sram x-gen front mech - is it for 9 speed only?

lubaloo schrieb:
> Hi
>
> I've just bought one of these from Wiggle, and I didn't notice it is
> for 9 speed. I have an 8 speed sprocket - is there any reason this
> wouldn't work for an 8 speed? It does say specifically 9 speed on the
> box.
>
> I don't want to fit it until I'm sure incase I have to return it...
>
> Can you recommend alternatives if I have to exchange?
>
> Many thanks
>
>
I think it will work without problems, I used long time a XTR front
derailleur labeled with "Mega 9" on a
8-speed drivetrain without problems on my MTB and on my touringbike a
Campagnolo Veloce front derailleur
also a 9-speed without problems with a 8-speed drivetrain, the SRAM
x-gen looks very good with the sturdy body,
so what use it ;-)

thanks for the reply

Do you know what the physical difference between a front mech for 8 / 9
speeds is - I don't want to fit it, try it and scuff it and find it's
not right!

do you think it's a marketing thing, i.e. they're trying to get
everyone to buy 9 speed?

in message <[email protected]>,
lubaloo ('[email protected]') wrote:

> Hi
>
> I've just bought one of these from Wiggle, and I didn't notice it is
> for 9 speed. I have an 8 speed sprocket - is there any reason this
> wouldn't work for an 8 speed? It does say specifically 9 speed on the
> box.

Any front mech will work with four speed, or five speed, or six speed, or
seven speed, or eight speed rear ends. It doesn't bother the front mech
one whit what you have on the back. My winter bike has a 2005 ten speed
Campagnolo Record front mech and a 1992 Sachs Huret six-speed rear mech.
It works fine.

--
[email protected] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; 99% of browsers can't run ActiveX controls. Unfortunately
;; 99% of users are using the 1% of browsers that can...
[seen on /. 08:04:02]

lubaloo schrieb:
> thanks for the reply
>
> Do you know what the physical difference between a front mech for 8 / 9
> speeds is - I don't want to fit it, try it and scuff it and find it's
> not right!
>
> do you think it's a marketing thing, i.e. they're trying to get
> everyone to buy 9 speed?
>
>
I use now on both bikes 9-speed drivetrain, when I compare a "real" 8
and 9-speed FD there no difference
between thedistance of inner and outer plate, but there's a difference
at the chains a 8 is 7.2mm and a 9 is 6.5mm that's
only 0.7mm difference and the jump from 8 to 9.speed is a normal
evolution and of course marketing, I could not find
a "big" difference in lifetime of sprockets and chain if there similar
quality

Simon Brooke wrote:
> Any front mech will work with four speed, or five speed, or six speed, or
> seven speed, or eight speed rear ends. It doesn't bother the front mech
> one whit what you have on the back.

Is there no difference in the cage width to account for the difference
in chain width between, say, 10-speed and 7-speed chains?

>My winter bike has a 2005 ten speed
> Campagnolo Record front mech and a 1992 Sachs Huret six-speed rear mech.
> It works fine.

....so I guess even if there is a difference in cage width, it doesn't
matter one bit!

d.

> [Simon Brooke wrote]
>>My winter bike has a 2005 ten speed
>> Campagnolo Record front mech and a 1992 Sachs Huret six-speed rear mech.
>> It works fine.

Do you have to trim the chain more frequently? I thought that Campag made the
front mech cage narrower as chains got narrower?

Mind I know Shimano front mechs got wider when STI came in - not sure if
Campag ones did.

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune

in message <[email protected]>,
lubaloo ('[email protected]') wrote:

> thanks for the reply
>
> Do you know what the physical difference between a front mech for 8 / 9
> speeds is - I don't want to fit it, try it and scuff it and find it's
> not right!

There isn't any physical difference and never was. Ten speed ones /may/
be a bit narrower across the cage, but as I say I use a 'ten speed'
front mech with a six speed rear, and it works extremely well.

> do you think it's a marketing thing, i.e. they're trying to get
> everyone to buy 9 speed?

Nobody's making quality 8 speed anything any more, and I suspect that
SRAM think anyone still using 8 speed will get an X.4.

--
[email protected] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
;; We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other
;; languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and riffle their
;; pockets for new vocabulary -- James D. Nicoll

in message <[email protected]>, davek
('[email protected]') wrote:

> Simon Brooke wrote:
>> Any front mech will work with four speed, or five speed, or six speed,
>> or seven speed, or eight speed rear ends. It doesn't bother the front
>> mech one whit what you have on the back.
>
> Is there no difference in the cage width to account for the difference
> in chain width between, say, 10-speed and 7-speed chains?

There probably is, in fact, but, as you say, it doesn't matter.

>>My winter bike has a 2005 ten speed
>> Campagnolo Record front mech and a 1992 Sachs Huret six-speed rear
>> mech. It works fine.
>
> ...so I guess even if there is a difference in cage width, it doesn't
> matter one bit!

--
[email protected] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; L'etat c'est moi -- Louis XVI
;; I... we... the Government -- Tony Blair