Re:
Ishaw, thanks for the offer, I want to keep it 7-speed though, it's a '90/91 bike and has the 7-speed X-Press shifters at present (anyone know if Suntour thumbies have the "extra" click to run 8-speed, same as Shimano thumbies?).
Might be interested in the cassette regardless though, if as thummie says I can simply remove one cog so it fits the 7-speed freehub.
So do the standard and microdrive freehub have the same spline pattern, just differing lengths of freehub body??