Originally Posted by Pat
Do you have any objective data to back this up? I have ridden 105 for years and even 105 which is a notch below Ultegra lasts quite a few miles. The cranks seem to last forever (well over 50,000 miles), the brakes last over 50,000 miles, the front deraillers go for over 50,000, the rear derailler goes maybe 60,000 miles, the shifters go about 30,000, the bottom bracket and headset seem to go about 25,000.
I doubt that anyone puts on enough mileage to tell the difference in wear between these gruppos unless it is Freddie Hoffman. Also at about twice the price of 105, dura ace would have to consistently last well over 100,000 miles to make it worth it.
The thing is how many riders even put 25,000 miles on a bike during its lifetime? Not many. I would submet that wear is not really a consideration.
I'll qualify this. It's an issue of bearings and cups/cones, not something like a crank arm or brake calipers. Those will last decades. It's the maintainance of bearings and related that takes time if your a mechanic trying to service a bunch of bikes in a very short time and why teams use top end stuff. Notice the King headsets on Discovery bikes? Why? They move AND last forever, so they're worth their weight in time NOT spend futzing with. 105 and Ultegra shifters have improved a lot compared to the first generation STI for these two groups. The old right hand shifter indeed wore out at about 12,000 miles if not sooner. What I don't get is that the latest stuff all comes with highly desposible and expensive cog sets. Sometimes the 10 spd more is less.
About the 25,000 miles...I have no doubt that my current road bike is way over that. 8spd D/A, all cups/cones, etc...have been replace a couple of times. The remaining original bits: crank (not the rings), brake calipers, STI levers, seat post, re-built hubs, front derailleur, rear derailleur (not the pulley wheels)...what else? Guess that's about it. At least a couple handfuls of crashes that broke parts in me but not the bike other than tacoed wheels.