patentcad

After five months on this stuff my impressions:

• It's lighter, I like the new esthetics, I like the hidden cables on the bars.

• I like the new brifter hood shape very much, better than the old style

• At first I wasn't impressed with the shifting. A recent upgrade to Shimano SIS cables made a huge difference, now I like it. The lever throw however is longer than it was with 7800, and I consider that a negative. That being said, once you get used to it, 7900 shifts flawlessly.

• The brakes are by far the best bicycle brakes I've used. Noticeably more effective.

Overall, very satisfied, much more so since the cable upgrade. That's key. Many OEM bikes ship with cheaper cables (the Cervelo did). The Shimano reps say the SIS cables are important, they appear to be correct. I do like the fact that I was able to incorporate the 7800 bubble indicator on the 7900 cables. If you can find a spot on your bike where that would be visible, it's not hard to do.

AngryScientist 

Are you using the stock 7900 brake pads ?

patentcad

I'm using Swisstop Yellow pads, but those are the same pads I use on my Cdale with 7800. The 7900 brakes are an improvement.

RichinPeoria

I think if you had bought a Campagnolo gruppo you would not have had those problems in the first place. just say'n

Booger

I've been mildly impressed by 7900, but not nearly enough to justify Shimano's bat crap crazy prices.

trojanman

Those campy cranks are fugly.......to each his own

I think Bicycling Mag had a similar write up on 7900 this month.
The bottom line was better braking, less responsive shifting (ever so slight), no chain rub.

Grumpy McTrumpy

shillissimo.

patentcad

That's about right.

derailer

Best Campy bombing ever.

tsohg

I like the way the super record cranks look.

Too bad they cost $900 for the f-ing crank alone.

RichinPeoria

I cant be a shill since I am in no way associated or compensated in any way by Campagnolo.

I just know their stuff is the best and I want to tell everybody!

lets review

Shill
-wiki
A shill is an associate of a person selling goods or services or a political group, who pretends no association to the seller/group and assumes the air of an enthusiastic customer. The intention of the shill is, using crowd psychology, to encourage others unaware of the set-up to purchase said goods or services or support the political group's ideological claims. Shills are often employed by confidence artists. The term plant is also used. Shill bidding, found on many auction sites such as eBay, is punishable by law[1] and may result in fines and or prosecution.
Shilling is illegal in many circumstances and in many jurisdictions because of the frequently fraudulent and damaging character of their actions. However, if a shill does not place uninformed parties at a risk of loss, but merely generates "buzz", the shill's actions may be legal. For example, a person planted in an audience to laugh and applaud when desired (see claque), or to participate in on-stage activities as a "random member of the audience", is a type of legal shill.
"Shill" can also be used pejoratively to describe a critic who appears either all-too-eager to heap glowing praise upon mediocre offerings, or who acts as an apologist for glaring flaws. In this sense, they would be an implicit "shill" for the industry at large, possibly because their income is tied to its prosperity

patentcad

The only thing you have to do to be labeled a shill on BF is post that you like any product for any reason. You should know that by now.

banerjek

I think the improvement in shifting was a result of the new instrumentation rather than the cabling...

pdedes

but how does da7900 stack up against sram red?

RichinPeoria

fixed it for you

coasting 

why didn't shimano shifters come with shimano cables? when i bought 105 shifters they came with the sis cables. seems odd if they come as a set.

Scorer75

Why would the cables make that much of a difference?

deadly downtube

We're glad you were able to convince yourself that your purchase was not in fact a big waste of money.

patentcad

I never said it wasn't a big waste of money. All this cycling crap is a big waste of money.

banerjek

Possibly because the ones that were replaced didn't have proper tension on them. But more likely because schwagadelic upgrades always make things better. Now that the shifting is fixed, pcad can add 4mph to his average speed by getting ceramic bearings for his BB.

logdrum

Hey PCAD. I haven't been here for like 6 months or more. Can you point me to a post of pictures of your new bike.

You have too many posts and I am tired searching

cod.peace

Yeah, and $900 doesn't even get you a third chainring. Sheesh.

DaveSSS 

Campy 11 is not nearly as expensive as some folks would have you think. SR cranks can be had for $560 from Ribble.

SR offers very little in the way of improvement for the extra cost. Chorus 11 cranks look the same and only weigh 40 grams more. They also have the same chainrings. I paid about $310 each for both of my cranksets.

I've been using Campy 11 speed since last November. The shifting is a little better and the new brake/shift levers are a nice improvment - more comfortable and easier to use. Unlike 7900, they can still shift 3-cogs larger with one sweep (of the finger lever) and still drop 5 cogs smaller with one push (of the thumb button). The shifters also cost less than any other brand.

TMonk

Ew.

botto 

that would be a first. just sayin'