Triple Dura-Ace or Ultegra

[SJCzar]

I went for the first ride on my new baby with the Dura Ace Triple tonight. It shifts beautifully. It is so much smoother than my Ultegra / 105 triple. The difference is most noticeable going up to the big ring. My other bike takes a lot more muscle to push the shifter on that side. The Dura Ace shifts just as smoothly and with no extra powering needed for both front and back. I didn't have much time to ride since the sun was beginning to set. Tomorrow is supposed to a nice day around here so I'll put her to the test then.

[Triskeliongirl]

Switching between shimano and campy on your two bikes may drive you crazy. Why not get a campy compact double, with a 50/34 in front and 13-29 back (which can be easily swapped for something tighter if you don't really need to go that low) for your climbing bike?

[Crankin]

OK, I had a 105 triple on my 1st road bike (a Cannondale R600 WSD). I dropped the chain a lot, mostly from inexperience, but i think the crappy components had something to do with it also. Once I got over that, I noticed I could never shift into the big ring. Just couldn't push the lever. I am small, but my hands are average sized. My next bike, a Trek 5200 came with Ultegra, triple. I only remember dropping the chain once, in the beginning of the season; some weird thing happened. But, I still could not easily shift to the big ring. At this point I thought of getting a compact double, but then we moved to a house on a big hill. My husband swapped out the Ultegra for the Dura Ace and voila! I could switch into the big ring at last.
I have had my Kuota for a year. It has a triple, with Ultegra. According to all I spoke with, this Ultegra is pretty much the same as the Dura Ace I had on my Trek because of all of the changes that have been made. I have never dropped my chain or had difficulty switching gears. Maybe it is because I am a much more experienced rider, but I think the quality of the components also has a good deal to do with this. At this point, being 53 years old, I am not going to switch to the compact double. It's not that i couldn't do it, but I like the "thought' of just knowing I have very low gears. In fact, i switched out the rear cassette to a 27 from a 25, a couple of months after I got the bike. So did my husband, who is a very strong rider. He's gone from a double, to a compact double, to a triple. He doesn't use the granny gear as much as I do, but he uses it. If people think this is Fred, well, I guess i can say i don't care!