DA 9000 Shifters

bernithebiker

To anyone considering upgrading to DA 9000, or looking at a bike so equipped, go for it, you won't be disappointed.

I mounted DA 9000 on my SL4 yesterday and the shifting is absolutely sublime. The DA 7900 came off, which has served me very well and works well, but the 9000 shifting is truly excellent, especially at the front.*

I hesitated between 9000 and 9070 (Di2) but I'm glad I went 9000, as a) it's 3 times cheaper, and b) when shifting is this good and easy, do you really need electric?

Braking is improved too, even though I still have the 7900 calipers (the levers have a longer throw).

Weight is 16g less than 7900! Whoopdidoo!

Set up is more complicated though (especially front mech), took me a while to work it out, and Shimano no longer include instructions in the box so you have to get them off the internet....(lawyers at work again?). I'll post a guide to installation in Workshop later if it can be of use to someone.

*I have Q rings too

richie1973

Is da really that much better than ultegra?

jezzpalmer

I guess if you'd have tried 9070 you'd see why you need electric. That's unqualified though as I've not tried the mechanical.
Do you have to swing the whole brake lever for shift to a bigger ring with mechanical? I'm not a fan of a floppy brake lever.
9070 is lighter too.
I doubt it's lawyers, a combination of penny pinching and collecting eco green points.

Coming from SRAM, where a change of the front ring needs consideration before being arsed to endure it; it's literally no more effort than shifting the rear with 9070, and sounds like 9000 is the same.
If I could program it to shift down the block a couple when I drop into the small ring, that would be awesome.

Mccaria

I have both 9070 and 9000 and I really don't think 9000 gives up much on shifting to 9070. My understanding was the reason they don't put the manuals in with the boxes anymore was to do with expecting the vast majority of these sets to be installed by bike shops rather than home mechanics. The tech docs on the Shimano website are very good and easy to follow.

I am glad someone else had a bit of difficulty setting up the FD, I thought I was just being ham-fisted.

One thing worth noting is that on the shifters they moved from 7900 with one cable round the front and one round the back to the 9000 having both gear and brake cable coming out to the front of the bars (think 7800 but with the cable going along the bars rather than exposed out front) Works much better on handlebars with one deep groove down the middle (Deda Superleggera for me) rather than bars with 2 grooves, one on the front and one on the back.

Grill

richie1973 wrote:

Is da really that much better than ultegra?

Yes.

bernithebiker

jezzpalmer wrote:

I guess if you'd have tried 9070 you'd see why you need electric. That's unqualified though as I've not tried the mechanical.
Do you have to swing the whole brake lever for shift to a bigger ring with mechanical? I'm not a fan of a floppy brake lever.
9070 is lighter too.
I doubt it's lawyers, a combination of penny pinching and collecting eco green points.

Coming from SRAM, where a change of the front ring needs consideration before being arsed to endure it; it's literally no more effort than shifting the rear with 9070, and sounds like 9000 is the same.
If I could program it to shift down the block a couple when I drop into the small ring, that would be awesome.

I hired a Di2 bike in Majorca last summer, and I was very impressed with it and the shifting.

But to buy Di2 piecemeal, i.e. mechs, shifters, batteries, controls, etc. is not straightforward, and VERY expensive. And I simply could not have the battery on show, (bike tart ) which further complicates things.

The grand that I've saved can now go on other cycling niceties, like a pair of Rapha pants for example....

I guess one reason that the front shifting is so good is that the mech now has 2 supports - the main mount, plus this new little pin that pushes against the frame (they give you a little pad to protect the carbon). This means that the mech cannot flex hardly at all. (Plus the new taller linkage).

I was lucky that I had Mavic Ultimates, and so didn't need to buy new wheels.....

Mccaria

Berni,

You know that with 9070 you can now hide the battery in the seat tube/seatpost which is much tidier !

Grill

Mccaria wrote:

Berni,

You know that with 9070 you can now hide the battery in the seat tube/seatpost which is much tidier !

You can do that with all series of Di2 including 7970.

Mccaria

Fair point Grill, I was forgetting Calfee (and I'm sure others as well) did battery kits for 7970.

bernithebiker

Mccaria wrote:

Berni,

You know that with 9070 you can now hide the battery in the seat tube/seatpost which is much tidier !

yeah, I know. Without that I would never even have considered Di2, but is it not some kind of aftermarket, non-Shimano thing? Not sure.

Anyway, 9070 is great, and I love a gadget. I don't really bother with triathlons anymore, (hate the swim!) but if I was, Di2 would have made more sense for putting button shifters on the ends of the aerobars.

