Originally Posted by
snappy
an 8 speed shifter should work, and they are readily available.
I am not sure that is true even though i have not tried it. According to the Sheldon Brown cribsheets (
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/k7.html#spacing) on cassette spacing, there is a bit of a difference between 7 speed and 8 speed cassettes. The difference is negligible so it may work. I am not sure but i am just throwing this out there.
Does anybody have any experience with this? Also, what would happen with the 1 extra click on the shifter? The limit screw on the derailleur will keep the chain from falling off the cassette so i assume the last click will just be a sort of dummy click.