wide range 8 sp cassette for 1x8?

Has anybody tried a retro 1x8 gear setup here? If so, can you suggest a cassette with a decent range?

Alternatively, has anyone modded a cassette to combine cogs from different cassettes to obtain the desired range?

Re:

Depends on what the bulk of your riding is I guess.

HG 41 11/32

Isn't the limiting factor the range of the rear mech?
A short cage or road mech will reach up to what? 28T? Maybe 30?
Medium or long cage might reach above 32T I guess ??

An 11 or 12-32 cassette is about the best you can get stock.
Maybe combine that with a 26 or 28T granny ring up front?

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We used to run up to 34T in the 7sp early 90s era so the mech will do a 34T but nothing stopping you using a newer mech

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Seems HG41 modern jobs come in 11-34 big jump from 2nd to 1st though these megarange setup are odd though as the 11-32 of the same has a better sweep through the gears.

Sunrace have a better setup 11-34 in my opinion.

Still it depends what you want to ride. You could buy single cogs and get a 40 odd on there. But to be honest just add more gears at the front or back.

Thanks. I use an SRAM 11-32 8 speed cassette at the moment, but am looking for a way to have 8 speed with something like 11-36 which would allow me to use a single ring on the front.

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I ran a modern compact 30T front ring and that gave it all the range I needed with 12-30 and 11-32 on the back. It was a great 1x8 setup.

I run a similar setup on my Kestrel with a (for show) outer ring.

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I've been running 8speed HG41s for a few years now doing heavy duty long distance commuting. The cassette is a 34-11 teamed with a single Surly SS ring up front (either a 46T or 50T, depending on time of year/type of conditions/choice of tyres with 9speed SRAM chain.

The 1x8 seems to give me all the gearing I need and it suits the optimum chainline the old frame allows. I'm still using my '92 Deore 7speed thumbies, which I can set to friction for 8speed or index for old style 7speed cassette (currently CS-HG20).

I was running a DX rear mech until it imploded over the road. Since then, for the last 6 years, I've been through two modern XT m772 rear mechs with the above drivetrain/gearing set ups. The m772s are easy to set up, robust and reliable – it's just that I get through them quickly because of high everyday mileage commuting. Kept clean and maintained regularly, the combinations have run sweet and reliably. There's a lot you can get away with, set up wise.

There is also the option to create your own cassette by deconstructing a couple of different cassettes in order to build your own custom range – something I'm going to have a crack at soon, having seen others.

Cool idea about making your own cassette! Anyone know what the largest sprocket a Deore DX rear mech can manage?