9 or 10 speed?

quickredracer8 said:

im building a bmc road racer and i want to get some in put on weather to go 10 or 9 speed set up. any ideas?

I just built a new frame with Record 10. Campy's been making 10 for a few years, so I didn't see a point in going with 9. 10 is the Standard for Shimano's racing groups as well. 9 speed may be difficult to find in a few years.

quickredracer8 said:

im building a bmc road racer and i want to get some in put on weather to go 10 or 9 speed set up. any ideas?

Whether you go 9 or 10 speed is sort of a secondary consideration when it boils down, as few cyclists will tell you that either 9 or 10 speed is inherently better than the other.

Decide what brand and make you're leaning towards, and figure in your budget; the speed options will fall into place on their own. Between, say, Campy Centaur, Chorus, or Record, and Shimano Ultegra or DuraAce, do you have your eye on a particular option?

im lookin at more shimano maybe dura ace and ultegra mix. any advice?

quickredracer8 said:

im lookin at more shimano maybe dura ace and ultegra mix. any advice?

Well, the truth is that there's no advice anyone's gonna give you which will both 1) point you towards 9 or 10 speed, and 2) be worth a glob of dirty lube. They're both great.

When it comes to selecting a drivetrain or drivetrain mix, beyond the most basic parameters (which you've already surpassed), the decision comes down to budget and instinct. You've already chosen a make--Shimano, which is great--and you've put yourself in the Ultegra / DA range. Given that, I suppose you're right: the question comes down to whether you'd like to go for the new, shiny 10spd stuff, or stick to the 9spd.

With the varied pricing between Ultegra 10, DA 10, Ultegra 9 and DA 9, there are probably a dozen different price formulas you could cook up. Working out the value propositions in your head could get complicated.

Of the less tangibles, I'll say this: the new generation 10spd stuff is an improvement, and it's quite sexy. There's no denying it. The shifters, in particular, are wonderful little [censored] in the hands of someone familiar with the previous generation. The cranksets are, for all the nebulous technological wonder encased in the new integrated BB setup, svelte, light, and eye-catching. Performance is dreamy. The 9spd stuff is, to be perfectly frank, just as good; there's simply less gravy on the rice in terms of fit, subtle ergonomics, and so on. I know plenty of guys with 9spd DA on their flagship rigs, and they've got every intention of riding it until it falls apart.

So here's a suggestion--not advice, just a suggestion: shoot for the 10spd, simply because it's newer, and buy the DA / Ultegra mix which is appropriate for your budget. The idea here is alleviating dated-technology bitterness. You don't want the upgrade itch after 4 months on that new BMC.

Take into consideration, also, that I'm fairly drunk at this very moment. I had a long day at work, and a half-finished bottle of a good Zinfandel which needed to be polished off before it turned into vineagar.

quickredracer8 said:

im lookin at more shimano maybe dura ace and ultegra mix. any advice?

If I were starting from just a frame (and I decided on Shimano), and I needed to buy wheels too, I would opt for the ten. The ten speed wheels won't work with the 9 speed cassette (the splines on the 10 freehub are deeper and won't take a nine speed cassette). Personally I wouldn't want to limit my choices going forward due to compatibility issues. 9 will most likely be phased out in the next couple years (IMHO). I looked at DA 9 and found that there weren't any price breaks for going with older technology. Let me clarify that. The DA 10 is considerably more expensive than the 9 speed, but the 9 speed isn't being sold as "closeouts" either. Plus the 10 speed is pretty sweet. I would still look at Campy.... It's less $ than DA 10..
Ciao!
😎

One thing that disappointed me was that the range of the sprockets was not improved when Ultegra went to 10 speed. For instance, a 11-23 cassette is still a 11-23 cassette with 9 or 10 speeds. The 10 speed just adds a 16. I would rather they added one to ends. So a 11-23 would be a 11-25 and a 12-27 would be a 11-27. That is just me though. Maybe the pro's need to be more precise about their cadence than I do and have the legs to not need the extra range.

So if you think you need that extra sprocket in the middle of your range, go 10. I now ride 10, but that is because its Campy. If Centaur was 9 speed, I would still pick it over 10 speed Ultegra.

For a triple I think 10s makes little sense becasue all it does is increase the redundant gears.

For a double it can be nice.

For a compact it can be really nice because if you make a custom cassette you can use the 10th cog as an 11T and end up with a broad useable range like an 11-27. (11T has more ultilty on a compact because it really isn't overgeared like the 53-11 is)

sick ass respose~
thanks homie

jitteringjr said:

One thing that disappointed me was that the range of the sprockets was not improved when Ultegra went to 10 speed. For instance, a 11-23 cassette is still a 11-23 cassette with 9 or 10 speeds. The 10 speed just adds a 16. I would rather they added one to ends.

I have a 9 DA and a 10 DA and getting the 16 gear in there is awesome with the 10. It adds to a much smoother transition. I think custom cassettes are the way to go if you want more variety.

Narrower chains and cogs will wear faster, load spread over smaller area=more pressure at those contact points on the wearable drivetrain parts Shimano says on average expect 1000 to 1500 less miles out of 10 spd. cogs and chain.

capwater said:

I have a 9 DA and a 10 DA and getting the 16 gear in there is awesome with the 10. It adds to a much smoother transition. I think custom cassettes are the way to go if you want more variety.

Hey cap.

I guessing that to more people out there that transistion is more important than getting additional range. I mean I am sure Shimano did some market research to find out what most people wanted.

I am btw riding a 12-25 cassette now on the Bianchi, because I seemed to need a 25 more than I did an 11. When this cassette wears out, I think I am going to go custom and do an 11-25.

wayfastwhitey said:

Narrower chains and cogs will wear faster, load spread over smaller area=more pressure at those contact points on the wearable drivetrain parts Shimano says on average expect 1000 to 1500 less miles out of 10 spd. cogs and chain.

You own a bike shop right wayfast? How much faster are the 10 stuff wearing compared to 9 speed stuff at your shop? Have you noticed a difference from the bikes comming in to your shop? That would be interesting to know.