Mountain Biking - 8spds' longevity

Greetings,

I'm a roadie who uses an 8spd ATB cassette, 11-30 on a road bike.
Are 8spds being phased out on ATBs? They seem to be for road bikes. Do I
need to buy futures of 8 spd cassettes?

Greetings,

I'm a roadie who uses an 8spd ATB cassette, 11-30 on a road bike.
Are 8spds being phased out on ATBs? They seem to be for road bikes. Do I
need to buy futures of 8 spd cassettes?

Folks such as Nashbar like to feature the "top of the line" components. But, the in-depth parts catalogs show there are still lots of six speed, seven speed, and eight speed parts around. And, there ought to be. The majority of bikes sold in the USA in 2005 are sold at Wal-Mart, K-Mart, and Target. And, those are usually seven or eight speed set-ups.

Most of my bikes are twenty years old. Never the slightest problem getting parts. I will be obsolete before my bikes are.

Thank you alan

The majority of bikes sold in the USA in 2005 are sold at Wal-Mart, K-Mart, and Target. And, those are usually seven or eight speed set-ups.
.
They're also usually freewheel too. :rolleyes:
There are still plenty of 7&8 speed parts out there. the only place they're truly becoming hard to find is online as most online shops only want to deal with the "now". Consult your local LBS for parts to keep it running, or if you're feeling froggy it's easy to make the jump to 9 speed.

8 speed baby yea!

I have no regrets about switching to nine speed.
All the parts I used (save for the cassette and chain) were "hand-me-downs" from component upgrades on my trail bike.
8 speed hubs take 9 speed cassettes
I now only need to keep one model of chain in my personal stock
I've also had much better luck with the 9 speed drivetrain in terms of durability than with my old 8 speed system (Your Mileage May Vary)