urgent help needed..

delcol

i know this may be a stupid no brainer of a question but i am struggling to find the answer,.

after 15 months of daily use my drive train started creaking and felt like it was jumping it has done well over 2000 miles so i decided to srtip it down and replace it all,..

my bike is a 96 scott speedster s60 fb.

i removed the crank bottom braket to find the bb had gone the bearings were shot so i am looking to replace the crank bb casette and chain i know which chain casette to get but am struggling with the crank i wanted to go for a shimano tiagra or simlar but my scott is 24 speed i can only find tiaga for 9 speed casette.

so my stupid question is does it matter if the crank is for a 9 speed when your running a 8 speed casette, my only exp with cycle mechanics is from my good old bmx days many moons ago and my mtbs never done a road bike before,..

any help much appreciated thanks...

i am in urgent need to order the parts so i can get my bike rebuilt iam back in work tonight,...
thanks again for any help.

Random Vince

as far as i'm aware the only difference between 8 and 9 speed would be because 9speed chains are narrower than an 8speed the teeth arent physically as wide.

personally i'd get a set of cranks that i can replace the chain rings on without replacing the crank arm so in future the BB can be replaced and the chain rings can be replaced keeping costs a bit lower

however, when i do come to change my BB, chain wheel or crank the entire lot has to go as they're cotted :P