Dumb drivetrain questions

Is there any reason to not use a Shimano road cassette on an off-road
drivetrain? Either 8 speed or 9 speed?

The cassettes I see offered for mountain bikes have cogs I will never use on
both ends. Seems that getting more choices of useful gears would be better than
having a 30, 32, 34 I never use never mind the 11 or 12 I don't have enough
torque or large enough hills for. Something like a 13-28 would be great, but
isn't sold as a "mountain" cassette.

So any reason to not use the road parts? I've got an 8 speed setup now, but
might convert to 9 when I start replacing this stuff.

Will a 9 speed crankset work well with 8 speed chain and front der? In case I
get a deal and want to start the conversion there.

Thanks all.

Ron

"RonSonic" wrote: (clip) The cassettes I see offered for mountain bikes
have cogs I will never use on both ends.(clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Never say "never."

On Tue, 26 Jul 2005 02:52:22 +0000, RonSonic wrote:


Is there any reason to not use a Shimano road cassette on an off-road
drivetrain? Either 8 speed or 9 speed?

No, no problem at all. IÂ*use a 12-25 (I think) road cassette on my
mountain bike, which I use as a foul-weather commuter.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | Arguing with an engineer is like mud wrestling with a pig... You
_`\(,_ | soon find out the pig likes it!
(_)/ (_) |

No need to change the chainset as your 8 speed chainset will probably
be fine with 9s chain. Same applies to derailleurs (though I believe
you need to match mtb front derailleurs with mtb shifters for indexing
to work properly).

Cassettes are interchangeable, the "road" or "mtb" is just a marketing
term and doesn't reflect any differences in geometry etc.

The things you will need to change are chain, cassette and indexed
shifters.

You can have the best of all worlds by retaining the largest sprocket,
but replacing the rest of the cassette with a closer ratio "road"
cassette. I do this on my touring bike to give a 13-24 +32
arrangement. Then you have close ratios with a bail out gear in case
you hit a steep hill at the end of a long day with lots of luggage.

Andrew

On 26 Jul 2005 00:05:01 -0700, "Andrew W" wrote:

No need to change the chainset as your 8 speed chainset will probably
be fine with 9s chain. Same applies to derailleurs (though I believe
you need to match mtb front derailleurs with mtb shifters for indexing
to work properly).

Cassettes are interchangeable, the "road" or "mtb" is just a marketing
term and doesn't reflect any differences in geometry etc.

The things you will need to change are chain, cassette and indexed
shifters.

You can have the best of all worlds by retaining the largest sprocket,
but replacing the rest of the cassette with a closer ratio "road"
cassette. I do this on my touring bike to give a 13-24 +32
arrangement. Then you have close ratios with a bail out gear in case
you hit a steep hill at the end of a long day with lots of luggage.

Thanks. I'm in the market for a crankset anyway. Long story, but I presently
have a clear anodized left arm and a black right.

I don't feel the need for a bail-out gear lower than say a 28. I've not used my
granny ring since verifying that it works and I do live in Florida. Anything
that steep and traction is more an issue than torque.

Good info. Thank you.

Ron

RonSonic wrote:
Is there any reason to not use a Shimano road cassette on an off-road
drivetrain? Either 8 speed or 9 speed?

The cassettes I see offered for mountain bikes have cogs I will never use on
both ends. Seems that getting more choices of useful gears would be better than
having a 30, 32, 34 I never use never mind the 11 or 12 I don't have enough
torque or large enough hills for. Something like a 13-28 would be great, but
isn't sold as a "mountain" cassette.

FWIW I've been using a 7 speed Dura-ace UNIGLIDE thread on rear
cassette on my 8 speed XT setup.. (it runs silently and shifts cleanly
when I want it to.. I have waiting for those darn ramps!)

So any reason to not use the road parts? I've got an 8 speed setup now, but
might convert to 9 when I start replacing this stuff.

road parts tend to be a bit more expensive at least around here..

Will a 9 speed crankset work well with 8 speed chain and front der? In case I
get a deal and want to start the conversion there.

good question.. if the ring spacing is the same then yes, if not then
maybe not.

RonSonic wrote:
Is there any reason to not use a Shimano road cassette on an off-road
drivetrain? Either 8 speed or 9 speed?

Nope

The cassettes I see offered for mountain bikes have cogs I will never use on
both ends. Seems that getting more choices of useful gears would be better than
having a 30, 32, 34 I never use never mind the 11 or 12 I don't have enough
torque or large enough hills for. Something like a 13-28 would be great, but
isn't sold as a "mountain" cassette.

So any reason to not use the road parts? I've got an 8 speed setup now, but
might convert to 9 when I start replacing this stuff.

Nope again...the cogsets, regardless of size, are essentially the same
and cross compatible w/o any issue other than PERHAPS needing to
shorten the chain a wee bit.

Will a 9 speed crankset work well with 8 speed chain and front der? In case I
get a deal and want to start the conversion there.


Yep, w/o problem.

Remember, no dumb questions.
Thanks all.

Ron

On Tue, 26 Jul 2005 02:52:22 GMT, RonSonic
wrote:

Is there any reason to not use a Shimano road cassette on an off-road
drivetrain? Either 8 speed or 9 speed?

No. Shimano from 8s onwards are completely compatible with each other for
the same amount of cogs, and in fact everything except the right shifter
and the cassette are the same, as well.

Will a 9 speed crankset work well with 8 speed chain and front der? In case I
get a deal and want to start the conversion there.

An 8 speed crankset will work with 9s in rear very nearly as well as a 9s
crankset, though. Only thing you really need is a new cassette and, for
index shifting, a new shifter.

Jasper

ah no the cassettee's are not the same and it's possible that the
application needs a ring shim allowing the cassette lock ring to thread
down tight.
take one road and one ATB in each hand( you got two hands right?) and
gander at the cassette's inboard big cluster side.
the LBS may have a shim selection. get the spectrum and try getting the
cassette on mit shim if the lock ring doesn't screw down tight or
doesn't enter the thread when tried without shims.
i run atb on the road ( no chrome-14 bottom plus 34 custom top)-the
thread entry finesses with opening the standard spacer's (this is the
custom cog spacer plus .5mm shim) holes to accept the ATB's inboard
spacer bumps-and this goes on correctly in one position only!

In article ,
says...

Is there any reason to not use a Shimano road cassette on an off-road
drivetrain? Either 8 speed or 9 speed?

Assuming the gearing is in the right range for your needs, no there is no
reason not to do it.

Will a 9 speed crankset work well with 8 speed chain and front der? In case I
get a deal and want to start the conversion there.

Shouldn't be a problem.
------------
Alex