Campy 8spd question

[thummie]

I've been building an early '90s prestige frame with early campy MTB stuff to use as my riding to work bike.

Everything is going to plan except I can't find a cassette. The hub is a '91 Centaur O.R. Is it possible to re-space a later 9sp cassette, or do I have hunt down the real thing??:roll:

 

[dbmtb]

No it's not. The splines are deeper on 9spd cassettes.

But 8-speed road cassettes are still available in 13-26 if I recall correctly.

 

[Caramba Kid]

I picked up 2 brand new old stock Record 12-28 8 speed cassettes this year off ebay for a very reasonable £20 each.
They're from the road groupset but ratios are perfect for retro mtb.
They do turn up from time to time, just need to keep an eye out.

*EDIT* just checked & they're 13-26 as mentioned by dbmtb

 

[thummie]

yeh, 12-28 would be just fine. Do you know what the story is with Exa drive- is it simple a matter of grinding back the fat spline?

 

[hamster]

The other possibility is to fit a later 9 speed body, but I'm not sure about how compatible the insides are.
Earlier 9s bodies (like around 1997) might be OK.

 

[henrysthreeironbands]

12-28 are hard to come by. The narrow ratio clusters are everywhere.