8 speed cassette, 9 speed chain (not what your thinking).

One of the last things for my Klein build is the chin and cluster.
It's running 8 speed M900 shifters and rear mech.
I want to use a gold chain, not an ordinary silver or grey chain. It seems that you can only get gold chains in 9 speed and above. I'm in NZ and local shops etc ain't much help, so I would need to source overseas.
Now I have read how some 9 speed chain and 8 speed cassette combos work well together, so I guess I could just take a punt on getting a gold chain and 8 speed cassette, However.....

Someone was telling me that someone (he thought Shimano) produced an 8 speed cassette that was 9 speed chain compatible. Does anyone know of this product?
I assume removing 1 sproket in a 9 speed cassette and replacing the spacers with 8 speed cassette spacers wouldn't work either as the physical width of the 9 speed sprokets would be ever so slightly thinner?

Any suggestions?

Re: 8 speed cassette, 9 speed chain (not what your thinking)

not sure how an 8 speed cassette can be 9 speed compatible - the overall width of both is the same therefore if you sit down and think about it for a couple of picoseconds, you MUST come to the conclusion that the spacing between the cogs is different and henceforth realise that they cannot be compatible since the shifters will pull a different amount of cable .... phew.

I haver run 9 speed chains on 8 speed cassette - KMC make gold coloured chains, buy on ebay fromo Taiwan, just up the rod from where you are in NZ.

Re: 8 speed cassette, 9 speed chain (not what your thinking)

I want to run an 8 speed shifter, rear mech and cassette, along with a gold chain.
Good to hear the KMC 9 speed ones work ok with the 8 speed cassettes.

Was just wondering if you could remove a sprocket from a 9 speed cassette and replace the spacers with the slightly wider 8 speed ones to make an 8 speed cassette with 9 speed sprockets? Or if such a product already exists?

Re: 8 speed cassette, 9 speed chain (not what your thinking)

You'll be absolutely fine to use a 9 speed chain on a standard 8 speed cassette. The only difference is in the spacer width, not the cog thickness. From Sheldon:

Brand and model Sprocket Thickness
Shimano 8 1.8 mm
Shimano 9 1.78 mm
SRAM 9 1.8 mm

http://sheldonbrown.com/cribsheet-spacing.html

Where you may find an issue is with the chainrings. If they are old and really thick then they may cause a pile of chainsuck, so you may need to replace them, not the cassette.

Re: 8 speed cassette, 9 speed chain (not what your thinking)

Just putting the finishing touches to a bike. Using M900 shifters and mechs, new middleburn rings and a NOS Ti M950 cassette all running fine with a new SRAM 9 speed chain. All the NOS is now nearly NOS 'cos I rode it up and down the lane....

Re: 8 speed cassette, 9 speed chain (not what your thinking)

I've got Campagnolo 9 speed chains on two 7 speed bikes, no issues whatsoever.

Re: 8 speed cassette, 9 speed chain (not what your thinking)

The only problem I had with a 9 speed chain on an otherwise 8 speed setup was that occasionally, the chain would sit on top of the middle ring, and against the big ring without actually dropping onto the middle ring.

Most likely caused by an odd crank/chainring combo TBH.

Re: 8 speed cassette, 9 speed chain (not what your thinking)

Most likely caused by an odd crank/chainring combo TBH.

Click to expand...

I had a similar situation to this when I fitted a new middle chainring. The teeth of the new chainring were cut slightly to the right of where they were on the old one. I could probably put some thin washers between the spider and the chainring to cure the problem, but as I have a friction shifter, I can slightly over-shift to work around it, so I haven't bothered.

Re: 8 speed cassette, 9 speed chain (not what your thinking)

Sorry to the OP for the slight hijack - but I'm about to go through something similar, if not exactly the same.

I'm planning a mish mash of parts. M730 cranks with old middleburn big ring, new 9 speed compatible middle ring, old shimano granny ring. Mechs will be M739 front and rear, shifted with dura ace / Pauls thumbies. Cassette and chain will be SRAM 9 speed.

Can anyone see any massive problems with this lot ?? ^^

Logic tells me that backing off the limit screws on the rear mech will allow it to work on 9 speed, and that the only issues *may* be with the front chainrings being fat - but I guess I won't know until I try :?:

Am I missing something ? Any advice appreciated....

Re: 8 speed cassette, 9 speed chain (not what your thinking)

KMC X8 is available in gold
www.kmcchain.com/en/product.php?act=view&id=14