9 Speed Ultegra 6500

frankcannondale

I have had ultegra 9 speed for nearly 20 years now. It still does a good job as far as i,m concerned. The shifting throughout the cogs and drive chain are still accurate.

I can still find parts which are 6500 but they are getting scarce.

Do any of you still use ultegra 9 speed ? Thoughts etc ? Workshop pros/cons ?

I,m tempted to upgrade to 11 speed just to bring me up to date. It would be 105, 11 speed, it's more than enough for me going by reviews.

Love to know if 9 speed ultegra is still being used by forum members.

Matthewfalle

I used it for years and can't see a problem at all with it. Works well, bombproof, looks good.

If you are going to update, go for last years Ultegra 11 - going dirt cheap at the mo, but you may need a new rear wheel to accommodate the 11 speed cassette. Alternative is fit everything else, fit 10 speed cassette then set adjusters accordingly.

frankcannondale

Thanks MF,

I thought about future upgrading a while back and bought a pair of 6800 wheels. I have looked at 6800 and there are some decent deals to be had. One thing that has put me off a bit is the cost of chainring replacement. Seems as if they know they have a captive market and keep the prices steep.

Where do you get your chainrings ? Do you stick with Shimano ?

Alex99

Sort of. I'm on 9s setups on both of my road bikes but with a mixture of stuff. Usually 6500 cassettes on both, 6500 cranks on one of them. I think it's nice kit and it has been good value to keep 9s for a long time, but 9s cassettes have got more expensive lately. For a while you could get 6500 cassettes for less than £30, or HG50 for about £10. Now a 6500 cassette is £40 plus.

Alex99

Matthewfalle wrote:

I used it for years and can't see a problem at all with it. Works well, bombproof, looks good.

If you are going to update, go for last years Ultegra 11 - going dirt cheap at the mo, but you may need a new rear wheel to accommodate the 11 speed cassette. Alternative is fit everything else, fit 10 speed cassette then set adjusters accordingly.

I presume that you mean 10 from an 11 cassette? 10s 12-28 would be good for many.

Matthewfalle

I use aftermarket instead of Shimano for chain rings - TA are very good value and if you go for quirkier sizes you can pick up excellent deals - I used to run a 54 on one bike instead of a 53: saved a silly amount on purchase and never really noticed any difference when pedalling.

Nowadays I just buy whole crank sets - I picked up a couple of full carbon Fulcrum ones for £70 off Merlin (brand new, not ex display) down from £380, same for a FSA SL-K from Planet X. Loads of deals and about.

Matthewfalle

Alex99 wrote:

Matthewfalle wrote:

I used it for years and can't see a problem at all with it. Works well, bombproof, looks good.

If you are going to update, go for last years Ultegra 11 - going dirt cheap at the mo, but you may need a new rear wheel to accommodate the 11 speed cassette. Alternative is fit everything else, fit 10 speed cassette then set adjusters accordingly.

I presume that you mean 10 from an 11 cassette? 10s 12-28 would be good for many.

Yup if you are running 11 speed chain, shifters and rear mech - you can run 11 speed chain with 10 speed chainset no problem.

davidof

Frankcannondale wrote:

I have had ultegra 9 speed for nearly 20 years now. It still does a good job as far as i,m concerned. The shifting throughout the cogs and drive chain are still accurate.

I can still find parts which are 6500 but they are getting scarce.

I have the same issue with my 8 speed Campag Chorus.

Do you need 11 sp? Even in the Alps I'm mostly ok with 8sp.

keef66

I have 9 speed Tiagra on my winter bike and it shifts better than the 105 5600 on the other one. I plan to keep it running for as long as I can, so I too am keeping an eye on the cost and availability of 9 speed cassettes and chains. So far, so good, so cheap.

You could eke out a few more years from your 6500 using 9s cassettes and chains from the lower groupsets if you didn't mind the few extra grams

Alex99

keef66 wrote:

I have 9 speed Tiagra on my winter bike and it shifts better than the 105 5600 on the other one. I plan to keep it running for as long as I can, so I too am keeping an eye on the cost and availability of 9 speed cassettes and chains. So far, so good, so cheap.

You could eke out a few more years from your 6500 using 9s cassettes and chains from the lower groupsets if you didn't mind the few extra grams

10s chains work very nicely with 9s cassettes. Every few months I have a scan for bargain HG50 and 6500 cassettes. Ebay has some from time to time. I just got a new HG50 12-23 for £12.

keef66

I keep forgetting that. I should just buy 10s chains so they'd do for either bike and I'd only need one kind of missing link in my kit.

Matthewfalle

Yup - 10 speed chains and just drop the 10th sprocket off 10 speed cassettes. Or even leave it on there so long long as it all fits nicely on the hub and just adjust limit screws accordingly.

Alex99

Matthewfalle wrote:

Yup - 10 speed chains and just drop the 10th sprocket off 10 speed cassettes. Or even leave it on there so long long as it all fits nicely on the hub and just adjust limit screws accordingly.

Does that really work? 9 of 10? A 10s cassette is narrower than a 9 in the first place. Doesn't it bork the indexing?

frankcannondale

" Every few months I have a scan for bargain HG50 and 6500 cassettes. Ebay has some from time to time. I just got a new HG50 12-23 for £12."

I bought a few chains last spring for £9.99 each. They will keep the cassette and chainrings in good order. I agree the 6500 looks good. It has been easy to maintain. I have 6500 hubs that are still fairly decent. They have been kept up to date with fresh grease and bearings. The wheels are Mavic CXP30's very heavy but rock solid. I aimed off a bit and purchased some WH6800 wheels as there ok for 8,9,10 speed with spacers and 11 speed.

Do I need 11 speed ?

I just feel think 105 with be upgraded soon, same as Dura Ace & Ultegra. I might be wrong of course, but there are some bargains to be had with 5700 & 5800. I recently bought a brand new 5800 chainset for £77, 36/52, I then find prices for chainrings add up to a quite an amount. It could be more cost effective just to buy another chainset !

Maybe i should of looked at 5700 but it's the reviews of 5800 that has caught my attention 10/10 etc. I will give it a go with one of my bikes converted to 11 speed for the new year.

I'm sticking with my aluminium frames for the moment.

Shimano done a good job with 6500 as my nearly 20 years old groupsets suggest.

They are like "Triggers Broom" !

beanstalk

From what I've read and heard (no personal experience) to me there are two (important) improvements of the newer Shimano groupset over the older 9speed ones: brakes and the availability of compact crank-sets.
Everything else is somewhat insignificant or worse.
Any thoughts on that, esp. about the brakes?

frankcannondale

I'm still confident the 6500 brakes are effective enough to stop me, especially with modern pads fitted.

Your right about the chainrings with a 130 BCD the choice is limited. I've always had 39/52.

The sti shifters are very capable and accurate with gear selection and brake function. The cranks/drive chain, are good looking imo and easy to keep maintained.

FD & RD are the same as above.

I will keep using 6500 as long as components are kept at a realistic price and the availability is there.

It might be I just look at Shimano compatibility charts and use modern 9 speed components if they are suitable.