ultegra to dura ace

the ferry

Keep looking at my trek madone lately wondering about upgrades.

I have made up my mind to get some decent wheels sorted ready for next spring but was thinking about the stuff on it.

would it make much difference upgrading to dura ace from ultegra?
At the mo my pedals are look keo classic again is it a huge improvement going up to the carbon?

FYI i plan to do vets racing next year.

aracer

If your Ultegra is working OK, then I very much doubt you'd notice the difference. The DA would look a lot nicer at the cafe stop though.

(I've just bought a load of Record bits, so am the ultimate in hypocrites)

wildmoustache

ferry. I'd reckon you're best off sticking with ultegra and throwin on DA parts as the ultegras wear out. obviously cassette but le me tell you, the other parts will take a long, long time to wear out, so perhaps this won't have the effect you're after.

I suggest you buy the best wheels you can and maybe make a few other small weight saving upgrades with your cash.

I have the Keo Carbon Tis and they are light so you will notice the difference if you can lose 100g odd from the pedals.

what about your shoes. that is often a good area to upgrade.

mekonta

There's no real benefit in upgrading to Dura Ace until the Ultegra stuff wears out. Straight out of the box and properly set up, Dura Ace isn't that much better (performance wise - ignoring weight) than new ultegra. Seems to me the biggest difference is 2-3 years times when Dura Ace is still running flawlessly and Ultegra is really starting to show signs of wear.

Pagem

mekonta wrote:

There's no real benefit in upgrading to Dura Ace until the Ultegra stuff wears out. Straight out of the box and properly set up, Dura Ace isn't that much better (performance wise - ignoring weight) than new ultegra. Seems to me the biggest difference is 2-3 years times when Dura Ace is still running flawlessly and Ultegra is really starting to show signs of wear.

some would say that ultegra is more durable compared with dura ace. as far as i've experienced this holds true. for me the main difference between the two is weight. performance seems comparable.

shaw8670

there don't seem to be any carbon seatposts available in this size. All I can find is a mountainbike one hwich looks a bitbasic and would require cutting down. Anyone go any ideas?

terongi

If there are hundreds of pounds burning a hole in your pocket, don't waste it on bits for your bike unless the bits are actually worn out.

You already have a good bike. Unless you are Tom Boonen, you are not going to notice much difference from slightly lighter components after the first few rides.

If you want to spend money that will make you go faster in the long term, get a full bike fit done by people who will scientifically examine your posture, your bike set up and your riding style in a lab. They will make adjustments to your bike, give you advice on riding and posture and possibly some tailor made stretching or other exercises, drills, training sessions etc. I did it at Cyclefit in London (http://www.cyclefit.co.uk). I am sure people can recommend similar outfits outside London. It will made you go faster and be more comfortable for longer.

It is cheaper than a single Dura-Ace component.

Don't be drawn by bling. Who looks better: guy dribbling and grimacing at the back of the bunch with carbon fiber Dura-Ace components or the guy at the front pedalling effortlessly?

(edited twice for typos)

berkan

I made the mistake of upgrading from ultegra to dura-ace. I guess I'm one of these strange people who has to have the best. Believe it or not I'm now considering switching to Campag Chorus, crazy risk considering the cost involved, what if I don't like it.

There is no perceivable difference in the performance of dura-ace and ultegra and the weight savings are minimal. It made me feel good in one sense but when I looked at the box of used ultegra parts I had discarded it made me feel sad too. Wildmoustache is right buy some nice new wheels, I quite fancy the R-SYS from Mavic about 640 pounds from Slane Cycles. Obviously without knowing your budget I can't comment but as dura-ace is around 640 pounds you must have this kind of money.

terongi

I think Berkan's post proves my point.

The hunt for perfect bling will never make you happy.

dennisn

If you want to race then you need to look beyond just buying "stuff" for your bike.
You must look more toward fitness to race. Strength, body weight, aerobic capacity,
type of diet, proper rest, proper traing, bike fit, and the list goes on and on. To say that
you can't buy performance, you must earn it, is as true as it ever was. For what it's
worth, as far as bike fit goes, you can go to ten different people and get ten different
ideas. As for computer fitting, who says that the people who set up these computer
programs know what they are doing? They will tell you otherwise but don't believe them.
The whole concept of bike fit is still in it's infancy even though bikes have been around
for quite a while. I also generally avoid anyone who has the gaul tell me that their fit
system is the "best".
Like i said "for what it's worth".

Dennis Noward

Anonymous

shaw8670 wrote:

there don't seem to be any carbon seatposts available in this size. All I can find is a mountainbike one hwich looks a bitbasic and would require cutting down. Anyone go any ideas?

Are you lost?

allaction

What you doin with your Dura-ace groupset Berkan? I'm in the hunt for a groupo at the mo.

olr1

If you are serious about racing, stick with Ultegra.

The miles you put in training and racing will put some serious wear on your groupset; think a couple of chains, one set of chainrings, at least one cassette per season. Then if you crash, you may be looking at replacing levers.....

Better to trash part worn stuff than buy new and do the same.








.....and remember, all the gear no idea is a more common scenario than you might think.