9 speed rant

I was thinking that myself the other day.

If the large and small cogs have the same number of teeth, does it matter how many are in between, 7 certainly is enough. 9 speed is good pose value but very fussy to set up properly and KEEP working properly without constant adjutsment.

Paul

And I thouhjt I was the only one who thought the same; that's why I keep 9 8 speed gruppos (XT & XTR) in my Vault of Fame,

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by percious
Who really needs more then 7 speeds anyway???

At home I don't, but when I take the bike to some real mountains, (Swiss Alps, the Pyrenees) I soon start to yearn for those extra-wide ranges....
It's really hard to get decent coverage with only 7 when you're facing an 8-13 % slope that stretches for miles and you want to be able to ride it effectively both going up and down.

Please don't tell me this, just last night I upgraded my 7-speed to a brand new XT 9-speed system. 😕

Up until the last few months, I never had any problems with my shifting. Recently, my rear derailluer started to show its age (7 years) so I figured why not upgrade to the latest offerings.

I got everthing installed right (I think) but now I'm trying to guess the right length of the chain. Since I've upgraded from 7 to 9, I dont think I can use my former chain as a basis.

Here's what I'm running:
XT Crank and chainrings: 22/32/44T
XT 9-speed cassette: 11/34T
XT Front/rear derailleur
XT shifters
Shimano HG-93 9-speed chain (still at full length)

Any suggestions?

I think the guide for chainlength is as follows:

- put the chain on the big chainring and the smallest rear cog
- the lower derailleur pulley bolt should be directly below the upper derailleur pulley bolt, ie perpendicular to the ground

I've just done the 7sp - 9sp upgrade myself, and that seemed to work for me.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Two Bikes
Please don't tell me this, just last night I upgraded my 7-speed to a brand new XT 9-speed system. 😕

Up until the last few months, I never had any problems with my shifting. Recently, my rear derailluer started to show its age (7 years) so I figured why not upgrade to the latest offerings.

Why not... right? Well, thanks to shimano's money hungry executives, you dont have a choice. It is they who want us to use an inferior product at a greater price. Oh, and by the way, don't expect to get 7 years out of your current setup. Because everything has been made to tighter tolerances, it won't work as well for as long.

What really gets me is that shimano is fleecing the public by telling us 9 speed is the best thing since sliced bread. If they had just stuck with 8 speed, everything would work when its muddy... but mountain bikes arent supposed to be used in mud, are they?

-percious

Shimano are (like any company) money grabbing and what really worries me is that they are trying to claim more and more market share making it more and more difficult for the smaller companies to compete or even exist. I would not like to think of an mtb world without the smaller guys turning out alternative quality kit, without the mass market feel.

But I cannot undertsand why shimano are any more evil now, because of 9 speed kit, than they were when they made 8 speed (when I remeber similar moans to why do we need 8!!), or when they were making 7 speed kit. They have always wanted to crush the opposistion and take our cash.

I run XT 9 speed kit (apart from middleburn cranks, sram chain, hope discs), and I live in the Peak district in the UK. Apart from this last abnormally good summer, its dirty wet sandy and muddy riding 365 days a year ( and I'm riding 4-5 times a week) and I have no problems, its crisp shift after crisp shift. So my point is shimano are evil, but not just because of 9 speed🙂

Cheers, Steve