they are indexed and friction and have been running on the san andreas for about a month or so but used 4 or 5 times in total.ive been using them on friction so i couldnt tell u about index settings .it says 7 speed but the shifter does extend beyond the seventh click so 8th gear is attainable.i can say they were on my 8 speed shimano block with no problems at all.and i was using adurace short cage rear mech.