Dura Ace 10 (or 11) speed upgrade to Cervelo RS

ronnierocket

I own a Cervelo RS which I like and not a big fan of change so don't really want to get a new bike so was thinking about upgrading the gears from 105 to Dura Ace (originally thought the new 11 speed). Went into my local LBS and was asking about it - including askeing if they would fit a cheapings groupset bought from internet( the guy explained about them being OEM set and potentially mismatched but said they would do it for about £80) but then said he could do a deal on a 10 speed Dura Ace. This groupset seemed to have mixed reviews if I am correct? Or if a deal(what would be a deal in your eyes?) was on the table would it be so far ahead of my 105 that I would be delighted. My to the amusement of my friends I seem to buy what the LBS has lying about/old stock to a certain extent, both the Cervelo and the wheels(R-SYS ) have been purchased after a visit to the shop.

cougie

Unless your groupset is broken - I'd really not bother. Its a lot of money and you won't notice much difference in improvement. You'd probably pay close to £1000 for it.

For a Grand - you could buy a dedicated TT bike, cross bike, winter bike, few Alpine training trips.

ck101

If you have to do it a good upgrade would be Ultegra 11full Groupset as discounted on a few sites currently.

Sell your 105 secondhand and the upgrade cost will be minimal.

majormantra

7900 is not a worthwhile upgrade over your 105. 6800 or 9000 is nice. Currently, 6800 is very good value, still cheaper than 7900.

smidsy

As with many things in life it is basically a waste of time and money (in the true sense) - you have a perfectly working bike do you not?

Having said that DA is obviously top of the Shimano range and does give you pose value (if that is your motivation).

Personally I would stick with what you have, but if you are intent on spending cash there are worse ways (oh hang on you already have Mavics) :-), and 10 speed DA is good.

Also 11 speed will involve changing your freehub on your wheels to accept an 11 speed cassette, so 10 speed is easier in that department as it will fit your current 8/9/10 speed freehub.

ck101

11 speed works on Mavic hubs since 2001.

smidsy

Ck101 wrote:

11 speed works on Mavic hubs since 2001.

Really? Thats strange as 11 speed was not even invented until last year :shock:

mfin

Dura Ace might make sense if you later plan to upgrade the frame and end up with a complete bike that's far higher end, the RS is pretty mediocre as Frames go. Otherwise I'd question whether it's worth bothering doing really if everything is working.

ronnierocket

I dont really have any big plans to change the frame as it would take me forever to decide on a new one! I didnt realise the frame was mediocre and had always been place that it had been raced in the Paris Roubaix race. I am just keen to upgrade my bike every year a bit. The real question i suppose is

1. is Dura Ace 10 Speed better than 11 speed Ultegra
2. is Dura Ace 11 speed much superior to Dura Ace 10

rjsmith

Ultegra 11speed groups are £499 complete on chain Reaction this weekend (using the £50 discount code). Surely a perfect excuse to upgrade?

mfin

ronnierocket wrote:

I dont really have any big plans to change the frame as it would take me forever to decide on a new one! I didnt realise the frame was mediocre and had always been place that it had been raced in the Paris Roubaix race. I am just keen to upgrade my bike every year a bit. The real question i suppose is

1. is Dura Ace 10 Speed better than 11 speed Ultegra
2. is Dura Ace 11 speed much superior to Dura Ace 10

It obviously has tube shapes borrowed from the R3 you're thinking of from the PR, but as well as geometry tweaks, the carbon layup was different. Saying that, I'm not sure even the R3 was used in PR (even though it might have appeared so), I think the layup of those bikes would very likely have been more akin to an R3SL, or one-offs. I'm guessing this as the R3 is definitely not the bump absorbing frame it's advertised as, at least the 2010 and back ones weren't (which fall into PR time I think), that's from experience. Good bike, just at odds with the sales pitch.

Certainly the RS is not equal to an R3 'with tweaked geometry'.

