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10 speed crankset and 8 speed drivetrain compatibility

43K views 13 replies 8 participants last post by  Kontact  
#1 · (Edited)
Looking to do some upgrades to my bike and wanted to see if anyone else has tried this out.

Currently I have an 8 speed Shimano drivetrain and I'm looking to upgrade my crankset to a new, lighter one, possibly Sram Rival. What I'm seeing is that most of these models that I'm looking at are 10 speed. In order to avoid excessive cross-chaining and compatibility issues I was wondering if anyone else had experience running Sram 9 speed chains on an 8 speed drivetrain.

On the Sram website all of their 9 speed chains are described as 8/9 speed compatible.

I am thinking that a 9 speed chain would run fine on an 8 speed drivetrain and not be too wide for the 10 speed cranks.

Does anyone have any advice to offer?

I should also mention that I plan on upgrading the drivetrain to a 10 speed in the next year, so buying an older model crank is not my preferred option.

Edit: maybe using Siri to dictate my posts is a bad idea?
 
#3 ·
A 9-spd chain will work very well on an 8-spd drivetrain. Better than an 8-spd chain in my experience.

Better shifting and quieter.
 
#6 ·
If the crank is 10v, an 8v chain might rub in the crosses earlier, and could potentially shift just a little wonky. They tend to run the rings on a 10v crank a little bit closer.

But since there's no problem running a 10v chain on an 8v rear (I'm currently running one on a 6v freewheel, for reasons not worth mentioning) you have no problems.
 
#9 ·
8 speed chains have more internal bearing surface to their rollers so they last longer, as well as being 1/3 the price of a 10 speed chain. And many ten speed cranks are spaced the same as older cranks to increase chain crossover clearance.

"Might rub", not "does rub". My experience is that 8 speed chains don't rub any more than anything else, so I'm not sure why we need to worry the OP with a theoretical rubbing concern while encouraging someone with a Sora bike budget to buy expensive, shorter lived chains.

Especially when the added "rub" an 8 speed chain has over a 10 is .5mm, or less than the variance in cassette location from one brand of freehub to another, or the amount that any two frame's chainlines might vary.
 
#7 ·
I have found that drivetrain on bikes seem to be accommodating. I have a 9speed cassette, an 8 speed crank, and 10 speed chain and it cycles through the gears smooth as butter. I understand the 8,9 is compatible and I came across a new KMC 10 spd chain real cheap when I needed a new chain and thought I'd try it. It worked so I haven't taken it off.
 
#11 ·
Thanks for all of the great feedback. It seems like the best option would be to purchase the crank and then measure and compare with the current one. This way I can choose the best chain for the situation.

Knowing that folks here have had success with similar mixed systems makes me more confident in going ahead with the purchase.

Thanks again!