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so, as a good deed, i am converting my old rockhopper to discs to make it more useable for my little bro as he wants to get into mtbing. it was running xtr m950 v levers and xt 8 speed shifters from the same year (not sure of the model). I switched the v levers for some juicys i have inherited, but they wont fit properly with the xt shifters. i have remoevd the windows which helps, but leaves the indicator gear wheel exposed which cant be right. does anyone know if shimano ever made decent (deore +) 8 speed shifters that will fit on the bar with disc brakes, or did the whole mega 9 thing come along while shimano were v brake only?
Cover the exposed gear wheel with a bit of tape, maybe heli-tape?
I will do that, but the main issue is the weird angles the shifters are in with the new brake levers. The newer shifters from Shimano sit under the bar, the ones I have sit behind it and occupy the space the brake lever needs to be in
Anyone any ideas? I'm thinking I'm gonna end up with sram x3/x4 stuff, or paying 40 quid for some alivios (more expensive than 10 speed slx!)
pretty sure shimano discs happened in mega 9 land.
As for the 8 speed levers and Juicy's, maybe ask on a more gravity oriented forum? I know there are plenty people still using and maintaining 7/8 speed systems out that way for reasons of ruggedness.
Just taken a hunt and by M765 XT, Shimano had hydraulic discs in the range. Don't know how much earlier.
Also: SRAM X4 - the rear is standard SRAM 1:1 ie, front will pull fine on a Shimano mech but rear will not be compatible ...
Maybe Cable disc calipers with your old V levers might be a better/cheaper workaround unless you plan on upgrading the entire drivetrain?
Have you tried fitting the Juicy lever inboard of the shifter to use the lever tip mainly, creating space for the shifter, possibly? And
If you want to sell those on.. MIP )xtr m950 v levers
I did try fitting them in, but the shifter sits so close to the bar i have to rotate the shifter downwards to get the brake lever in. Can see this turning into a complete drivechain swap. Shame really as the xt stuff on at the moment has always been utterly reliable.
Jameso I'll send you an email
I love an 8-speed thread! 😀
2nd hand 8sp alivios (m410) will be worth a look: they don't shift as 'crisply' as xt of course but they last forever and fit ok with hydraulic levers- they have on occasions featured on bikes a few years ago with cheapest shimano, juicy 3 and tektro hydraulic brakes. [url= http://www.norco.com/archives/2009/?id=48a31c950c189 ]Here is a hideous hybrid with m410's and juicy levers playing nicely together.[/url] I've got a rh one on my ancient dh/trouble bike with old m800 saint levers and the angles on it are also fine. (although you might want to trim a couple of mm off the shift levers if you like them close your lockon grip collars). The mc18 (even older ones) have the window under the shifter too and can be had for next to nothing on ebay. You also might find you make a profit by selling your 8sp xt ones too as iirc being very good and reliable (apart from the lever compatibility bit!) they are quite sought after by retro-ists.
2nd had m410s it is then. My bike must be gutted, xtr/xt to alivio/juicy!
i still run 8 speed on my bike....(about to get flamed?...i think i'll run for cover just in case).
the shifter i use is also an xt unit so probably the same as yours...
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i also ran the same shifters on my other 2 bikes while i had them and never had any fitting issues with them. the brakes that heav worked alongside the shifter are...shimano deore (cant remember which model exactly), hope mini mono, hope 6ti, magura julie, hayes hfx-9.
i've never had any experience of fitting them to hydraulic avids as i avoid their brakes like the plague...so i blame your brakes 😛
i will at some point this year make the transition to 10 speed but i'll still run the 8 speed set up on a spare bike as i love it so much
Where are your levers in relation to your shifters? It'll be designed to work with the levers outboard of the shifters.
i run my set up as follows...grip - brake lever - shifter
i've tried it with the levers switched over and it doesnt really work that well.
Yes that shifter unit is the same. I took the windows off to run the levers inboard of the shifters, but the lever and shifter end up sitting on top if each other, so the brakes are too high and the shifters too low.
May I suggest a SRAM Attack shifter- works with Shimano rear mechs, fits with levers no problem
Gonzy, if I can work out how to upload pictures onto here I'll show you how spoony it looks. It's probably just a peculiarity of the two units
Sram attack ey? Could be onto a winner there
I ran 8 speed Alivios with M596 Leavers no problem not sure if this any help.
no worries Adrec..i'll take a picture of mine tonight and upload it so can see how i've set it up. its currently on with the hayes hfx
I had juicy 3's on my commuter until i went all drop barred CX.
The clamps are massive compared to the splits on the Elixir R's I have on pretty much everything else. For the price of cheap older hydraulics vs a nicely working crisp drivetrain then ditching the Juicy plan or going cable may be as cheap as digging into the drivetrain as there are a lot more bits potentially to be swapping out there...
From what I remember of my 3's, they weren't that great anyway - they had a decent amount of stop and were 100% troublefree, but weren't particularly big on modulation.
Adrec - i've found an image of the shifter and lever but you will have to zoom in for a closer look to see how it's set up and what it looks like underneath the bar...this is the current set up i have
[img] 
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this shows the same parts but on the previous frame (transferred most of the parts to the full susser) again you'll need to zoom in but it gives you an idea of what it looks like from the top.
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hope this helps.....like i said i'll try and get a close up of it uploaded tonight
I'll stick a post up tomorrow. The juicys I've inherited are brand new, never used in anger, so really don't want to be ditching them. And iv got two pretty new 8 speed cassettes. So there's no way out really other than to get some sram attack or maybe alivio shifters.
I may have just made this up, but I'm sure SRAM/AVID where deliberately making levers that didn't fit with Shimano shifters to push people over to SRAM gears. This would have been about the same time as your XT 8spd were produced.
But then Shimano made those stupid XTR brakes/shifter all-in-one levers and everyone jumped on SRAM for a few years.
adrec - sorry i had a busy weekend and never got the chance to upload the images, i'll try again tonight.
by the way i run an old stx-rc shifter on the left hand side and that may be worth considering too.
found a pair on ebay that you might want to look at
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Shimano-Stx-Rc-8spd-Shifter-Pods-Retro-Parts-/261377419346