I have a Durace 8 speed group. I'm finding it more difficult to get chains and chainrings, even cassettes for the 8 speed.

I don't have much spare cash now, so my idea is to slowly convert to 9 speed.

Can I use 9 speed chainrings with my 8 speed group? It's fine to reply with various ideas, but if you can please answer this compatibility question I'd much appreciate it. My big ring is shot and has to be replaced now.

Thanks!

9 speed rings will work fine. There is no shortage of 8 speed cassettes or chains. I have a brand new SRAM 12-25 8-speed cassette and a PC-68 chain on my Bianchi. Nashbar and Performance both have 8 speed cassettes and chains in their catalogs, and they are still available from SRAM and Shimano, so any shop can get you exactly what you want. There is no reason to get rid of a perfectly good 8 speed gruppo. You will be unlikely to notice any performance gain that is equal to the money you would have to spend to upgrade an older bike. If you really want more available ratios, a new bike is probably a better deal than upgrading what you are currently riding.

Thanks demon,

I was a little worried when I went looking for chainrings and found the Shimano rings were listed as designed for the narrow chain. Good to hear they will work with 8 speed. Maybe I am overreacting about the need to upgrade. Surely there are a LOT of 8 speed bikes still on the road.

I just did a major service on my Bianchi. I have an 8 speed Campy Mirage gruppo that I really like. I just replaced the BB, the chainrings, the cassette and the chain. Except for the chain, everything else was original and had been ridden over 15K miles. I also upgraded to Spinergy Xaero-X wheels. My problem was that nobody makes anything with Campy 8 speed compatible hubs, unless I want to use Record Ti cogs. So I went with a Shimano compatible hub and used a respacing kit on a SRAM (Shimano compatible) cassette to make it work correctly with the Mirage's indexing. It shifts flawlessly, and I think others will agree with me that 8 speed isn't going anywhere for a while. I doubt that the thinner 9 speed parts will last as long as what we are running.

I aggree. Ride your 8-speed stuff until it dies. Then replace with current stuff (12-speed?, 15-speed? )

Thanks guys. I put 9 speed 53 and 39 tooth 'rings on and the bike feels great.

Putting new chainrings on the bike seems to have "tightened up" the drivetrain. I didn't realize how sloppy it was.