If the price difference hadn't been so great, (i.e. less than double?) then Di2 might have swung it, but for now I'm well chuffed with the 9000.

Shameless plug alert!

(Think I've sold most of the 7900 locally, but may still have a cassette to sell!)

Grill

bernithebiker wrote:

Mccaria wrote:

Berni,

You know that with 9070 you can now hide the battery in the seat tube/seatpost which is much tidier !

yeah, I know. Without that I would never even have considered Di2, but is it not some kind of aftermarket, non-Shimano thing? Not sure.

Anyway, 9070 is great, and I love a gadget. I don't really bother with triathlons anymore, (hate the swim!) but if I was, Di2 would have made more sense for putting button shifters on the ends of the aerobars.

If the price difference hadn't been so great, (i.e. less than double?) then Di2 might have swung it, but for now I'm well chuffed with the 9000.

Shameless plug alert!

(Think I've sold most of the 7900 locally, but may still have a cassette to sell!)

Only for 7970. Shimano has an internal battery for all etube Di2 systems (although there are still aftermarket solutions for these as well).

Mccaria

On 9070 the battery and cabling is all Shimano. Basically on the 7970 other guys got in on the act and started making batteries that fitted in the seatpost, so on the 9070 Shimano did one of their own and its a lovely piece of kit. Did an SL4 with 9070 including the seatpost battery and some really funky remote shifters which go on the bars, so I can change gear on mountains without having to move my hands off the tops.

Having said all that, I agree mechanical 9000 is hard to beat, particularly when factoring in the price differentiation.

bernithebiker

Mccaria wrote:

Did an SL4 with 9070 including the seatpost battery and some really funky remote shifters which go on the bars, so I can change gear on mountains without having to move my hands off the tops.

Sounds good. Piccies?!

jezzpalmer

Sorry if this is taking the thread off topic a bit, but does anyone know what the two push buttons are for on the top of the levers, and how you might configure them to do something like left button up a cog, right button down a cog?

Mccaria

Not the best photos.
On the 2nd photo tried to show the climbing remote shifters which can be used with the hands on the top of the bars.

duckson

bernithebiker wrote:

Set up is more complicated though (especially front mech), took me a while to work it out, and Shimano no longer include instructions in the box so you have to get them off the internet....(lawyers at work again?). I'll post a guide to installation in Workshop later if it can be of use to someone.

Yes can be a bit of a pain!
Do you find the top position to top trim position change doesnt move the derailleur very much at all?
Where as the low position to low trim (or vice versa) moves it quite a bit?

mfin

madasahattersley wrote:

I think the main reason is the new polymer coated cables which I now use on my own Sram Red set up to devastating effect.

Sorry to hear they have naffed up your shifting.

bernithebiker

duckson wrote:

bernithebiker wrote:

Set up is more complicated though (especially front mech), took me a while to work it out, and Shimano no longer include instructions in the box so you have to get them off the internet....(lawyers at work again?). I'll post a guide to installation in Workshop later if it can be of use to someone.

Yes can be a bit of a pain!
Do you find the top position to top trim position change doesnt move the derailleur very much at all?
Where as the low position to low trim (or vice versa) moves it quite a bit?

yes, but that's how it should be I guess. Seems to work well anyway.

Grill

As Berni says, it's meant to be that way. It's actually almost the same as you get with 6700.

I certainly agree that 9000 makes Di2 a bit unnecessary for everything other than a TT bike.

richiegwy

jezzpalmer wrote:

I guess if you'd have tried 9070 you'd see why you need electric. That's unqualified though as I've not tried the mechanical.
Do you have to swing the whole brake lever for shift to a bigger ring with mechanical? I'm not a fan of a floppy brake lever.
9070 is lighter too.
I doubt it's lawyers, a combination of penny pinching and collecting eco green points.

Coming from SRAM, where a change of the front ring needs consideration before being arsed to endure it; it's literally no more effort than shifting the rear with 9070, and sounds like 9000 is the same.
If I could program it to shift down the block a couple when I drop into the small ring, that would be awesome.

What SRAM groupo are you coming from?
I use RED black edition and its pretty quick and snappy but I am thinking of upgrading bike with either RED 22, DA 9000 or ultegra 6870 Di2.

jezzpalmer

A bit of a mix.
Force (2010) shifters and front mech; Red crank and rear mech (black). AFAIK the Force front shifter is the same as the Red of the same era (with Zeroloss).
I do like double tap, and the rear shifting is fine; I just find the front a bit agricultural. My wife's 6700 Ultegra shifts nicer up front, but as I mentioned previously I don't like having to use the brake lever to shift and I find the rear shifting a bit vague compared to SRAM.

That's quite a tricky choice you've got make.