8-speed shifters on 7-speed bike

Heya folks,

Can anyone tell me if it's possible to use an 8 (or ideally 9) speed shifter on a 7-speed bike? I'm
being forced to buy new shifters, and I do intend to upgrade to a 9-speed setup when I have some
spare cash.

Cheers people,

Russ

 

Hi, I use 8 speed bar end levers(7/8spd Shimano 600 Ultegra SL-BS50-8 bar end levers Per pair
includes cables and frame stops) on a 7 speed block and it works fine. I purchased them from
http://www.sjscycles.com/store/vIndex.htm. Thanks John

"russell_allen" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Heya folks,
>
> Can anyone tell me if it's possible to use an 8 (or ideally 9) speed
shifter
> on a 7-speed bike? I'm being forced to buy new shifters, and I do intend
to
> upgrade to a 9-speed setup when I have some spare cash.
>
> Cheers people,
>
> Russ

 

"russell_allen" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> Heya folks,
>
> Can anyone tell me if it's possible to use an 8 (or ideally 9) speed shifter on a 7-speed bike?
> I'm being forced to buy new shifters, and I do intend to upgrade to a 9-speed setup when I have
> some spare cash.
>

Depends what brands of bits you use. A lot of messages on various cycling NGs indictate that Campag
8sp. shifters will work with Shimano 7sp. stuff, in much the same way that Campag 9sp. levers can
shift a Shimano 8sp. set up. Needs a little bit of tweaking here and there, much the same as any
transmission does, but you don't need to be a workshop expert to get it all working, by any means.

David E. Belcher

Dept. of Chemistry, University of York

 

On Fri, 28 Mar 2003 00:51:28 +0000 (UTC), "russell_allen" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Heya folks,
>
>Can anyone tell me if it's possible to use an 8 (or ideally 9) speed shifter on a 7-speed bike? I'm
>being forced to buy new shifters, and I do intend to upgrade to a 9-speed setup when I have some
>spare cash.

Assuming that your 7 speed wheel uses a cassette and not a freewheel, what you should do is run 8 of
the cogs of a 9 speed cassette on your 7 speed hub, and use 9 speed shifters and a 9 speed chain.
Although you will only have 8 speeds, the indexing will be spot on and you need only change the rear
wheel (or simply change the freehub body and re-dish the wheel) you will have your 9 speed.

http://sheldonbrown.com/k7.html#upgrading

Chris Bird