Ultegra or Dura Ace?

I would think for the type of riding you do that Dura Ace would not be worth the extra coin. I'm a fast recreational rider as well and have considered both. I decided to keep Ultegra and Centaur on my radar since Dura Ace/Record don't have the performance to dollar ratio that would be useful to me...

drdoug said:

Help me out here guys. As a non-racing fitness rider, am I really going to notice a difference between Ultegra and Dura Ace? I ride about 2,000 miles a year and am not a race rider. The Dura Ace is an extra £270/$400/400 Euros, and I could use the money for a better wheel set instead. So apart from the Bling factor, is Dura Ace really worth it?

😎

Save even more and go for 105 or Veloce.

boudreaux said:

Save even more and go for 105 or Veloce.

Good point. Which would you choose? I'm leaning toward Veloce (for the 10 speed cassette) but 105 (and Ultegra 9) can be had on the cheap as well...

drdoug said:

Help me out here guys. As a non-racing fitness rider, am I really going to notice a difference between Ultegra and Dura Ace? I ride about 2,000 miles a year and am not a race rider. The Dura Ace is an extra £270/$400/400 Euros, and I could use the money for a better wheel set instead. So apart from the Bling factor, is Dura Ace really worth it?

😎

My previous road bike was equipped with Ultegra 8 spd and my current one is equipped with Dura Ace 9 spd. From a performance standpoint there's little to no difference. I guess the Dura Ace looks a little nicer. I don't know about the latest 10 spd set-ups.

drdoug said:

Help me out here guys. As a non-racing fitness rider, am I really going to notice a difference between Ultegra and Dura Ace? I ride about 2,000 miles a year and am not a race rider. The Dura Ace is an extra £270/$400/400 Euros, and I could use the money for a better wheel set instead. So apart from the Bling factor, is Dura Ace really worth it?

😎

I read in a recent cycling magazine that in some ways the new Ultegra is better than the previous years Dura Ace. I use 105 and it performs extremely well.(2,500-3,000 miles a year) It's up to you. If you like the way Dura Ace looks and performs and you will like your bike more with it, go for it.

14max said:

Good point. Which would you choose? I'm leaning toward Veloce (for the 10 speed cassette) but 105 (and Ultegra 9) can be had on the cheap as well...

Not to start a Campy vs. Shimano fight, but I went with the Veloce 9. It's a bit heavy, but it's pretty cheap by Campy standards. For those of us who aren't fast enough to care about a few grams the Veloce 9/10 is probably about the best performance for the money.

artmichalek said:

Not to start a Campy vs. Shimano fight, but I went with the Veloce 9. It's a bit heavy, but it's pretty cheap by Campy standards. For those of us who aren't fast enough to care about a few grams the Veloce 9/10 is probably about the best performance for the money.

What about durability? Will Veloce outlast a similarly priced 105/Ultegra 9 kit?

14max said:

What about durability? Will Veloce outlast a similarly priced 105/Ultegra 9 kit?

There's a web site somewhere that has the average mileages for different road groups, but i can't seem to find it right now. If I recall correctly, the Veloce was closer to Ultegra than 105.

drdoug said:

The Dura Ace is an extra £270/$400/400 Euros, and I could use the money for a better wheel set instead.

You'll notice a bigger (and maybe dramatic depending on which wheels you already have) difference if you get a better wheelset. You can always piecewise upgrade components over time.

artmichalek said:

There's a web site somewhere that has the average mileages for different road groups, but i can't seem to find it right now. If I recall correctly, the Veloce was closer to Ultegra than 105.

Don't waste time looking for and then posting that mindless drivel. It's just BS....... Campy levers can be reparied,shimanos are disposable. That's where any real issue is on durability/repairability...

boudreaux said:

Don't waste time looking for and then posting that mindless drivel. It's just BS....... Campy levers can be reparied,shimanos are disposable. That's where any real issue is on durability/repairability...

Sorry about the mindless drivel. I forgot that shifters are the only part of a bike that ever wear out or break.

artmichalek said:

Sorry about the mindless drivel.

