Originally Posted by
chaadster
I understand that PowerTorque requires an additional sixty bucks worth of tools beyond what's needed for Ultratorque, but it's not as though servicing is complex, longer, or anything like that.
And as far as the multiple gear shift thing, maybe it's nice to have in certain scenarios, but not having it isn't going to ruin your ride or prevent you from winning the Tour de France, as Shimano have proven.
So in all, I think too much is made of these issues, and while they're worth considering when making a gruppo purchase, they are not deciding factors in and of themselves.
I don't expect you or others to understand the design difference between Power Torque and Ultra Torque Cranks. It by far transcends crank disassembly of Power Torque and necessary puller. Its about the design...which is a tapered spline with soft shoulder that builds bolt torque. Its a crap design that is prone to variable axial stack up and a less than solid left crank arm prone to creaking. Where UT is one of the best designs in the industry...right up there with DA with straight spline, mechanical preload adjustement and double pinch bolts, PowerTorque by contrast is just the opposite. An Ultegra crank is far superior to PT in terms of design....or Sram....or Rotor...pick one.
As to single click downshift. This is giving up on a very good quality as an inducement to pay more for a higher groupset i.e. Chorus or Record...and Campy's calculus to sell their higher end groupsets...a bit sad that they do this but the reality if you want this feature which I do having ridden it for many miles. To me, its worth it because I currently have 2011 Centaur with this feature and believe its a great quality.....multiple up/down shifting.