Originally Posted by Jacque Lucque

Not quite so. The vast majority of modern freehubs have spacing for 9 speed cassette's and if you wish to run 8, you use a spacer in it's place. This is the case with the hub I am going to be using.

As for the spacing, I'll wait and see!

Edit: As for trying it my self, I could indeed mount it up and give it a go. Or I could ask a vast pool of seasoned experts online for no cost other than an hour of my time to wait on a reply. Thus I give you the beauty of the forum based community.