Mountain Biking - 9 speed or 7 speed... shifters

i recently bought a gary fisher bike and its a little old so i take the job of upgrading it, it has a 7 speed cassette and grip shift shifters, now, what i want to do is to have the new deore sti shifters but those run on 9 speed... can i use them just the same or which quick shifters should i buy?

You can't use the nine speed shifters untill you convert the bike to nine speed. This means changing the cassette, shifters, chainrings etc and is going to mean a new rear wheel or at least a new rear hub. You can't fit 9 speed cassettes on seven speed hubs.

You can't use the nine speed shifters untill you convert the bike to nine speed. This means changing the cassette, shifters, chain rings etc and is going to mean a new rear wheel or at least a new rear hub. You can't fit 9 speed cassettes on seven speed hubs.

I don't want to sound like a complete idiot, but why do you have to change the chain rings with doing this upgrade?

<A HREF="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=67728&item=4935472423&rd=1">Chain Ring</A>

ehhh? why doesnt HTML work...

I don't want to sound like a complete idiot, but why do you have to change the chain rings with doing this upgrade?
9 speed chains are narrower than 7 speed chains. Chain rings designed for 7 speed chains are thicker than chain rings designed for 9 speed chains.

so now... i can´t change my grip shift shifters for a deore ones... but i want new shifters... i was looking for indexed shifting so wich ones may i buy?... new shifters (not grip shift) and for a 7 speed drive train

so now... i can´t change my grip shift shifters for a deore ones... but i want new shifters... i was looking for indexed shifting so wich ones may i buy?... new shifters (not grip shift) and for a 7 speed drive train


It should be possible to find shimano STX 7 speed shifters. This will be the cheapest option around.

Similar boat, I decided to run the 7 cluster to death, when I build a new wheel, I'll put in an 8, not 9 ( don't ask ) The upgrade involves derailler, shifter, chain and possibly the chainrings tho- I did run IG 7 spd chain onto HG 9 spd chainrings fine.

The 7 speed rapid fires are harder to find..most mechanics got a bag somewhere.
I would suggest the money might be better spent on lightness or whatever upgrades.

Some Fisher bikes are super nice, and worth upgrading.

How are your tires\rims\seat\pedals\grips? All these thing contribite to the 'feel' of the ride.

Jeff,

www.bikeroom.com still has 5 to 7 speed stuff I believe. They did a couple of months ago anyways

Jeff,

www.bikeroom.com still has 5 to 7 speed stuff I believe. They did a couple of months ago anyways

My mech had a nice Shimano rapid fire I'm using- not sure of the model, when the Mavik rear becomes unrideable I'll build an 8 custom cluster, 10-30 and a Rino rim. -Probably shift like hell, then I'm going to remove the triple spyder running a single ring and go double.

Then all this stuff will be put on a 243Racing frame hopefully, maybe next year. :rolleyes:

well... i guess is interesting to think about other upgrades.... thanks.