Road Cycling - Ultegra vs Durace

I own a trek Ultegra/105. I cant tell the difference in quality between ultegra and durace nothing but the difference in price. They are both made by shimano they both use the same shifting system. Can anyone tell me? Can a rider tell the difference? Having one or the other will my performance be affected?

if its 9 speed vs 9 speed there are some subtle differences.

Dura Ace is lighter.
About 300 grams in weight, which is a hair over half a pound.

Dura Ace has more crank length choices.
You can get 177.5 or 180mm cranks

I think the bike might have better resale value with Dura Ace.

Durability wise, Im sure they're pretty close. You get a few more ball bearings with the Dura Ace where ultegra may just use bushings.

Sure, Dura Ace won the tour, but
Is ultegra going to hold you back? Doubtful

The good news is, since the 10 speed Dura Ace came out, the old 9 speed is only $200.00 more than Ultegra.

Given the new price difference...... Dura Ace baby.


A bit off Topic, but the new 10 Speed Campy Chorus for 2004 is pretty damn nice, costs close to the 9 speed Dura Ace, it also has a carbon rear derailleur this year. Is your current rear derailleur holding you back? Doubtful

if its 9 speed vs 9 speed there are some subtle differences.

Dura Ace is lighter.
About 300 grams in weight, which is a hair over half a pound.

Dura Ace has more crank length choices.
You can get 177.5 or 180mm cranks

I think the bike might have better resale value with Dura Ace.

Durability wise, Im sure they're pretty close. You get a few more ball bearings with the Dura Ace where ultegra may just use bushings.

Sure, Dura Ace won the tour, but
Is ultegra going to hold you back? Doubtful

The good news is, since the 10 speed Dura Ace came out, the old 9 speed is only $200.00 more than Ultegra.

Given the new price difference...... Dura Ace baby.


A bit off Topic, but the new 10 Speed Campy Chorus for 2004 is pretty damn nice, costs close to the 9 speed Dura Ace, it also has a carbon rear derailleur this year. Is your current rear derailleur holding you back? Doubtful

Thanks for your reply smoothie. I wasn't really sure about that.

agree with all said....just one thing tho, use an Ultegra bottom bracket instead of a dura-ace as they last a load longer and req less maintainence

The (old 9-spd) DA STI levers are much, much better than Ultegra.

Plus people will be impressed when you tell them you are running full Dura Ace over 105 or Ultegra. it's all about the name ;)

Ive been real happy with my Ultegra. Havent had the pleasure of riding the new Dura Ace though. The looks of the new crank set are starting to grow on me. (finally)

No group set will make anyone faster or slower. They just look a bit nicer and may be a bit lighter. A friend of mine has a CAAD 3 with Tiagra, he is the fastest guy in our group and has just moved up to B Grade. His goal is to get to A grade with Tiagra just to show up people with Record and Dura-ace. :D He has ridden over 20,000km without any trouble at all.

CHEERS.

Mark

I had all ultegra and replaced chain,cassette and rear derailluer with DA and notice it shifts quicker but more so going back up from `16,15,14,13.Doesnt make me any faster but i did notice it.Only real weight difference is around 40g less with the cassette.

the shifting action on the dura ace levers is really smooth & crisp.... i like it alot!

i've ridden a full ultegra group for about 5 years now. everything from commuting to cat 3 racing and there's certainly no basic function DA performs which ultegra does not (and you can certainly be a kick-ass racer and ride ultegra or lower).

that said, i'm rebuilding my bike as we speak and moving up to a lot of DA components, primarily because online retailers have practically been giving the 9 speed stuff away. in december, i picked up a set of DA 9 speed STI levers (among other things) from performance. i think they were $188 and i had a 20% off coupon, bringing them down to $150. that's about $40 less than what the new ultegra levers sell for, and about $130 less than what the 9 spd DA levers were going for 6 months ago.

what others have said above is certainly true. it weighs a bit less and the shifters are much nicer. there are more interim clicks, which really helps find that sweet spot when riding a big ring and they feel more positive and responsive in general.

i'll second the ultegra bottom bracket recommendation, and also, spend the extra bucks for a chris king headset. it's better than any shimano model.

segueing from that glowing recommendation, i have for sale an unopened, new in box shimano dura-ace model HP-7410, silver, 1" threaded headset.

$70 from nashbar, give me $40 shipped.

As performace goes, the Dura Ace shifters are perfect. I don't think there is enough difference between DA and Ult. to justify the cost difference. I just made my new frameset full Dura Ace, but I got some awsome deals online for the parts. Lets just say cranks, shifters, brakes, cogset, frt. & Rr. derailleurs for $575. Awsome deal for Dura Ace. All new parts.

If you can swing it, go for the DA shifters and use ultegra derailleurs.

Marc