7sp 8sp 9sp XT/XTR compatibilty

[daveaasmith]

I've got a 7sp XT (M735) rear hub, and 7sp XT thumbshifters.

I'm going to replace the 7sp XT cassette with a road cassette.

Questions are:

1. Will a 9sp XTR (M953) rear mech work with this?
2. Do all XT thumbshifters have the extra 'click' for 8sp?
3. If '2' is yes, will a 8sp road cassette fit on the hub?

Cheers, Dave.

 

[scant]

I've got a 7sp XT (M735) rear hub, and 7sp XT thumbshifters.

I'm going to replace the 7sp XT cassette with a road cassette.

Questions are:

1. Will a 9sp XTR (M953) rear mech work with this?
2. Do all XT thumbshifters have the extra 'click' for 8sp?
3. If '2' is yes, will a 8sp road cassette fit on the hub?

Cheers, Dave.

1. yes
2. if its a 7spd shifter & you let the cable tension out yes.
3. i havent tried.

 

[hamster]

3 is yes, road cassettes are fully interchangeable.

 

[daveaasmith]

3 is yes, road cassettes are fully interchangeable.

So there is enough room? Is it just a 9sp which won't fit ?

 

[cce]

8sp and 9sp cassettes fit the same freehub (the 9sp has skinnier sprockets spaced closer together). 7sp are narrower, but have the same space and sprocket thickness as 8sp.

 

[daveaasmith]

Thanks y'all - I have all the answers I need

 

[Carsten]

an 8spd cassette will not fit on the M735 hub as the cassette is too wide.
all M732 XT thumbshifter (those are the 7spd ones) have the 8th "ghost shift", no need to adjust anything or to fiddle around with cable tension etc. they do work best on 8spd cassettes with Shimano rear ders that have the floating upper pulley which balances out the different cog spacing.

Carsten

 

[dbmtb]

I think Carsten was the only one to fully understand the question

There is of course the period "bodge" where you remove an axle spacer and fit an Ultegra freehub body but it's not for beginners.

In fact you can probably fit most 9-speed freehub bodies too if you don't mind having to use an 11T sprocket and you use the correct cones for the bdy and maybe a spacer or 2 between hubshell and freehub body.