That my friend is called marketing magic. Lol

At least thats what its called in the tire industry.

I have a xc bike and i run a light 8 speed. I dont realy even need 8 speeds.

Marketing magic baby

Pump them out and YOU will buy them ahahahahah

If it aint broke, market it.

 

Why not market frames and tires with helium ????

Make them even lighter.

 

Pretty soon these bike will float away if not held down .


I can see it now. New bike weighs - 2 lbs lol.

 

You should still be able to get those on eBay. I feel your pain. I have been super happy with my XT 3x9 and have enough of it to go again soon when the current chains start slipping.

 

I'm not sure if this is a Troll or joke, obviously you didn't look very hard at all. I still use 9spd on all my bikes and have no trouble finding 9spd parts for them, got XT shifters just the other day actually for a damn nice price and some XTR chains

 

Kicked to the curb!!

 

Nope not a troll, just someone frustrated at not being able to walk into a uk bike shop and pick up a part that is generally still in wide use.

All I want is a 9 speed (rear) SLX or XT shifter, Im even happy to buy front & rear.

Winstanley Bikes - Rear SLX no longer listed, Pair XT out of stock no date available
Merlin - SLX out of stock no date available, XT out of stock no date available
Ribble - Nothing listed at all
Evans - SLX nothing listed, XT pair available in 5 days
Wiggle - SLX not listed, XT available to order only
Cyclestore - SLX available to order only, XT right out of stock
Chain Reaction - SLX Discontinued, XT out of stock no date available

Every shop contacted is saying the same thing not currently available and unable to get a date on shimano 9 speeds (unless bottom of range) but they have an endless supply of 10 speeds which are of no use to the mass of 9/18/27 speed riders.

 

Hum, guess I got mine just in time then When I was looking, I could easily find 9spd stuff in stock. I'm guessing that they're trying to do with 9spd like they did with the rest and make it for low tier bikes and 10 and 11 spd be for high end. Think it's maybe time to buy up some 9spd stuff then as I have no intention of switching anytime soon.

 

Just spoken to Maddison and they have confirmed that the 9 speed SLX right shifter is discontinued by Shimano.
He told me I could use a lower spec, or look at XT.
Lower spec is not feasible as the shifters a matched to Hope breaks so there is no room for an indicator. XT is therefore the only option if I can source a cover or tape them up.

 

No joke. I dig through recycle bins for these. People who buy 10 speed chains have money and replace them after 1000 miles. The other major users are those who have to ride through poverty they tend to buy 7 cog freewheels. So most of the chains sold are either 10 of the 8 7 6 5 universal size. Don't put with this buy mail order.

 

No joke. I dig through recycle bins for these. People who buy 10 speed chains have money and replace them after 1000 miles. The other major users are those who have to ride through poverty they tend to buy 7 cog freewheels. So most of the chains sold are either 10 of the 8 7 6 5 universal size. Don't put with this buy mail order.

People who are smart with their money replace their chains every 1000 miles, otherwise they will have to lay down some real coin replacing rings and cassettes.

 

I have several thousand miles of OR, upstate NY, and northern Georgia riding and racing on my carbon frame, with carbon wheels.

No problems. You are an idiot.

 

what's that got to do with 9 or 10 speed drive trains?

 

I still see 9 speed stuff around here in the states, though there is less available over time. If EU mail order companies are not carrying 9 speed, check ebay or sellers in the states. And, yes, if you want to keep 9 speed working, stock up when you see that stuff on sale. I did that many years ago when I picked up a few 8s XTR steel cassettes (best cassettes ever).

Took a short ride on the 8s speed bike this morning, which is a Nomad carbon frame. Yep, a fancy new carbon frame with 8 speed. Currently use some X7 shifters, but have some twisties if those go out. I have one more cassette after the one on the bike, so should do me for a few more years (not my main bike). Then I will probably go 10 speed.

 

Nothing new has happened... bike shops and component manufacturers want you to throw away perfectly good "old" stuff and buy more and more new stuff.

There are three 9-speeds, one 7-speed (that has the original chain from 1995 still working like a CHAMP) and a single speed in my house. My approach has been to acquire spare items from eBay or when online retailers have blowout sales.

 

Talking to Maddison and local providers they believe 9 speed will still be serviceable but you will need to drop quality ie move to LX or lower!
When I asked about move to 10 speed, they all believe that there is soon to be a large scale move by shimano to 11 speed and to there new derailleur attachment, once bike manufacturers adopt.

 

9spd already IS the low end alternative for big brands - TREK bikes with spec Deore and under is 9spd, everything above is 10spd.

ya, I think you'll see 7-8 speed kinda disappear and 9 speed will be the new low end stuff with 10 being the main stream and 11 top end...

wont be surprised if you'll see a mess of aftermarket companies come out with the more 9 speed cassettes .. like KCNC and the like..

 

ya, I think you'll see 7-8 speed kinda disappear and 9 speed will be the new low end stuff with 10 being the main stream and 11 top end...

wont be surprised if you'll see a mess of aftermarket companies come out with the more 9 speed cassettes .. like KCNC and the like..

 

It definitely is frustrating. However, I don't think it's as simple as a ploy to get customers to spend more money.

