# 8 speed bar-end shifter with 7 speed?



## chas0039 (Jun 26, 2007)

I am thinking of converting my old flat bar Trek to drop bars and the Shimano SL-BS64 Ultegra 8 speed Shift Levers fit the price. Will they work with a 7 speed RD? Common sense tells me they will but bikes have a lot of things that defy common sense.

Thanks


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## ARP (Mar 7, 2002)

chas0039 said:


> I am thinking of converting my old flat bar Trek to drop bars and the Shimano SL-BS64 Ultegra 8 speed Shift Levers fit the price. Will they work with a 7 speed RD? Common sense tells me they will but bikes have a lot of things that defy common sense.
> 
> Thanks[/QU


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## FatTireFred (Jan 31, 2005)

friction, yes... indexed, I believe so... spacings were pretty close


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## chas0039 (Jun 26, 2007)

Any way to tell if the Shimano 8 and 9 speed bar end shifters are friction or indexed?


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## satanas (Nov 8, 2002)

All Shimano bar-end shifters can be switched between indexed and friction modes. 

The 8-speed shifters work fine with a 7-speed cassette; I have this on my commuting bike. (Actually, I have 9-speed shifters with a 9-speed Dura-Ace RD running the 8-speed-compatible cable routing plus a 7-speed cassette, but it works out the same.) 

Or if you're paranoid you could swap the inner 4 spacers from 3.1mm (7 speed) to 3.0mm (8-speed); the outer two spacers are slightly wider and identical width for both 7- and 8-speed.


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## Dave Hickey (Jan 27, 2002)

It works perfectly...No worries at all...just don't use the extra click...

The spacing between 7 and 8 speed is almost identical and well within the tolerance of the shifters


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## chas0039 (Jun 26, 2007)

Thanks guys. Glad to hear I am on the right track.


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## MR_GRUMPY (Aug 21, 2002)

No way.
The cog spacing is different on Shimano 7 and 8. If you dial the shifter in on cog #2, by the time you get to cog #5, the shifting will be crap. The only way it might possibly work is if you dial the shifter in on cog #3. This way, the shifting will only be crappy on cog #6 and really crappy on the inner cog.

It will work fine in the friction mode.


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## Dave Hickey (Jan 27, 2002)

Sorry Grump but you are wrong on this one...... It shifts fine.... I have 2 bikes set up this way...The difference in spacing is .1mm and when set up properly, it works perfect.


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## Deering (Apr 10, 2007)

*Works for me*

I have this set-up and it works for me. I thought the cog spacing of the 7-speed and the 8-speed was the same, just that the total cassette width of the 8-speed was wider. But I could be wrong.


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## MR_GRUMPY (Aug 21, 2002)

Double that.
With Shimano, spacing for 7 speed is center to center 5.0mm. 8 speed c to c is 4.8.
Over 5 cogs that makes 1mm. Many people can live with the rear shifting being off by 1 mm, but Shimano did make the correct shifter.

If you had a Campy system, you could do this because both 7 and 8 speed spacing was 5.0mm.


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## FatTireFred (Jan 31, 2005)

MR_GRUMPY said:


> Double that.
> With Shimano, spacing for 7 speed is center to center 5.0mm. 8 speed c to c is 4.8.
> Over 5 cogs that makes 1mm. Many people can live with the rear shifting being off by 1 mm, but Shimano did make the correct shifter.
> 
> If you had a Campy system, you could do this because both 7 and 8 speed spacing was 5.0mm.




but if you "center" the middle (4 for 7, mid 4-5 for 8), you're only compounding the spacing error over 3 cogs, right?


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## Dave Hickey (Jan 27, 2002)

All I can say is that it's a non-issue..I've used 8 speed STI, downtube, and barcons with 7 speed cassettes and the shifting is flawless at all ranges of the cassette


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## MR_GRUMPY (Aug 21, 2002)

I can tell if my rear deraileur is off by .6mm. It's the same if my housing is shot, or the rear derailleur is shot. You get that funky rubbery shifting feeling. Sometimes you have to fish around for the gear, and you often have a little noise from the cogs.
It all depends on what you can live with.


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## blackhat (Jan 2, 2003)

mtb'ers have been doing the same, but backwards, for years- 7 speed thumbshifters on 8 speed drivetrains-as shimano saw fit to discontinue production of top mounts when they made the switch to 8 speed. it works.


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## HammerTime-TheOriginal (Mar 29, 2006)

I found that DA 8 Speed DT shifters shifted my (otherwise) 7 speed DA drivetrain better than DA 7 speed DT shifters ever did.


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## FatTireFred (Jan 31, 2005)

HammerTime-TheOriginal said:


> I found that DA 8 Speed DT shifters shifted my (otherwise) 7 speed DA drivetrain better than DA 7 speed DT shifters ever did.




can't touch that!


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## cyclust (Sep 8, 2004)

It'll work just fine. Just be sure to set your derailleur limit screws so you can't use the 8th position.


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## blackhat (Jan 2, 2003)

HammerTime-TheOriginal said:


> I found that DA 8 Speed DT shifters shifted my (otherwise) 7 speed DA drivetrain better than DA 7 speed DT shifters ever did.


was the rest of your drivetrain too legit to quit when you changed the shifters?


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