That's not to say it's not a good bike!! Just that it's the most entry level Carbon bike that Cervelo themselves have produced. Personally, like I said, it's my opinion that getting a top end groupset is not a bad thing to do in context of thinking of later on going for a higher end frame (sort of spreading the cost to end up with a far superior bike in the long run).

That being said, you could consider getting a whole new bike, putting the wheels that come on it onto your RS and selling that as a whole bike, and put the RSYS on the new bike. Find a really good deal on something new and whilst the outlay will be a bit more, you can end up with better bike with a better groupset all in one go. That's probably what I'd do.

If it was just upgrading the groupset with no intention of doing anything else, I think the suggestion made of buying an Ultegra group on offer is quite a good one.

As long as you're happy though nothing else matters, happy riding!

tim_wand

Ck101 wrote:

If you have to do it a good upgrade would be Ultegra 11full Groupset as discounted on a few sites currently.

Sell your 105 secondhand and the upgrade cost will be minimal.

This ^^^^, Just picked up full 6800 gruppo from Merlin (52/ 36. with 11/28 cassette) for £570. and to be honest it took less than an hour to fit. (Handy if you have a torque wrench fitting to carbon, but not a hard job/ but my frame Planet x Pro carbon is externally routed)

IMO it functions better than 7900 (although I have only ridden that group once on a hire bike) and reviews say it has a lot of trickle down features from the 9000, (never ridden that so couldn't comment) although the ergonomics of the levers look very similar if not the same.

Added bonus is the new Shimano 11 speed chainsets are all 110 B.C,D so I can fit a compact without changing the chainset ( although by going for 52/ 36 hopefully that wont be necessary even in the Pyrenees.)

FransJacques

Ok, you need to find lightly used Dura Ace 7800 groupset.

After riding and racing on both 7800 and 7900 for 1000s of kms 7800 is the best shifting 10sp Dura Ace. The move to internal cables wasn't well executed and the shift resistance increased and the light & precise feel became clicky and distant. Makes sense when you go from exposed cables with a beautiful arc to the frame to hidden cables that need to turn sharper corners.

A guy at work is selling a complete 7800 for not too much money (maybe 450-500, no wheels) so that could be interesting to you?

tonye_n

Ck101 wrote:

11 speed works on Mavic hubs since 2001.

Oh dear! :roll:

majormantra

mfin wrote:

It obviously has tube shapes borrowed from the R3 you're thinking of from the PR, but as well as geometry tweaks, the carbon layup was different. Saying that, I'm not sure even the R3 was used in PR (even though it might have appeared so), I think the layup of those bikes would very likely have been more akin to an R3SL, or one-offs. I'm guessing this as the R3 is definitely not the bump absorbing frame it's advertised as, at least the 2010 and back ones weren't (which fall into PR time I think), that's from experience. Good bike, just at odds with the sales pitch.

The Cervelo Test Team DID race an 'RS' at P-R in 2009: http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/r ... -rs-21205/

(It also features in the excellent Beyond the Peloton series.)

They had some mods for extra clearance and they may well have had custom layups, but it was an RS of sorts, and definitely not an R3.

mfin

Same shapes and geometries aside, layup is most of what I was referring to. I believe this comes through on the ride difference between the R3 and RS of that time. Having ridden an R3 for thousands of miles, and had back to back spins on an RS, this is where I'm coming from, from the ride of each rather than what's marketed. I just think the RS is pretty mediocre, but fine, and the R3 is ok but has character traits at odds with the PR marketing, only my point of view.

rjsmith

I seem to remember the quote from Kloden saying that the RS was the 'very best frame I've ridden for the cobbles' or similar. I know we have to take anything pros say with a pinch of salt though. I had a RS and was very impressed. It's not a mediocre bike in my view, and I've ridden a lot of very nice bikes. It's a fine machine for what it is designed to do.

ck101

To clarify the above;

If your Mavic Wheels were manufactured post 2001 (The ones that need a spacer) you will be able to run 11 speed. This is I believe to be the sitation the OP finds himself in.