Ultegra vs Dura Ace article

[OakLeaf]

The distance the lever has to move.

It's only what I've been told about Dura-ace, but I do know that there's quite a long throw with my setup. With my small hands, I can do it, but I kind of have to pay extra attention to make sure I don't unintentionally steer when I'm just trying to shift.

[Becky]

Interesting article...thanks for sharing! I'd like to see a similar comparison of things like shifters, hubs, and such....

[Desert Tortoise]

Oakleaf, nscrbug: thanks for talking about "throw." I notice my steering gets wobbly when I shift from the small ring to big ring or vice versa. I thought it was one of those things like learning to look back without turning the handlebars and I just don't have the coordination for shifting easily. I do have small hands and the shifters are regular size, not small. The top part says Ultegra Flightdeck. Not sure what that means, never come across that.

Anyway, thanks!

[nscrbug]

Oakleaf, nscrbug: thanks for talking about "throw." I notice my steering gets wobbly when I shift from the small ring to big ring or vice versa. I thought it was one of those things like learning to look back without turning the handlebars and I just don't have the coordination for shifting easily. I do have small hands and the shifters are regular size, not small. The top part says Ultegra Flightdeck. Not sure what that means, never come across that.

Anyway, thanks!

DT...as I said in my reply to Oakleaf...I too, have the wobbly steering when I shift issue. I don't have small hands, just weak and arthritic hands...which makes moving those levers a chore sometimes. Seriously, sometimes I debate with myself whether or not I actually want to shift into that smaller ring or not because I know how difficult it's gonna be shifting back into the big one.

Linda

[nscrbug]

The distance the lever has to move.

It's only what I've been told about Dura-ace, but I do know that there's quite a long throw with my setup. With my small hands, I can do it, but I kind of have to pay extra attention to make sure I don't unintentionally steer when I'm just trying to shift.

YES! THIS happens to me a LOT!!! I swear, for the longest time after I got my current bike (got it last May) I thought there was something wrong with my shifters. On my two previous bikes (one had 105 shifters, and the other had old Ultegra 6600), I never had such a difficult time shifting. The levers moved with ease and distance I had to move them felt shorter. But with this new Cannondale, it takes a whole lot more effort.

It's comforting to know that I'm not the only one that has this issue...and also comforting to know that there isn't anything wrong with my bike, it's just the way the levers are designed.

Thanks again, for the explanation!

[bikerchic]

....to the darkside and bring up the whole Campy vs. Shimano debate?

Oh well I tend to live dangerously so here is an informative article on that debate:

http://www.biketechreview.com/review...mpy-vs-shimano

[Seajay]

Electronic DuraAce does away with the shifter throw issue. Perfect shifts with small hands. No lever throw at all.

[Artista]

Electronic DuraAce does away with the shifter throw issue. Perfect shifts with small hands. No lever throw at all.

This may be one of those really stupid questions, but are electronic DuraAce shifters compatible with new 105 components?

[aicabsolut]

I think you need to have the whole Di2 grouppo to have it work. I've heard there's going to be an Ultegra level electronic group coming out eventually.

As for new Ultegra (6700), I find the inner lever a bit "mushy" feeling compared to old Shimano, but I don't think the lever throw is any more difficult than DA 7800. I had a really hard time with older 105 (I'll admit that the newer black colored 105 is a little bit easier).

As for functionality, Ultegra 6700 is much closer to DA 7900 than older Shimano groups were to each other.

I think the best way to get around lever throw issues for small or weak hands is to go with SRAM, but I don't know what Campy is like these days.

[zoom-zoom]

I think the best way to get around lever throw issues for small or weak hands is to go with SRAM, but I don't know what Campy is like these days.

I went from 105 to Rival and I will never go back to Shimano. I don't think I even have particularly small hands, for a female...but even with the short-reach shifters I always felt like shifting was a challenge. Plus they never seemed all that intuitive. I don't have to think about what I'm doing with SRAM.