lrh
Senior Retro Guru
From my Deore rebuild guide, the spring hole in the indexing plate creates an 8th click beyond 1st:
The cog spacing of a Shimano 8 speed cassette is slightly less than a 7 speed (4.8mm vs 5mm) but many people report Deore's work well enough. The article below shows how you can increase or reduce the travel of the mech per click by mounting the cable in different ways, which opens up some interesting but unholy combinations:
http://www.ctc.org.uk/cyclists-library/components/transmission-gears/derailleur-gears/shimergo
Suntour 8 speed cassettes are mostly 5mm and partly 4.8mm so they could get away with making some combined 7/8 speed shifters (because most of the cassette is the same for both, with only the few smallest gears slightly off). So a Suntour 8 speed shifter is a slighty better option than Deore's with a Shimano 8 speed cassette... Not perfect but good enough for Kona to sell this combo from the factory

The cog spacing of a Shimano 8 speed cassette is slightly less than a 7 speed (4.8mm vs 5mm) but many people report Deore's work well enough. The article below shows how you can increase or reduce the travel of the mech per click by mounting the cable in different ways, which opens up some interesting but unholy combinations:
http://www.ctc.org.uk/cyclists-library/components/transmission-gears/derailleur-gears/shimergo


Suntour 8 speed cassettes are mostly 5mm and partly 4.8mm so they could get away with making some combined 7/8 speed shifters (because most of the cassette is the same for both, with only the few smallest gears slightly off). So a Suntour 8 speed shifter is a slighty better option than Deore's with a Shimano 8 speed cassette... Not perfect but good enough for Kona to sell this combo from the factory
