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My sons bike seems to have a major problem with the shifters (Shimano Alivio I think) which are built into the equally rubbish brake levers (mmm good idea put two really crap bits of engineering together so they both need replacing). I don't want the cost of rebuilding the entire grouppo with 9 speed and the mechs seem fine (I have brake replacements BTW)
So I guess that I'm basically looking for something that I can rebuild his existing groupset with, old Shim XT or similar, or if someone has a better idea I'd be happy to listen.
I'll go through my spares box as I think I've got an old XT mech (the black one) that I THINK is 8 speed. You can have it posted to You for a £5 🙂 I have to check as I might have a new -ish chain to go with that as well FOC. (I' not 100% sure but it look something like this one) [img] 
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I'll check once I'm back from uni.
Read the post properly 🙂 So You don't need a mech than. What I would do is to change the cables and outers first. Alivio levers weren't the best ones but I actually liked the shifters as they were almost proper rapid fire shifters but slower 🙂 I think that shifters are attached to the levers, if You hate them so much, You can try what my friend did with his older 8sp LX combo. He cut the shifters off from the levers. But 8sp XT shifters can be pricey as they are considered retro now 😉
mmmm, if its the rear mech with the huge jocky wheels, they are junk and the spring is really week, if new cables dont sort it, I would look there.
If the shifters are still indexing, then that bit shouldnt be your problem.
Yeah its the one with the mahoosive jockey wheels.....what a heap of cr%p
Maybe I should just restart and get the spare 9 speed wheel rebuilt and get him set up properly.
What about SRAM's 8sp shifters which work with 2:1 cable pull i.e. Shimano mechs?
You've a choice of trigger:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=13206
... or Gripshift:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=13208
The above might be cheaper elsewhere, mind you - I got a bargain pair of 8sp Attack Gripshift from Germany - www.bike24.com maybe?
I will shortly be retiring a pair of 8spd Sram shifters, shimano compatible and you're welcome to them if you can hang on until after the weekend.
To go nine speed surely it's just a new chain, cassette and shifter.
The mech will be OK (or at least no worse than it is), and the wheel will take a nine speed cassette.
Equally a new nine speed mech will be perfectly happy doing eigth speed duty if paired with the right shifter.
Or in short you need to find out which bit it is that is actially causing the problem - and cables and casings are a good place to start looking.
If you have another (Shimano compatible) mech, perhaps on another bike, try swapping that in and see if it helps.
What's wrong with large jockey wheels? (I don't know and am curious)
utter toss.
8spd stuff rocks.
i will be avoiding 9spd like the plague until absoloutly nessacery (and by then probably end up going to 15spd or something stupid)
the problem oyu have is due to the shifters being dual control pod things, with the brakes built in isnt it??
wooly hat shop on ebay should still have some 8spd stuff, and will certainly have brake levers.
deore levers should set you back about a tenner a pair iirc
i would buy a pair of sram attack shifters.
8spd still availible, and last AGES (ive just replaced a 4 yr old one on a heavily used bike, and replaced with another of the same i was that happy with it)
basicly x5/x7 ish level but compatible with shimano mechs.
About running a 8sp mech with 9sp shifters. My mate broke his rear Lx and I had a Acera rear mech (with big jockey wheels), got this on his bike but didn't want to work properly with deore shifters. Was fine on most gears but it was always skipping one gear up somewhere in the middle of the cassette.
Guys, thanks for the advice.
[b]theotherjonv[/b][u], I would be delighted to take you up on your offer, can contendedly wait till after the weekend, no sweat. Drop me a line as per my members page, that'd be great.
what Olly said. 8spd is amazing - far more reliable and crisper shifting than 9spd. lasts forever too.
there's no such thing as an "8spd mech" - the mech is told how much to move by the shifter. any mech will work for 7spd, 8spd, 9spd, whatever.
so to answer the OP, as others have suggested you should work out which offending component is causing the problems. if you can't work it out, then get a cheap-ish mech (something around LX level) and buy some SRAM 8spd Attack trigger shifters. assuming the cassette and chain aren't worn out, your shifting problems will be History.