+1

I believe the 8-sp ONLY models would probably index with a 7-sp, since the spacing is about the same and all my 8-sp STI's will index just fine with 7-sp cassettes (one "dead" shift).

I can't see how they'd index with 6-speed, though.

And I'm sure the 8/9 DA models I spoke of above will NOT work with 7-sp. Tried it.