9 speed cassette, 8 speed shifter

[MikeJD]

Hi all,

I was recently given an 'old' road bike by my uncle, I had my first triathlon coming up and was planning on using my hybrid.

Before the event I took it in for a service as it hadn't been used in a while. When I returned to pick the bike up the store owner told me he'd had some troubles indexing the gears as the cassette (9 speed), didn't match the shifters (I think he said 8 speed), and it would cost more than the bike's worth to put right, but he'd done his best on it (I now wonder if he'd of been better off telling me if wasn't possible and I'd of saved the £60 for the service.)

The gearing wasn't great, but it was useable and I managed to get through the triathlon's 20k bike with the chain only coming off the front rings once. A day after the event I was commuting home, went onto a sharp incline and the chain snapped (looked like a rivet came loose).

So now I've got to replace the chain this weekend, and was wondering, is changing the back cassette to an 8 speed difficult, or is it more complicated than that as I'd need to reindex everything?

I feel like ideally the whole drive system needs replacing, as something isn't quite right with the front shifting/derailleur either, but with my limited mechanical skills it probably wouldn't be possible, and could cost me a lot of time and money.

Thanks in advance.

 

[DCLane]

I'd suggest get an 8 speed cassette and a chair. That is more likely to solve most of the problems.

In terms of cost it should be around £20.
You need a chain whip and cassette removal socket / large socket to do this as well.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

If it is that the cassette is wrong for the shifters then that is a fairly easy fix. You'd need a chainwhip, a cassette removal tool (make sure it's the right one for your brand of cassette) and a spanner or socket drive to fit the removal tool.

Replacing the chain at the same time would be a good idea, especially since yours has already broken so you'll need a chain splitter to shorten the new one to length.

The Park Tools website is good for fitting instructions: https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/

Edit: beaten to it.

 

[MikeJD]

Thanks for the speedy replies guys.

I'd suggest get an 8 speed cassette and a chair. That is more likely to solve most of the problems.

In terms of cost it should be around £20.
You need a chain whip and cassette removal socket / large socket to do this as well.

Will I need a particular type of 8 speed cassette, or will any do? In terms of a chair, do you just mean something to sit on while doing this?

If it is that the cassette is wrong for the shifters then that is a fairly easy fix. You'd need a chainwhip, a cassette removal tool (make sure it's the right one for your brand of cassette) and a spanner or socket drive to fit the removal tool.

Replacing the chain at the same time would be a good idea, especially since yours has already broken so you'll need a chain splitter to shorten the new one to length.

The Park Tools website is good for fitting instructions: https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/

Edit: beaten to it.

I'm going to get a new chain, and if I'll be putting on an 8 speed cassette, I'll get an 8 speed chain instead of a 9 speed one, as I planned to do if keeping the current cassette.

Sounds like a full tool kit might be useful too!

 

[MikeJD]

Would there be an easy way for me to check the shifter and make sure it's 8 speed? I've had a search but can't find anything easy to understand.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

When choosing your new cassette it would be useful to know the range of the gears you currently have (usually expressed as the number of teeth on the smallest and biggest sprockets). Simplest would be to match what you've got as near as possible but the option is there to choose something different if you want.

Can I recommend a KMC chain. I've been using them for a while and have found them reliable and am happy with how long they last. Fairly inexpensive too from places like SJS Cycles or Spa.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Would there be an easy way for me to check the shifter and make sure it's 8 speed? I've had a search but can't find anything easy to understand.

Are there any markings on it?

 

[MikeJD]

When choosing your new cassette it would be useful to know the range of the gears you currently have (usually expressed as the number of teeth on the smallest and biggest sprockets). Simplest would be to match what you've got as near as possible but the option is there to choose something different if you want.

Can I recommend a KMC chain. I've been using them for a while and have found them reliable and am happy with how long they last. Fairly inexpensive too from places like SJS Cycles or Spa.

Thanks, I'll try and find a KMC chain, just not sure I'll be able to pick one up from anywhere locally this weekend. Had a look on Wiggle and there's various types of 8 speed KMC chains, will there be a big difference between each one? http://www.wiggle.co.uk/?s=kmc+8+speed+chain

 

[MikeJD]

Are there any markings on it?

Is it the shifter on the bars I should be looking at? I'll have a good look tonight, but I'm thinking a large part of it is covered in bar tape.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Thanks, I'll try and find a KMC chain, just not sure I'll be able to pick one up from anywhere locally this weekend. Had a look on Wiggle and there's various types of 8 speed KMC chains, will there be a big difference between each one? http://www.wiggle.co.uk/?s=kmc+8+speed+chain

Any will do a good job and the differences tend to be cosmetic mostly. Out of the ones in that link I'd probably choose the X8-93 - decent mid-range chain and on offer at the time of writing.

Is it the shifter on the bars I should be looking at? I'll have a good look tonight, but I'm thinking a large part of it is covered in bar tape.

Hopefully you won't need to remove bar tape and there will be a model number that can be looked up.

 

[davidphilips]

Leave the chain it may work ok with an 8 speed cassette, try it and see.

 

[MikeJD]

Any will do a good job and the differences tend to be cosmetic mostly. Out of the ones in that link I'd probably choose the X8-93 - decent mid-range chain and on offer at the time of writing.

Hopefully you won't need to remove bar tape and there will be a model number that can be looked up.

Hopefully not, cost me £15 that stuff while getting the bike serviced

I'll go with that one then and get my cassette ordered off Wiggle too (after counting the teeth on the current one tonight), next day delivery should get it all here tomorrow.

Will I need to reindex the rear detailer after making these replacements, or should it all just work?

 

[MikeJD]

Leave the chain it may work ok with an 8 speed cassette, try it and see.

Thanks for the reply David, the current chains in a bit of a mess (very greasy and dirty), me dragging it on the road for 300m after it had fallen off/snapped probably didn't do it any favours either. So I think to be safe I'll replace it.

 

[JhnBssll]

Yeah replace chain. It will likely need reindexing but it's not a complicated job

 

[MikeJD]

Yeah replace chain. It will likely need reindexing but it's not a complicated job

I'm hoping not, I tried reindexing the front detailer and ran into issues, I think something's slightly bent (so the LBS owner said). If I'm successful doing this stuff with the back cassette and chain, I might look at replacing things at the front too