No problem Bub..... Everyone likes to think there is some mileage figure that can be assigned to every part on a bike. Guess it gives em a nice warm fuzzzie to think it's nailed down to 4 significant figures, but it's all BS and dependent on too many variables.Maybe you'll get it some day. Find something else to worry about besides some durability fantasy .

14max said:

Good point. Which would you choose? I'm leaning toward Veloce (for the 10 speed cassette) but 105 (and Ultegra 9) can be had on the cheap as well...

Even though I ride Ultegra, I would be a bit leary of getting Ultegra-9 (6500) on anything at this point from the standpoint of availability of parts on the obsoleted groupo. Getting a steady supply of parts as basic as cassettes in a choice of ranges out of Shimano was always a challenge even when they were making them.

drdoug said:

Help me out here guys. As a non-racing fitness rider, am I really going to notice a difference between Ultegra and Dura Ace? I ride about 2,000 miles a year and am not a race rider. The Dura Ace is an extra £270/$400/400 Euros, and I could use the money for a better wheel set instead. So apart from the Bling factor, is Dura Ace really worth it?

😎

I rode 4,000 miles last year and hope to log 5,000 this year. Tiagra and 105 work quite well for me as a non-racing fitness rider. Of course, I wouldn't buy a $70,000 Jaguar to drive 30 miles round trip to work every day either but people are different and have different value systems.

It's all about what is important to you and whether you prefer to buy a bike with higher end components or buy less exotic components and contribute more to you 401K.

supergrill said:

Even though I ride Ultegra, I would be a bit leary of getting Ultegra-9 (6500) on anything at this point from the standpoint of availability of parts on the obsoleted groupo. Getting a steady supply of parts as basic as cassettes in a choice of ranges out of Shimano was always a challenge even when they were making them.

Does that mean I should trash my Dura Ace 9 speed? Come one, there are tons of parts for 9 speed groups out there and I'm not even talking eBay sources. You work for Shimano marketing, right?

capwater said:

Does that mean I should trash my Dura Ace 9 speed? Come one, there are tons of parts for 9 speed groups out there and I'm not even talking eBay sources. You work for Shimano marketing, right?

Yeah, no problem finding new 7 and 8 speed cassettes.Shifters do become a bit issue. But even Shimano came up with 8 speed replacemants that were a step up from the sora 8 speed.

drdoug said:

Help me out here guys. As a non-racing fitness rider, am I really going to notice a difference between Ultegra and Dura Ace? I ride about 2,000 miles a year and am not a race rider. The Dura Ace is an extra £270/$400/400 Euros, and I could use the money for a better wheel set instead. So apart from the Bling factor, is Dura Ace really worth it?
😎

Go for the Dura Ace cassette, SRAM PC89R Hollowpin chain, and FSA Superlight crank and everything else Ultegra. Maybe the new Ultegra 10 rear derailleur will work for 9 speed. I'm building up a 2005 Kestrel Talon Aero and these are the parts I'll use.

I already have a top of the line bike that's Dura Ace & Ksyrium SSC SLs - a 2003 custom built Cervelo Soloist Team. I hit a top speed of 32.9 mph on it. My stock 2002 Giant TCR Aero 2 with 105 components - I hit a top speed of 30.7 mph. At one4 time my top speed on both bike were within .1 mph of each other.

boudreaux said:

No problem Bub..... Everyone likes to think there is some mileage figure that can be assigned to every part on a bike. Guess it gives em a nice warm fuzzzie to think it's nailed down to 4 significant figures, but it's all BS and dependent on too many variables.Maybe you'll get it some day. Find something else to worry about besides some durability fantasy .

Thanks for the profound advice. Perhaps with enough personal growth, I'll one day be able to dismiss everyone's thoughts as bs without saying anything constructive. Just think of the warm fuzzy I'll feel then. Alas, for now I'll probably just have to go on thinking. Obviously there's no down to the last meter way of estimating a part's durability. Getting an average of how long parts hold up on a number of different people's bikes is still a considerably better way of comparing component lines from different manufacturers than just listening to your opinion.

artmichalek said:

...... is still a considerably better way of comparing component lines from different manufacturers than just listening to your opinion.

You'll notice Bub, that I din't bother to offer up any lame opinion on the subject. It's just mental masturbation,but go ahead and enjoy yourself.