Originally Posted by
cydewaze
Well because I wasn't really sure if they still made 8-speed anything anymore, and if they did whether the new stuff will be compatible with my old stuff. Also, after doing a Google search just now, I see a lot of things like "Alivio", "Altus", and "Acera" and I'm not sure if any of those are any good. I replaced the shifters on my Trek 9700 last year with SLX stuff, and the old shifters were comparatively junk.
I have no problem using something else, but I have XT/XTR on the bike and I want something with decent, positive lever action, and not flappy-floppy action like my old 9700 shifters.
Alivo, Acera and Altus are all good-quality groupsets, they're low-end, so they aren't quite as light as XT, but they won't break on you any more than XT will. All the Shimano 8-speed stuff should still be compatible, but if you do want high-end parts, you may have to look on eBay. You might get lucky and find some that have just been sitting in the back room of a bike shop somewhere.