been riding a 8 speed bit for the last week. and it has left me wondering why we ever needed any more. it just works so well.

anyone else a old fashioned bugger?

Yes. On my Plug. It seems fine. Then I get on my 11 speed road bike and notice all the bits where I can find just the right gear that I couldn’t before.
Then I get back on the Plug, and after a few days I forget about all the gaps and it’s fine again.

Yep, albeit on my old retro Kona. Works just great doesn’t it. M739 and/or M950 was peak drivetrain IMO (M739 more so for the lower cost).

I love the range on modern 1×11 and 1×10 but every configuration I’ve ridden since doesn’t index quite so perfectly.

I have an old Cannondale hardtail with XTR 8 speed. About once a year I dust it off and take it for a ride round the block. 8 speed drivetrain is great, everything else about it sucks, forks and brakes are terrifying. My other bikes are mostly 2×9 or 3×9, which works fine, with one 2×11 XT. The 2×11 is the clunkiest of the lot, really does not feel like a high-end drivetrain.

just bought 2 x cassettes 2 x chains and a couple of smaller chainrings for the future.
£10 for a cassette……….ace

My sons new Trek is running 3×8. I offered to upgrade him to 10 or 11 but he said he doesn’t need it as the gear ratios are already perfect for him.

Yes, on 2 bikes, only my summer road bike has 9s. I do have a 9s shifter and 12-36 cassette bit hardly used it.

2 x 8 yep.

1×8 on the hardtail.
3×8 on the FS.

chains and cassettes are so cheap its not worth my time to wash the drivetrain, just replace when its worn out.

I opted for a 1×8 drive when building my eldest’s current bike as she simply doesn’t need more clicks, her previous one had 9 speed and it was utterly pointless TBH she only ever uses the top 4-5 gears anyway. You can tweak the range to suit their little legs now with various casstte/chainring options available, so why spend more? I did consider 7 speed briefly, but went with 8 in the end… (SRAM)

My Gravel bike is on a bodged 1×9, I’d consider 1×8 for it though. I’m also building a friction shifting Commuter/gravel/winter roadie thing that will more than likely be used with an 8 speed cassette to start with (as that’s what I happen to have dug out from my spares bin)…

I tried to recently, as I read somewhere that the cable pull of a 10 speed SRAM MTB rear mech would work with an 8spd Shimano MTB shifter. Sadly, it wasn’t true 🙁 . Imagine a thick 8 speed chain with a clutch mech.. perfect downhill setup!

My commuter is 3 x 6, it works fine.

Yep, my hybrid is 1X8 and works well.

I tried to recently, as I read somewhere that the cable pull of a 10 speed SRAM MTB rear mech would work with an 8spd Shimano MTB shifter

Its the other way around, I’m using an 8 speed SRAM shifter with a 10 speed Shimano shadow+ derailleur, I had to make 6mm thick washer that goes between the cable and the cable clamping surface on the mech and use a longer cable clamp bolt. It indexes perfectly and the chain has never come off.

The Proflex is LX/XT 3×8 mainly for authenticity

You have to remove the rear wheel to adjust the front mech. Those were the days when this was all just fields. In fact I remember when yawn zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Top bodging ballsofcottonwool 8) . You’ve not got a pic of the spacer have you please? I can’t quite envisage it…

Haven’t got a photo of my setup, I got the idea from here, plenty of pics on the thread

https://www.pinkbike.com/forum/listcomments/?threadid=148662

2×5, 3×7, 3×8, 1×10, 2×10 and 1×11 on 26(559), 27.5(584), 700c & 29(622), and 27″(630) wheels here!

3×8 on the tandem – seems to be fairly resilient

yeah, my 4x freeride ht bike and commuter have 8 speed. X2 and X3

Yep.. 3×8.. 8 speed chains never seem to snap.. ride them into the ground then replace everything for under 50 quid..

3×8 Claris on my 2014 crossrip. It works, doesn’t seem to wear, has a decent spread if gears with no massive gaps. 9 speed is smoother but the “it just works” nature of 8 speed I value more than pretty much anything else these days.

Could go tighter of wider on the cassette for minimal cost when it does finally wear out, but not sure of the benefits tbh.

It just works, and keeps working!

11-30 cassette with 24/238 chainset on the Wazoo, which works fine with the 29er wheels and keeps the sprocket jumps relatively sane, 11-34 on the rear fat wheel for an easier gear at the cost of an 8-tooth jump to the 34T! 😮

I keep thinking about trying a 13-26 cassette for smaller sprocket jumps and a gear range that covers me for shallow downhill and will get me up Dell Rd’s ~20% max gradient with a bit more effort (today I took it “easy” sitting down in 24/30)… But I have a feeling that the rear mech https://www.halfords.com/cycling/bike-parts/gears-drivetrain-cables/shimano-rd-m310-altus-sgs-rear-derailleur-black won’t be happy with having 26T as the biggest sprocket.

Would eight singlespeed bikes count, all with different ratio? Failing that 1×8 on my Kona Joe.

touring / general purpose (avoids ‘gravel’) is 3x 8. Perfectly good enough.

Yes, but it’s an Alfine 😉

Never saw the need to update, and test riding new bikes day in, day out, just re-enforces my decision.

1xAlfine8, its great 🙂 And a singlespeed of course.

Yes my 1987 Stump Jumper, I’ve had from new, now my touring bike is still on its original 8 speed derailleur and thumb sifters. Has had a few chains and cassettes but not for years and on a fair number of miles since last change.

1*7 for me

3×8 on my wifes bike.

Every other bike is 9 speed, with 1-3 gears at the front.

My commuter/ come wet weather/ do anything bike is a gt grade Claris. 11-32 rear cassette on a compact chainset, and it never skips a beat. Just had to swap the rear mech after an off, and a £11 altus rear mech has gone on without fuss. Job’s a good one for me.

Just bought his ‘n’ hers Diverges with 2×8 Claris. Seems adequate.

Yes, mostly still riding 8 speed…

Yes my 1987 Stump Jumper, I’ve had from new, now my touring bike is still on its original 8 speed derailleur and thumb sifters.

Didn’t 8 speed MTB components first appear in 1992? (Though most 7 speed thumbies work ok as 8 speed shifters.)