It is cheaper for a company to mass-produce their 'latest' technology and force that onto customers rather than wait around for people to decide whether they want it or not. There are some benefits to this approach but also some negatives. One negative is people like us who know that 9-speed is great but will eventually be manipulated into upgrading because we can't find decent 9-speed cassettes.

Of course they do benefit from people's temptation for the latest and greatest, and they do benefit from us having to upgrade our shifters/derailleurs when our cassettes wear out

 

So what we are really saying is that there is little point in spending the extra cash on a top end new bike (unless a lottery winner or sponsored) when the parts its fitted with could have a two year shelf life or less depending on whats in development at the time of purchase.
Better off buying the cheaper version and using the extra cash to buy spares to keep it running for a few extra years lol

 

NO, it means that when you see a new standard get introduced and you know you don't want to upgrade to make sure and stock up on parts. Not sure how long you've been riding, but 9spd was around for over 10 years before they went to 10spd for MTBs, I wouldn't call that a short time and definitely not a couple years. Also, 9spd stuff of right now is superior to 9spd of 10 years ago, I cannot believe the difference between the M750 XT shifters I first had compared to the M770s I just got. Right now even Deore is damned nice and a bike with a mix of that a nd a bit higher would be a nice bike, but as usual, not as light as a higher specd bike.

 

I agree with LyNx, since Deore went to a Shadow rear and with the M590 version of the shifters, they are pretty crisp, can grab 3 gears on the upshift, but only one on the down. I also have XT 9 speed shifters on my park bike, they a little more crisp and can grab 2 gears downshifting (thanks to a mod for M770), but it's not that huge of a deal in practice. Sad, it looks like Alivio is the only 9-speed left since Deore went 10-speed too.
On another note, I have 10-speed XT, SLX and Deore, it can be a little more finicky to set up, but not much, works well too! I generally don't recommend upgrading to 10-speed there is a specific reason you want to, 9-speed works quite fine and there are some good parts deals these days. But when it dries up and 10-speed is cheaper, then you can always go that route.

 

sorry LyNx I was making reference to those who may have bought a new bike at the end of 2010 or early 2011 and purchased higher spec bikes with 9 speed Slx Xt & Xtr.
Appreciate 9 speed has been around a reasonable time before this.

 

I've had this trouble too.
I can find 9 speed stuff on ebay but most shops are not stocking them cuz nobodys making them.

If you replacing a whole drivetrain go 2x10
Im afraid 11 speeds are going to become more popular than 10 speeds here soon though

 

I don't need 10 or 11 so neither Shimano or SRAM will be getting my pennies just yet.
No weight advantage and from what others report the drive train becomes more finicky.
Think I scour fleabay for a couple of spare shifters and then pick up a couple of spare cassettes and possibly a spare derailleur.
Who knows by the time I'm ready to change we could be looking at 12 speeds with electronic shifts lol

 

Just converted my third bike to 1x9 and had absolutely no problem finding parts. X-9 shifter, 9spd cogs, 9spd chains etc.

The web is your friend on 9sp. Sure it's nice to support a local shop, but they aren't supporting you by not carrying 9sp options so do what you have to do.....

We're not launching the space shuttle here, this is pretty easy stuff.....

 

As long as I can continue to find 9 speed cassettes/shifters/rear derailleurs/chains, I will stick with it. So far, no problem whatsoever. Currently running 2X9.

 

Thread was started because of a requirement for a replacement a 9 speed shifter which needs to be Shimano SLX or XT.
Shimano because the bulk of the drive train is Saint 9 speed, and SLX or XT because the shifter is fitted to Hope Tech brakes so I need to be able to remove the indicator.

Low end 9 speed stuff is available but Shimano have discontinued the SLX 9 speed shifter, and it looks like the XT will also be discontinued soon.
That leaves me a couple of options:

1. Use a lower spec shifter if the indicator can be removed.
2. Use a lower spec shifter and remove the Hope combined Brake /Shifter bracket and move the shifters to accommodate an indicator I wont use.
3. Use a Saint shifter (more expensive and wont fit under the Hope bracket) so would need to move position.
4. Source 2nd hand SLX or XT shifter via Ebay etc
5. Change the drive train to 10/11 speed (SRAM or Shimano)

Currently option 4 is the only practical/cost effective one but it will means the bike remains off the road until Im able to obtain and have shipped
Note the Web was used to source via local and internet based providers but the story is the same the 9speed SLX & XT shifters are no longer available from Shimano and they have no stock. This was when I checked things out with Madison who confirmed what the shops had been saying was correct.

 

All this talk about fancy smantzy 9-Speed.

I'm still considering upgrading to 8 speed!

I don't like the idea of using thinner weaker chains for 9-10-11 speeds. 8-Speed with a triple ring is all I'll ever need. And if I didn't mind wider spacing between sprockets a 7 speed bike would still work well enough.

Mail order, Ebay, classified ads, etc. are probably your best bet to find NOs parts. Stock up on them while you can.

I really hate this so called progress. It's a tradeoff, not improvements that Shimano is trying to sell you. More speeds but with reduced life and reliability.

Scott Novak