Shifters

mgkaplan said:

How much better are 9 speed Dura Ace shifters when compared to 9 speed 105 shifters?

not a whole lot i heard......

mgkaplan said:

How much better are 9 speed Dura Ace shifters when compared to 9 speed 105 shifters?

Performance-wise, nothing much. The DAs are more heavy-duty.

I personally found a much bigger difference between the feel of the 9-speed 7700-series DA and that of the 5500-series 105s that I tried. Not that functionally that it made much of a difference; but just a more substantial feeling. By comparison I can feel almost no difference between the 6600 10-Speed Ultegra and 7800-series DA.

As a side note the obsessive LBS owner & mechanic that I trust the most, always comments that he much prefers to use and especially work on the pre-flightdeck versions of the 9-speed Dura Ace for some reason. 😕

A well tuned 105 will feel better than a poorly maintained DA. I recently built a 105 level bike and it shifts every bit as well as my DA race bike. DA is nice, but not worth the extra money if it's coming out of your own pocket.