gillmcc

Hi Everyone,

Apologies in advance for my lack of knowledge and any terminology I get wrong!
I'm a complete noob and need some help from someone who actually KNOWS the answer to this and not just someone who KNIDA THINKS they have a solution, which describes my mates perfectly!!

I have been given a free bike by one of my mates and it has one problem: The gears on the back wheel are missing. So I have discovered it's called a Freewheel (the screw on type) and it has to be an 8 speed block to work with the shifter and deraileur. As Shimano never made an 8 speed screw on block I have to get one that now says "will only work with shimano HG Chain".

Now for the problem: the 3 cogs at the front (called crankset / gearset??? pls correct me!) have written on them "use shimano IG chain only" and my local, and incredibly overpriced, bike shop is telling me I have to change these for shimano HG, which will cost a fortune, as the front and back cogs and chain must match.

Having spent days reading these and other forums I have learned that SRAM chains are compatible with HG and IG systems and pretty much everything else so here is the question:

If I have IG cogs at the front, HG cogs on the back and an SRAM 830 or 850 chain will it all work or will I end up pushing my bike all the way up and down the hill?

Thanks for any and all responses!!!

plasticmaam12

Your plan will work just fine. I don't know what's up with your LBS, but I would find another one if I were you. BTW there is a Mechanics subforum on BF. You might want to cross-post there for confirmation.

c_m_shooter

You can used any Shimano or SRAM 8 speed chain and it will be fine.

DMF 

New Posters - please READ THIS

nymtber

Buy the SRAM chain. Easier to put on and take off than shimano, less expensive too. I had a guy at the bike shop tell me a SRAM power link would probably not work on a KMC chain since SRAM recommends only using them on their chains. Guess what? It works great. Sometimes the LBS guys just wanna make more cash.

Retro Grouch 

Not to worry. Sounds like you have 8-speed shifters and you're going to install a 7-speed freewheel. They aren't spaced exactly the same but they're close enough that they'll work together - not perfectly but they will work. Stick on a 7-speed freewheel and an 8-speed chain and you'll be good to go.

Don't worry about all that HG and IG stuff. I assume there is a fine tuneing difference, but I've never figured it out and I've been messing with bikes for a real long time. Don't worry about the fine tuneing - you've got mis-matched shifters and freewheel so it's never going to be perfect. If you want perfect, you're going to have to spend more money.

gillmcc

Thanks to everyone for their replies! Much appreciated!

I am ordering an SRAM chain and the 8 speed freewheel as we speak!

It's really nice to find a forum with lots of friendly people, hope I can return the favour someday!

HillRider

The "IG" chains were recommended for MTB cassettes and the "HG" for road cassettes. The practical differences? Nada. I used IG (specifically IG90) chains on 7 and 8-speed road bike cassettes and cranks for years and they performed terrifically. The IG90 chain was one of Shimano's real bargains too.

Road Fan

I'm a little bit thrown by the 8-speed freewheel. I've only seen them made by Sachs-Maillard, not Shimano. and the S-M requires a 130 mm spacing rear hub. Plus it was never a common arrangement. 8-speed cassette, yes, but not 8-speed freewheel.

I agree on SRAM chains. They should work fine. You LBS just wants to make money off you.

HillRider

8-speed freewheels were never made by Shimano on the reasonable argument that the greater unsuported length of axle needed by them would make the broken axle problems of 6 and 7-speed freewheels much more severe.

By the time 8-speed came out, the Shimano cassette system with the drive side bearing located at the end of the freehub body had pretty much eliminated broken axles and was a far stronger system.