Good bye 9 speed, hello 8 speed

[tinkerer]

I am fed up with weedy 9 speed chains and cassettes wearing out v. fast and generally letting me down under pressure and so am planning to switch my Proflex Animal from 9 speed to 8 speed. I have the 9 speed Shimano XT m750 brake lever/shifter combo and am wondering if I can run 8 speed with this (with just a spare click)? If I can't, could I simply unscrew the 9 speed shifter bit from the brake handle and replace it with the pod from a single XT M478 shifter?

Any thoughts appreciated.

Thanks Adam

 

[jango]

in a nutshell....no! the 9-speed shifts a smaller amount per click than 8-speed as the 9 gears are crammed into the same width as 8, hence the narrower chain and sprockets.

I fear you may need to change the lot :roll:

 

[m1kesmith]

I had all sorts of issues with 9 speed and clogging. I now run 8 speed with thumbshifters (7 speed with the secret click).