How many guys still use 8 speed on their Tri bikes?? I ask because I might buy a cheap TT frame and build her up, and I happen to have a bunch of 8 speed stuff laying around that I could use. My thought process is that it would be fine, as you aren’t shifting a whole lot, or are you? I’m still new to the Tri stuff…
i still use shimano DA 8-speed derailleurs but with DA 9-speed STI shifters (they are actually shimano-approved compatible, you just don’t use the last shift ‘click’) on my race bike. race results say it works great.
I’ve got 8-speed on ALL my road and tri bikes. And I suppose I’m tempting fate with the STI road bike… When that shifter blows, I’ll probably have to change over the whole stable.
I don’t really think I’m giving up anything by having 2 fewer cogs in back though.
8 speed works. I’ve got an 8 speed cassette working with a 9sp dura ace derailleur and bar end shifters. If you tune your derailleur just right, you can even get index shifting for 7 of your highest gears (i.e. smaller cogs, the cogs you’d probably be using anyway), requiring 2 clicks to get from the 2nd largest to the largest cog.
I would say it wouldn’t be a problem but you could always just get a 10 speed cassette and run your bar ends on friction if you want the extra gearing options.
I still have it on my cross bike.
Isn’t the spacing for a 10 speed cassette different than an 8 speed? I know 8 speed is 130, isn’t 10 speed wider?
Thanks
No, ten speed is still 130…if they go any bigger, they will probably have to change to 135…which some companies might want anyway for manufacturing purposes…
Thank you very much. That saves me from going to measure my bike (s) !
DB
they are still 130 but they are a bit different in some other ways. you need a very small spacer closest to your spokes when using a 10 speed cassette.
I’ve got an old-school neon green/yellow QR Superform with 8 speed GripShift set up for the trainer. If I can find a J-Disc or some other vintage race wheels I might actually break out a speedo and race it retro-style.
You can find lots of cheap 8 speed stuff on ebay. If you run an 11/23 cassette with a compact crank you’ll still get a wide range of gears to choose from.
I have an original Uniglide Dura Ace 8 speed on my 1990 Cannondale. The cassette is 12-19 and is hell here on the hills of Colorado. I am building a new tri bike this year but plan on buying a new rear wheel for the cannondale and continuing to use the 8 speed for a road bike (new wheel will get me to hyperglide so I can spread out the gearing a bit)
I have a yellow j-disc I’ll sell ya. $60 and its yours.
I just changed my 2 Zipp bikes over to 9 speed about 2 months ago. I’ve been running 8 speed since 1993. My 2 mtbs are still 8 speed.
I just got a near new 1992 Trek 2300. I’m building it up with 8 speed and downtube shifters. It’ll be fun to ride and will backup my 2003 Trek 5200.
I can change wheels from 8 to 9 and 9 to 8 with small adjustments in the rear der. Its not that big a deal. I even run 7 speed on the 8 speed stuff.