Shimano 7 speed?

gnvqsos

I recently bought a s/h wheel with space for 7 sped cassette.As these are now rare can I use an 8 speed and omit one of the cogs?I apologise if this a faq.Thanks

meagain

Rare? There's 32 Shimano ones alone (road and mtb) on th'bay at moment! And plenty in the shops.

andy_wrx

More to the point is what shifters do you intend to use - are they 7sp or 8sp ?

jpembroke

plenty of 7 speed cassettes available both from Shimano and SRAM. See CRC or Wiggle or your LBS.

gnvqsos

thanks so far-I do plan to use 7 spd d/t levers.I feel that the 7 spds I have seen have a limited range of gears.No one has answered my original query!Can I buy an 8 spd and omit onre cog?

redddraggon

gnvqsos wrote:

thanks so far-I do plan to use 7 spd d/t levers.I feel that the 7 spds I have seen have a limited range of gears.No one has answered my original query!Can I buy an 8 spd and omit onre cog?

The Hub won't be wide enough for 8spd surely? 7spd is the same spacing as 8 spd isn't it? but 8spd has an extra sprocket and so is wider?

Steve928

gnvqsos wrote:

No one has answered my original query!

7 speed freewheels/cassettes are spaced at 5mm, 8 speed are spaced at 4.8mm, so no. But it would probably work anyway, more or less..

jpembroke

8 speed cassettes have a different spacing to a 7 speed cassette and I doubt it'll fit on the 7 speed freehub either so no, it won't work.

Why do you want to do this rather than buy a 7 speed cassette?

jpembroke

Here's a 7 speed cassette for £11.99:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... delID=6387

andy_wrx

Answering your original question, if you have a 7sp Shimano-compatible freehub which takes a cassette (- it's not a screw-on freewheel ?), no you can't fit an 8sp cassette with one missing - but you can fit 8 of a 9sp cassette and use 7 of them.

See Sheldon...
http://sheldonbrown.com/k7.html