Ultegra or Dura Ace

[jrstevens]

Who said anything about aluminum cogs?

nothing like showing your cycling naivete. I guess I meant steel which answers my original question

 

[triguy98]

Just a thought: why do titanium cogs wear out faster than Alu cogs when Titanium frames last longer than Alu frames?

Ti is a soft metal, hence the vibration damping characteristics. It is strong in a structural sense (such as your frame tubes) but when molded into a thin part like a cassette, the softer metal will wear down quicker.

 

[dhk]

I've yet to meet someone with an Alu/carbon seat stay bike who's been happy with it. they all say go full Alu or full Carbon; mixing the two in that fashion just hasn't worked out for them.

JS

Well, I love my AL/CF bike. The mainframe is Columbus Zonal megatube, the rear is from Taiwan...believe Martek. Fork is Ouzo Pro. It's two years old now, with 9000 miles. Stiff and solid on high-speed descents, with excellent vibration dampening. Ride is smoother than either of my old 531 steel bikes, and it's certainly lighter and more responsive feeling when I stand on the pedals. What's not to like?

Perhaps there are long-term durability issues that I've not seen yet, but certainly have nothing bad to say about the ride and handling of the AL/CF frame. I should add that the frame was built locally by a custom frame shop to "standard geometry" dimensions. There likely are some junk AL/CF frames out there that wouldn't be a nice...but that's true of any materials.

 

[RickF]

and 50 grams in favor of the cheaper frame

As was mentioned earlier by ghsmith54, 50 grams is equal to 1.67 ounces in your water bottle (29.57 grams per ounce of water). I really do not think that weight should be a consideration.

 

[whrslshr]

Due to finances I have the dilemma of either getting a frame built up with Dura Ace (full except FSA SLK Mega Exo cranks) or moving up 1 notch to a better frame but with full Ultegra. I'm interested in knowing what you all would opt for. A nicer frame with Ultegra or a slightly lesser frame with Dura Ace? To give you an idea the frames are $900 USD and 1200 USD respectively. Thanks in advance.

JS

This question is a little more complicated than you think. If you are going Ultegra which year are they putting on? Is it the 9 or 10speed? Triple or double?

If you go 9-speed and triple then the left ultegra shifter SUCKS! It has only 4 positions on the three chainrings..1 on the small, 2 on the middle and 1 on the large. Only having 4 positions limits you on how many gears you can be in without the chain hitting the front derailer. The DA left shifter however has 6 positions...two for each chainring and you can be in any gear combination without the chain hitting the front derailer. The 10 speed triple ultegra though has all 6 positons and works perfect.

The difference in weight between the 9 speed and the 10 speed cranksets are significant...not to mention the BB

DA cassettes are known not to last...ultegra cassetes last a very long time.


BUYING 2005 COMPONENTS ON EBAY RIGHT NOW CAN GET YOU VERY VERY VERY GOOD DEALS. ALMOST BETTER TO BUILD (AND YOU CAN LEARN ALOT ABOUT YOUR BIKE IF YOU BUILD YOURSELF) USING EBAY. You just have to be sure the sellers have good ratings. I know everybody says that you shouldn't build yourself unless you have money to throw away but this is a special time (beginning of 2006) to get great deals on brand new 2004 and 2005 parts.

J

 

[Doctor Morbius]

... If you go 9-speed and triple then the left ultegra shifter SUCKS! It has only 4 positions on the three chainrings..1 on the small, 2 on the middle and 1 on the large. Only having 4 positions limits you on how many gears you can be in without the chain hitting the front derailer.

The trim adjustment is the same with the 9 speed 105 & Tiagra left shifters. Makes having a tripple kind of sucky.

BUYING 2005 COMPONENTS ON EBAY RIGHT NOW CAN GET YOU VERY VERY VERY GOOD DEALS. ALMOST BETTER TO BUILD (AND YOU CAN LEARN ALOT ABOUT YOUR BIKE IF YOU BUILD YOURSELF) USING EBAY. You just have to be sure the sellers have good ratings. I know everybody says that you shouldn't build yourself unless you have money to throw away but this is a special time (beginning of 2006) to get great deals on brand new 2004 and 2005 parts.

True. You can find good deals right now if you know what to look for and there isn't a bidding war. I just picked up a brand new Deore LX (RD-M571) rear MTB derailleur for $32 shipped. Last year Nashbar was having all sorts of deals on 9 speed Ultegra.

For the price on what is now considered new old stock it's hard to beat. One would have to really have a justifiable need for the 10 speed bits.

 

[dhk]

Didn't realize that Ultegra and 105 have only 4 trim clicks for the triple shifter; agree that would be a limitation on use of all the gears. I've got the DA 9 speed triple, and it works great with trim on all three chainrings.

Concerning life of the DA 9 speed cassette with Ti on the larger gears, don't see any noticeable wear yet at 8500 miles on mine. Haven't seen any data on the relative life of the steel and Ti cogs. It may not be worth the money in terms of weight savings, but believe the life will be plenty for most riders. Guess it all depends on what you define as "a long time"....