY
stosh said:
The last comment you made about SRAM was "I wouldn't have spent all the money on them if I was to do it again" meaning it wasn't worth the extra $ to buy SRAM. Is this still your feeling?
Yep

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