8 speed road bike shifters

[roubaixtuesday]

My son has fallen off his bike (again...) resulting in a broken shifter. The other is also rather the worse for wear.

Question is what will be compatible as a replacement.

The originals are Sora 8 speed, triple front derailleur. These (2nd hand cheap at least) seem hard to come by.

For the rear shifter, do I need identical, or is a shimano 9 or 10 speed also compatible?

Also, do I need a triple specific left shifter or are the double and triple actually interchangeable with adjustment via an internal stop?

Thanks

[stewartpratt]

You'll be needing 8-speed triples. Which pretty much means Claris. Rose have them cheap, but UK prices seem to be about the same as 105 5700s. If the chain and cassette happen to be worn then perhaps a good time to upgrade…

[Brucey]

when STIs first came out I was young and daft enough still that I knew I'd fall off and wreck them on a fairly regular basis. Knowing that, I didn't bother with them for years.

One form of 'upgrade' might be to a more crash resistant shifter of some kind? As suggested above, if the rest of it is a bit knackered you could convert to 9s ( a big selling point with the crasher no doubt) which might soften the blow of not having STIs any more...?

A shopping list for this might be

- 9s bar end or DT shifters
- Kelly's or pauls brackets
- brake levers
- 9s chain
- 9s cassette
- gear cables

everything else can stay, if it isn't worn out.

cheers

[greyingbeard]

are 8 speed bar end shifters still available ? Used ones should be ?
Can always use a different number on its friction setting anyway.

[pete75]

Clasis seem a good buy at 64 quid from rose.
An alternative is Shimergo. Campag 10 speed Ergos pull the same amount of cable as Shimano 8 speed or as near as makes no difference 4.79 vs 4.8 mm. They can be used as a direct replacement.
10 speed Veloce are available from Ribble for 66 quid in black and 69 in silver http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-t ... 7000000000 http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-t ... 9000000000 Don't worry that it says double they work fine with triple - have used them thus on two different bikes. You can get spares for Campag shifters so if say a lever is broken it's relatively cheap to replace.
If you wanted to go to 9 on the back the 10 speed Ergos will accommodate this with a slight change in the cable anchorage.

More info here http://www.ctc.org.uk/cyclists-library/ ... s/shimergo

[roubaixtuesday]

Clear and useful, thanks all

[andrew_s]

are 8 speed bar end shifters still available ? Used ones should be ?
Can always use a different number on its friction setting anyway.

8 speed bar end shifters are still available, and are reported to be more reliable than the 9-speed ones
http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/shimano-ulte ... s-prod385/

[Manc33]

The Claris 2400 shifters I tried were an improvement over the 2300 because Claris has downshifting on the brake blade.

It only took 25 years for that to trickle down from Dura-Ace to the entry level shifters.

[mercalia]

The Claris 2400 shifters I tried were an improvement over the 2300 because Claris has downshifting on the brake blade.

It only took 25 years for that to trickle down from Dura-Ace to the entry level shifters.

hmm not true - RSX the cheap group STI set from the late 90's used the system we have today. Then Shimano started going cheapskate? And the RSX 7/8 speed didnt need any trimming and not worse for it ( I know as on my Dawes 1-Down, and works well )

[Manc33]

The Claris 2400 shifters I tried were an improvement over the 2300 because Claris has downshifting on the brake blade.

It only took 25 years for that to trickle down from Dura-Ace to the entry level shifters.

hmm not true - RSX the cheap group STI set from the late 90's used the system we have today. Then Shimano started going cheapskate? And the RSX 7/8 speed didnt need any trimming and not worse for it ( I know as on my Dawes 1-Down, and works well )

It may have been a "cheap group" but was RSX really entry level?

[mercalia]

The Claris 2400 shifters I tried were an improvement over the 2300 because Claris has downshifting on the brake blade.

It only took 25 years for that to trickle down from Dura-Ace to the entry level shifters.

hmm not true - RSX the cheap group STI set from the late 90's used the system we have today. Then Shimano started going cheapskate? And the RSX 7/8 speed didnt need any trimming and not worse for it ( I know as on my Dawes 1-Down, and works well )

It may have been a "cheap group" but was RSX really entry level?

I think it was the entry level sti group set - just that in those days entry level didn't mean cut down ( just heavier?)

[Brucey]

IIRC you could buy RSX STIs for about £75 in about 1999? I've always found them to be very expensive devices.

cheers

[mercalia]

IIRC you could buy RSX STIs for about £75 in about 1999? I've always found them to be very expensive devices.

cheers

out of interest can u remember what the more upmarket expensive ones cost? I know when I bought my spare set of RSX 8 speed I still have unused, ( incl cables etc) I paid more than £75. When you look at prices for claris here in the UK - some places more than £100 compared to £65 from Rose.de makes you think

[Manc33]

It was after seeing the prices of new stuff like £65 for the 2300's that got me thinking about buying used stuff, way back.

All I have bought since is used stuff.

Surely a used set of Ultegra 8 speed shifters will perform better than brand new 2300/2400 will?

Yes the Claris 2400's when I saw the prices were about £80 a pair. They are more than the 2300's but they should be IMO. The Claris shifters, if anything, are nice looking shifters and comfy to use. As for their performance, no comment, its too subjective and individual.

[roubaixtuesday]

OK, so I got a second hand identical pair of Sora eight speed triple shifters.

Now having difficulty setting up the front mech.

If the tension is set slack enough to drop down to the small chainring, it doesn't go across far enough to take the large ring without rubbing.

If the tension is adjusted up so it doesn't rub on the large chainring, it won't change down to the lower (although it does sound like it wants to). All this is with the endstop screws all the way out, it's just the tension.

Seems to me that the shifter just isn't pulling enough cable. Everything is lubricated, mech seems free and doesn't look bent (seemed to work before OK)

It it possible it's the wrong shifter? Visually it's identical. Or can you adjust the cablepull in some way? Any other ideas?

I'll try and post some pics to follow