deuce8oh8

i won a ebay auction and i am upgrading my 8speed 105 sti (1055) to 9speed 105 sti (5500). anything i should worry about? derailleurs should be ok right? i think the cables and housing should be similar lengths and routing should be close.

will probably have the 8speed sti's up for sale later, the hoods are trashed, thats the only thing wrong with them. main reason why im changing is the 9 speed shifters have a stiffer spring/mechanism so they feel more crisp. any ideas on how much i should ask?

fietsbob

Up grade? ratio analysis is in order, do you have a specific gear ratio that a 9,10, or 11 speed kit offers?
that a different 8 speed cassette will not?

do count teeth and say precisely what that may Be..

deuce8oh8

I am replacing the sti shifters only, the 8 speed 105s I have are working but the hoods are completely shot (torn) and they feel too light when shifting, almost non existant whereas my 9 speed has a crisp shift with a audible click. The hoods are replaceable but at a cost of $25-35 for some nos shimanos. I got a set of 9 speed sti shifters for $70, I have the same set on my other bike and enjoy the feel of the shifting a lot more.

As far as gear ratios it's not really a factor as I build my own cassettes so my 8 speed was 15-30 (53/38) and my 9 speed is 14-30 (50/34). I have a spare cassette I put together for the new 9 speed which is also 15-30. This range suits my style as I don't care much about top speed or mashing down a hill. Main thing to me is I get to where I'm going and can make it up any hill I come across along the way.

My question was to gather any info if any on anything I may not know about. For example if say the derailleurs internal ratio (cable pull) was different between a 8 speed and 9 speed (I wouldn't think so but I could be wrong) and would make for hassles in swapping. Or if by some chance the cables/housings may end up different or different lengths (I can't see a reason why) , or something else I may have missed that someone on here would know. Again, the swap is imminent and not only because of the hood issue but mainly because of the shift feel. This may be petty but I do like what I like and have a need to build my bikes to how I like them.

Thanks in advance to any relevant input.

Kimmo

You're good to go. IIRC your brake cables might be a bit short, but I only half-remember that.

As for being caught out by derailers, with Shimano all you need to know is that MTB FDs are different to road FDs (I think there are flat-bar shifters for road FDs), and 10s MTB (Dynasys) and 8s DA (RD-7400) RDs are oddballs. (The RD-7400 will shift 8s with a 9s shifter.)

I think that's about it, except the RDs from groups featuring the new-style aero STIs seem to have a slightly different actuation ratio that seems very similar overall, but means if you replace it with an earlier RD, it'll shift like absolute crap. Presumably vice versa too, although the overall ratio is probably similar enough for one of the recent RDs to shift 7s or 8s okay.

I was warned by a colleague and my scepticism made me go ahead and suck it to see, and boy, did it suck. The whole situation sucks; he said he saw it in a PDF somewhere, but no-one else seems to know about it and I haven't seen anything about it online... I'd have said he's tripping - in fact I did, until I saw it myself. We had no choice but to order the proper derailer, then Bob's yer uncle.

deuce8oh8

Thanks. I have heard about the shadows and about the dura ace and about the new 10 speed stuff being picky about mix n match so I tend to stay away from them. I figured 105 stuff would be pretty similar, I think over the years the rd design has changed color more then function but I wanted to be sure.

Anyone have a idea to the value of 8 speed 105 shifters less hoods? If they aren't worth much I may keep um for a future project.

Kimmo

A guy on Ebay sells em recoed with fresh hoods for ~$100 a pair, IIRC. He sells the hoods too, I think they're $25.

I found him a few months back looking for hoods, but a quick search didn't bring him up, you might need to dig a bit.

bradtx

deuce8oh8, You should be fine. I suggest a new set of brake and derailleur cables and housing to make the most of the swap.

Brad

Kimmo

Housings matter far more than cables to shift performance (assuming only normal wear, no kinks) - but with STIs you want to be pretty sure the cables aren't going to fray inside the shifter.

Homebrew01

Look at "completed Listings" on Ebay to see actual sale price ... and to see the ones that didn't sell, presumably because they were priced too high.

Gonzo Bob

Some 8-speed freehubs are not "compact" so you might not be able to use a 9-speed cassette that starts with an 11T unless you do some grinding on the freehub body.

deuce8oh8

I don't use anything that has a 11t, my compact crankset is on my other bike and that cassette starts with a 14t (14/30). The standard crankset that's on this one will start with a 15t (15/30). Even my vintage tourer has a 14/28 5 speed freewheel with a 50/38/24 triple. The centurion I just aquired has a 12/25 with a standard crankset but that's only because I threw on a store bought cassette and haven't got around to customize it yet

deuce8oh8

just throwing out a update...

installed the new 105 sti, i could use the existing cables and housings and it took very little adjusting to get it to work properly. one great benefit of the swap that i forgot to point out is that the 9 speed sti levers have a larger top/hood area (approx 2cm) and that relates into more comfort on those long rides. thanks for the help guys!

Kimmo

The 9s STIs have a nicer shape for the normal hood position, but the 8s ones were better with your thumbs under the cables and your palms on the 'points'. IIRC they introduced that position; I'm not sure it's occurred to many folks to use it.

And the full-length splined 8s cassette bodies are just the ticket for custom cassettes, because you can use a flat middle cog on the end.