UKC Forums - 8 or 9 speed?

8 or 9 speed?

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malk 13 Jun 2014

if you were upgrading your 27" 7 speed touring rig to 700c, would you go 8 or 9 speed? i'm thinking 9 is overkill and the chain less durable? but 8 becoming obsolete?

The Potato 13 Jun 2014

In reply to malk:

no problems with 9 speed here, got it on both my road bike and xc bike. get an sram chain and keep it clean with a chain scrubber/wd40/lube should last a good while.

If 8 spd is getting harder to find then it makes sense to switch to 9

andreas 13 Jun 2014

In reply to malk:

Could be wrong but I think you'll need a new chainset with nine speed but you're 7 speed chainset will work with an 8 speed chain. I use 8 speed on my mountain bike, the parts are dirt cheap, last longer and less indexing faffage.

gethin_allen 13 Jun 2014

In reply to andreas:

>less indexing faffage.

Indeed, my old 9 speed is great (just suffering from age and crashes) but my new 10 speed is a nightmare when it comes to indexing. I hope it's just that the cable and outers are new and non bedded in yet.

itsThere 13 Jun 2014

In reply to malk:

For an mbt the narrower chains ended up being more durable as they were better made, Google it for some tests the bike mags did to prove it. I would have thought it was similar for a road bike chain.

http://www.bikerumor.com/2013/02/19/bikerumor-shimano-chainwear-challenge-t...

Blinder 13 Jun 2014

In reply to malk:

you are a bit behind the curve are you not. If you are getting new wheels I would go for 11.

DaveHK 13 Jun 2014

In reply to malk:

> but is 8 becoming obsolete?

Yes.

OP malk 20 Jun 2014

In reply to malk:

thanks everyone. i've gone with 8 speed for now. (thinking of n+1 bike
crankset going from 52-42-30/14-34 to 44-32-22/11-30 so both higher and lower gears..
wasn't sure what chainline to go for with the extra sprocket/lock nut distance but kept with 47.5mm as i'll be mostly using the big ring?