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Upgrading from a 7 speed cassete to an 8 or 9 speed?

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Upgrading from a 7 speed cassete to an 8 or 9 speed?

Old 05-08-11, 12:24 AM
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Vostok
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Upgrading from a 7 speed cassete to an 8 or 9 speed?

I have a Cdale Quick 6 hybrid bike and I would like to upgrade from my current 7 speed to an 8 or 9 speed. I've read Sheldon Brown's piece about this with using 9 speed spacers and shifters to make it work on a 7 speed hub. However, I'd wrather not settle for this. I've got a Shimano Sora rear derailleur on the bike now (I bought it after I bought the bike, sorry but Altus is quite possibly the UGLIEST rear derailleur I've ever seen) Anyway, I have no issues with rebuilding my rear wheel with a hub with an 8 or 9 speed freehub body and buying new shifters. My biggest question is whether or not I will have to have to have my stays readjusted to fit the new hub? I'd wrather not have to buy a new bike just because I want to add a speed or two. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated!!
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Old 05-08-11, 12:45 AM
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Always have to ask... what is wrong with the 7 speed ? If it is a matter of range you can change the cassette and swapping to an 8 or 9 speed will only give you closer steps if you maintain the same gear range.
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Old 05-08-11, 12:50 AM
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Most bike hubs are 130 (road/hybrid bikes) or 135mm (mtbs) and the rear dropouts are similarly spec'd so no need to have the stays adjusted which btw would be possible on a steel frame, no aluminum. Cannondale? sounds like an aluminum frame, so no go.

Hubs can accommodate 8, 9, 10 and even 11 spd cassettes. The only difference is the numbers of cogs and spacing between them. An of course, you'll need the corresponding shifter matching the cassette. Also, you'll need the appropriate rear derailleur for the cassette. Sorry, I can't speak to your original 7spd hub. Never had a bike with less than 7 speeds in a looong time that I really don't know if 7spd hubs are spec 'ed differently.
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Old 05-08-11, 12:54 AM
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Measure your OLD (over-locknut distance, or the distance between your dropouts). If it's not 126mm but 130 or even 135mm, you're laughing.

Also, you prolly don't have to wreplace the whole hub; if it's Shimano you should be able to just wreplace the cassette body. Then you just need to wre-dish your wheel wrather then wrebuild it.

There's a downside to having tighter spacing than 7spd though - it can be fiddly to adjust your indexing, and it doesn't stay good for as long.
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Old 05-08-11, 06:57 AM
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Vostock, If there is a spacer between the cassette and the hub's flange you maybe able to reuse the free hub body with a 8-9S cassette and without the spacer, look at this first. If not you'll need to replace the free hub.

Brad
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Old 05-08-11, 07:54 AM
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Originally Posted by bradtx
Vostock, If there is a spacer between the cassette and the hub's flange you maybe able to reuse the free hub body with a 8-9S cassette and without the spacer, look at this first. If not you'll need to replace the free hub.

Brad
Quick 6 is a fairly new bike right? I would suspect that this is the case, that you actually do have an 8,9,10 speed freehub just with a spacer. IF this is the case, my recommendation is to buy the 9speed Microshift MTB flatbar shifters from Nashbar.com. they are $30 and awesome shifters. If your current 7speed shifters and brake levers are integrated, you will also need a new set of brake levers, if not you are good to go.
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Old 05-08-11, 11:35 AM
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Step one, use a tape measure and check the drop out spacing. The difference is pretty obvious, 4mm is almost 1/4 inch. Modern bike, so the spacing should be fine for 8/9/10 speed.

+1 Make sure you don't already have an 8/9/10 speed hub, with a spacer. My guess is that is what you have, an 8/9/10 speed hub. When in doubt, just take the rear wheel to the bike shop of your choice.

Last edited by wrk101; 05-08-11 at 11:39 AM.
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Old 05-08-11, 11:39 AM
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It's a change , but not necessarily an upgrade .
what ratio are you seeking that is missing from the
series of ratios you have now?

mechanically it's a gear ratio, .. a:b, .. euphemistically called a "speed",
you can have redundant ratios.. so fewer than the # of 'speeds'.

Last edited by fietsbob; 05-08-11 at 11:42 AM.
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Old 05-08-11, 06:37 PM
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* wratio
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