deacon mark

I broke out my Moto Immortal Spirit today for the first ride on it in about 5 months other than the trainer downstairs. My Wilier has shimano 6700 and it works fine no problems once dialed in, but today makes me think the Dura Ace 7800 is the smoothest stuff I know. The shifting is easier and the braking better ( I have 7800 brakes on it too). Nothing at all wrong with the 6700 stuff but makes me think two things.

The internal routing of the Wilier may be one difference and then my conclusion that I simply prefer external cables just much easier to deal with. The other thing is that if I upgrade to 6800 for the Wilier would I get the Dura Ace 7800 feel?

In the grand scheme it is all minor but I tell you the 7800 just shifts effortlessly. I might add I do keep both bikes tuned up as I am the only mechanic it knows. Going to the 6800 I lose the Wilier specific painted parts but if it was as smooth as the 7800 I would probably do it. What do you all think on the 41?

BoSoxYacht

I've used both 7800 and 6800 extensively, and would say performance is very close. In comparison, 6700 blows. 7900/6700 were rushed to market before they got all the bugs out, likely because people wanted hidden shift cables.

I have 15k miles on 6800, and my only complaint is with the front dérailleur being a little finicky to set up. Once dialed in it works great, but it took a little more trial and error than in the past. When I installed 6800 on my bike, it was the first time I had worked on 6800, so getting it to work right was a new process.

BoSoxYacht

I wish 9000/6800 shifters worked with 10 speed drivetrains. 7800 is beautiful, but my shifters are toast after about 85k miles an several wrecks.

Fiery

I haven't had a chance to try 7800, but I have ridden with 5600, 6600, 5700, 6700, 6800, Sram Force 10 speed and Campagnolo Record. Shimano 6800 is by far the smoothest shifting mechanical group I have ever tried. I don't think 7800 could really be much better, if at all.

pdedes

7800 is the apotheosis of mechanical shifting.

GuitarBob

OP, I hope you won't mind me adding a related question for those with lots of Shimano experience.

I'm about to buy a Tarmac from a friend with 6600. Because it's about 5 years old, I assumed that I'd just replace it. But during the one short ride I had, it seemed very smooth. Any general perspective on this groupset? Thanks.

Nice. First time I came across that word was in Wagner's quote about Beethoven's 7th Symphony, when he called it the 'apotheosis of dance.' It rocks

bt

not the op, but, 6600 works great and you might not know it wasn't 7800 if you were blind folded.

I have both

GuitarBob

Thanks for the feedback. Damn, now I can't upgrade the bike I don't even own yet!

deacon mark

I am the OP had 6600 good stuff but not as smooth as the 7800. As good as the 6700 I have on the Wilier much easier to change cables and housing on the external instead of internal.

Hiro11

I've said it before here: I have ~9 year old 6600 on my main road bike and I really can't justify replacing it. It works really well and I like the polished silver look better than the matte finishes (powdercoat? annodized?) Shimano is using now.

Fiery

The only problem I have with the 5600/6600/7800 generation groupsets is the shape of the hoods which doesn't really work for my hands. It is OK in combination with some handlebars, but I still prefer the ergonomics of the newer offerings. If it wasn't for this, I would see no reason to go for a more recent group unless you really want 11 speeds.

dtrain

I had 6600 (with 5600 shifters). I like full 5800 a bit better; hood shape, braking, cables, and shifting (especially in the front). Also have 5700 now on the latest 'rain/beater' I picked up, and I'd probably slot that just behind the 6600. I'll likely run the polymer cables on it eventually.

Tunnelrat81

I have very little experience with 7800, but the 6600 was in the same 'family,' and I put 20k+ miles on my old 6600 group. I got a chance a couple of years ago to buy a used bike with very clean 7900 group on it, and it's not nearly as good as the 6600 was. I'm sure it's lighter, and the hood shape is better, but I couldn't agree more with that above statement that it was rushed to market at the expense of function. I've recently had the chance to test ride some 5800 and 6800 groups, and the difference is huge. The familiar, consistent feel of the previous groupsets (exposed shift cables) seems to have been re-discovered by shimano in this most recent family of components. In fact, the front shifting on these new groups is even more impressive. After my current 7900 experience, I had been considering going with sram for my next bike, but my heart has now been set at ease again after using the new stuff. I don't upgrade without a bigger reason though, so I'll stay with what I have for quite some time, but am confident that I'll find happiness with my next shimano group.

-Jeremy

GuitarBob

Interesting. As I mentioned, I had only a brief ride on 6600 but I sure didn't like the hoods, they seemed too short front-aft or something. I wondered whether that could be mitigated with bars that had a different shape. Any suggestions?

Thanks everyone else for the input, much appreciated.

Psimet2001 

7800 continues to be the best mechanical group ever produced IMHO. 9000 is getting close to being back where they were.

I knew a racer on Garmin when they switched to 7900 when it first came out. I asked him his thoughts on it at the time. "It's complete crap. We all hate it. I don't know why they wouldn't just let us keep the stuff we had. (7800)"

deacon mark

Here is a thought. Could I get the new shimano polymer coated cables and find the shifting better? I use jagwire housing and and die drawn cable I buy in bulk. This allows me to change cable and housing at the first sign that the shifting is degrading. I see the new coated stuff get better reviews. Can I use the new polymer coated stuff with my jagwire housing and notice an improvement.

I sure wish I was able to simply try all the combinations to see the real world results but it gets expensive and time consuming. I repair guitars for a living so I do get to do all the experiments with guitars but with bikes I have to try things slower.

dtrain

Yes, I've heard that makes a noticeable difference for 5700 and 6700 groups (at least in bringing the rear shifting 'feel' up a notch). I plan to run those (w/5700) fairly soon as well. The front shifting on 9000/6800/5800 saw more in the way of structural design changes. The rear picks up a gear...but isn't wildly different otherwise.

Fiery

Luckily, it is much easier to find a bar today that works with 6600, than back when the groupset was actually being produced. Basically, you want a bar that will provide a flat transition from the ramps to the hoods, and most modern bars are made to do that. For added comfort, I like a bar that has a sharp bend from the tops to the ramps, in order to have more room behind the hoods for the heel of my hand.

The absolute best bar for old Shimano is Easton E90 SLX3, but it can be pricey. My personal favourites are Deda RHM and 3T Ergosum, but they are far from being the only options worth taking a look at.

GuitarBob

Fiery, thanks again for the input. I've been using 3T Ergonovas in part because of the shape of the ramps (with SRAM) so I can try those first with the 6600 to see how they work for me -- they seem quite similar to the Ergonsums in that regard. Good to have a few other options too -- thanks.

Fiery

I'm not a fan of the shape and angle of the drops on the Ergonova - but the ramps should work just fine with the 6600 hoods.