guess what i learned today? don't pull the pin off of the bolt that holds your rear deraileur to the frame. this little spring uncoils and you will NEVER get it to coil again, at least as far as i can tell. I'm sure this was common knowledge to everyone else, but i find myself now in need of a 7 spd deraileur. going through some past threads, i see that the general consensus is that you can use an 8 spd, but i'm hoping that someone who did it can tell me if it works, or if it will just get me by until i upgrade to an 8 spd rear-end, or find a 7 spd deraileur.

yea, an 8 speed derailleur will work with 7 speed

You should even be able to use most nine speeds.

Richard

Great! thanks for the help.

Yup, you can use a nine speed deraileur. My buddy does and it works fine!