Swopped over the gear from an ali giant hardtail to a steel frame. 8 speed shimano gears with alivio rear mech and a C50 front mech. Rapid fire combined hayes cable brakes and shifters. Got fancy hydraulics and deore lx 9 speed shifters and mech's ready to put on.
Been waiting quite a while for stuff to wear out and fail so I have an excuse to swop over and put 9 speed kit on.
It just wont wear out, it works fine with a slight tweak here and there. The bike is no slower than any of the 9 speed bikes I ride with and a lot easier to fix and seems more reliable!

Do we get suckered into putting the latest crap on our bikes for "performance" or "peer pressure."

just you then

Yes

my road bike has a 7 speed casette and cable brakes on.

Yes.
On my road bike.

My old pahoehoe has V's & the since the 11-year old XT shifters are still going strong, i run 8speed (even tho mechs & chainset is modern SLX). When i've been riding it recently, i've been riding a lot faster… but i think that's just cos the brakes don't work in the wet!

ps i dont think we get suckered into it at all. it just works better

I have just built up a 7 speed, tip bike project, for the mud.

I run 8 speed, with no front mech at all.
And I was running cable discs until just last week. Juicy 5s now.. let the good times roll.

When the 8 speed cassette wears out I'll change, not because its better to have a 9 speed cassette, but because its easier to get hold of 9 speed chains and cassettes. I suppose spares availability is better for the later stuff.

How do the juicy 5's compare to the cable disc's?

My rigid has 21-speed and Vs Entire drivetrain cost about the same as a typical 9-speed cassette.

+1 here… Vees + 12year old 8speed Xt sti's… still going strong! …but then, yes I am quite curmugeonly. 😉

Recently riding a mid-90s 8speed hardtail with an RST elastomer 'spring' fork with RSX v brakes. Keeping up on the ups with the big boys in Epping Forest was dead easy, but when the going tipped anymore than 10 deg downwards I died a death. Now have a rock lobster with hayes – and the same 8spd drive train – and some bombers. It's about the same speed overall but with the inverse relationship (ie great down, sluggish up). In many ways preferred the old bike as it really took body input where the Lobster is a bit of an arm chair. I get the feeling I'm going to have to spend some proper money to get something that goes up and down equally well…

Road bike(s) still on 8spd because STI shifters are sooooo expensive.

Cable discs on my inbred

ps i dont think we get suckered into it at all. it just works better

Sucker! 😉

on my winter bike I run as usual 8 speed shimano with good old thumb shifters…(the thumbies are 7 shift, but it works perfect with 8 gears…)
even in semifrozen mud and grit still perfect shifting…

My '97 Lava Dome still has Avid V's and a 7 speed casette.

It has a perfectly acceptable gear range and V's work fine if you know how to set them up.

I do. I ride a 97 Trek 8000 with vees and 8 speed cassette. Rigid fork too. Vees work well enough and i never feel that i am between gears.

Yup, I'm on 8 speed on my hardtail. Bits were cheaper, less ghost shifting in the mud, easier to clean. TBH I don't notice any differnce between 8 and 9 speed….

IMO 8sp is better in lots of ways than 9sp. It certainly lasts longer and shifts crisper. On a commuter, I prefer it. And Vees are perfectly adequate as well
Wouldn't go near rim brakes of any kind ever again on a MTB though…. 🙂

Ive got 8sp and canti brakes on my commuter

My 2009 rockhopper came with 8sp and cable discs, It only cost me £24.99 to replace the chain and the rear derraileur when they got bashed and twisted.

7spd and cable disks on my cx bike – agricultural change – CLUNK!

8sp on my main mtb. mainly because i cant seem to kill the 10yr old shifters. sachs wavey gripshift. top kit.

My retro Marin (still often ridden!) is currently rocking a 2×7 set up, with X-Ray Gripshifts, WTB cantis and a set of green Michelin semi-slicks.

Fuh shizzle.

8sp and cable disks on the Hardtail, 8 speed on the FS. Havn't felt the need for the extra ratios yet. I'll swap it out when I can't replace my 8sp stuff anymore

I’ve still got 8 speed on one of my bikes, it’s not that hard to source parts for 7/8spd really, just hard to get parts from the blingier groupsets, any mech current will work what ever the number of cogs…

I have to say while I find 7 and 8 speed more than adequate, I don’t think they are actually any “better” than 9spd, current mid level 9speed (Deore, tiagra SLX) stuff seems to shift very smoothly due to the slightly smaller sprocket pitch, one mans “crisp shift” is another mans “clunk”, it’s all marginal, and makes no difference to my enjoyment, I will be ditching my one remaining 8 speed cassette and shifter in the summer I think, once it’s time for a new cassette and chain I may as well chuck in the extra £20-ish for a new deore 9spd shifter…

I’ve never owned Cable discs, obviously my road bike has cable calliper brakes, and my next SS build will deliberately have V’s…

Full 8 speed and hayes cable discs here, on BOTH bikes…and out of choice!

Don't see what the fuss is about to be honest.

It all works, I can pedal up all the hills I want and ride downhill as fast or slow as necessary.
Even raced downhill with cable discs. They work.

7spd with downtube shifters and cable brakes on my 1989 road bike
8spd with cable V-Brakes on my 1996 Hardtail
9spd with hydraulic discs on my 2009 Full Bouncer

I've got a Pace RC200, with 8 speed XT & LX V brakes
Pace RC31 rigid forks & a classic Pace stem
Only gets used for work commutes & night rides on the road (slick tyres)
Bought it off my mate a couple of years ago when he was skint
Still a very fast bike !!

Luddites 🙄 😛

8 speed Tiagra, no front mech, and cable BB7s on my Summer Season (Revs on the front)…

You know, I miss the days when someone would post claims that a well set up V brake was just as powerful [if not better] & was far superior to any disc brake

I was sort of hoping this thread may oblige, but no, it looks like even those nay sayers are a thing of the past – ah well … 🙂

8sp on my main mtb. mainly because i cant seem to kill the 10yr old shifters. sachs wavey gripshift. top kit.

really?! mine died on something like their second muddy ride. was hacked off as they weren't cheap!!

8 speed on a late 90's hardtail. V's on the back, only recently got a disc for the front when I bought new forks that didn't have v brake posts.

I can't say I'm good enough notice my cadence and rhythm being completely ruined by the massive gap between whateverth gear and whateverth gear, so I'll carry on with 8 for the foreseeable. 🙂

1996 Rocky Ridge hartail, rigid forks, 8spd XT with a 7spd XT rear mech, deore DX cranks, XTR V front, XT V rear.
Have a complete 9spd drivetrain waiting in the shed for when the old 8spd one dies.
Quite happy to use for communting and gopping winter filth.
Disc brakes in the wet and mud are SO much better than V's tho.

Yep

I run 3 MTB's one ridgid, 8 speed and with V's, one 8 full suspension, with 8 speed and V's and the last one with Discs and 9 speed.

No real difference between any of them, they are all old and do the job. They are all capible of the riding i do and are what i need and want. No point of spending money when its not needed.

Mind the hope XC4 disc brakes are getting a little tired now 🙁

Thicker chains and cogs, all the hassle of cable brakes ( as opposed to all the hassle and WEIGHT of discs ) and thumbies that are the best for night riding in winter ( you can feel what gear you're in ).
It's fun being a luddite.

8 speeds?

Do they have gears on bikes now? 🙂