AK404

I've got a 2011 Nirone 7 with Sora/Tiagra equipment, and my only complaint thus far has been the thumb shifters and the jumpy shifting; I'd love to move on over to the 'standard' Shimano shift system, but my bike is a 2x9. When I mentioned this to a couple of cycling friends of mine, most recommended looking for Dura Ace 7700 or Ultegra 6500 components, as those were the last 9sp sets Shimano made before moving up to 10sp. (One recommended using the Sora group until it died, but at the rate I'm riding, that'll be next year!)

Now, I was a bit worried about this, as those sets are more than a decade old, but my friends insist that even at that age, a Dura Ace and Ultegra mix would hold up and perform far better than the Sora components of today. I suppose it's a bit late to ask, since I've already started getting to work on collecting the parts, but if I can keep it relatively cheap (like less than $300), is this a good idea or am I just wasting my time?

valygrl

I have a mix of DA (shifters) and Ultegra (everything else) on my 10 year old ti bike, it works better than my DA 7900 on my new bike.

Elevation

I did this over the summer and am very happy with my move.

i went from sora to 6500 ultegra

Aeolis

I llove my old ultegra but not sure if it's worth changing.

Noize4

I hate Sora thumb shifters. I'd replace them with almost anything to get them off my bike. Do it.

knobd

I replaced my Sora with older 9 speed NOS Ultegra and the shifting was much much better. No comparison whatsoever. After about 1500 miles I honestly don't think it missed an upshift yet.

Nachoman

If you can get the old dura ace for a good price, it's a no brainer.

ivan_yulaev

Good luck! Let me know if you find an affordable NOS source.

You can also use Microshift - their stuff is pretty well regarded and you can get a set of 9 speed shifters + deralleurs for under $200.

catonec 

Ive gotta say it, if your replacing your group anyways, maybe try 9 speed campy. the shifters are rebuildable so age isnt a factor. Of course you will need to change your cassette, but you can get a shimano cassette that has been re-spaced for campy (conversion cass). Your crank will work just fine, so will your deraileurs.

AK404

I was considering Campy (Italian parts for an Italian bike!), but I just bought some Ultegra brifters and a crank, and got a DA 7700 cassette donated to me. A LBS friend of mine is rooting around for some 7700 brakes, so I figure...might as well roll with the punches, right?

AK404

Well, I've just about gone and purchased an entire Ultegra setup...except for the rear derailleur. Still hemming and hawwing over getting the 6500 over the 7700.

won

do not change

kiwimatt

I ride 6500,30k+kilometers
and still flawless

merlinextraligh

If you're talking NOS, it will definitely be an improvement. If it's very lightly used stuff, it will likely be an improvement. If it's a 10+year old groupset that's been used for 10+ years, you're likely down grading.

AK404

Well, I didn't want to go over budget, so I might not be buying all of kaliayev's components at https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...700-Components ; I'm probably just going to settle for the RD: IIRC, that, along with the brifters, are the 'complex parts' that're going to see the most action, so I definitely don't want to skimp on those.
Well, when I first embarked on this little project of mine, all I wanted to do was get away from the thumb shifters, so I didn't care so much for NOS, so when a BD roadie says "used but still working well" and sells it for a good price, I'll jump at it just to get that objective done.

Thing is, after surfing over stuff like ebay and CL, it hit me that the 6500 and 7700 series were exactly what I was looking for. I'm well-aware of the age of the groupsets and I've accepted the risks that come with it. I did the math and found that there's no way I could afford all NOS (even minus the brifters), so I'm aiming for lightly-used.

I'm just hoping that this doesn't blow up in my face.

hyhuu

To the OP: Why do you have to stay with the 9-speed?

AK404

Because I kind of painted myself into a corner, hyhuu: I started with a set of Ultegra 9sp brifters just to get away from the thumb shifters (the logic was that the higher-quality components would last longer and perform better), thinking that would be the end of that, but I poked around a little and thought, "Hey, I can probably do the rest of group for less than $300!" I've always wanted a full Ultegra anyways, so why not? That being said, I restricted myself to the limitations of my original purchase.

Probably not the best of ideas, but when you've committed yourself to an idea, might as well make it the most of it, right?

fordmanvt

I ditched my stock 3400 Sora for a cobbled together 6600 set (except for a 5600 cassette) and love it. IIRC I spent $300, and that was two years ago.

tero

I also went from Sora to a mix of 9-speed DA and Ultegra. Absolutely no regrets, works beautifully. Biggest gain was from swapping the brakes, you get a lot more control with even older Ultegra than with new Sora.

AK404

Thanks for the responses, guys. I felt that I had firmly planted myself into "bad idea" territory, but decided to make the most of it. I'm glad to see that I've made a correct (if not a bit costly, as I think I could have purchases a perfectly good set of Boyd's with just a bit more money) (or hasty) decision.

I guess I just won't know until I shut up and ride.

AK404

So got most of the parts in hand, and holy crap, so much metal and so little plastic.

Dilberto

Never. Going DA 7700 or Ultegra 6500 - while staying 9-speed is still an upward move. Enjoy it for many years to come....

Kimmo

I have the 6500 brifters, (got em for $10 cause they were toast) but now I've overhauled em they're sweet.

Shimano's nasty grease is your biggest problem with STIs, but also with these 9spd ones they can start to jam when you try to shift to smaller. I had to soften the flipper's spring and stiffen the big lever's spring on both of my levers. Took a few goes to get enough difference in tension. Also, these are a fair bit trickier to reassemble than the 6400s, which although far uglier are a better thing because they don't seem to suffer the jamming problem and based on overhauling a couple of sets I'd say they'll go for decades with proper grease in them. They're also more accurate, pulling more cable per shift.

Although a 9spd drivetrain does shift a lot more sweetly... you need good cable housings for it though, with Shimano's geometry.

Also, you can have pretty much any Shimano derailleur you like (late 80s DA and Dynasis excepted, along with pre-indexed), as long as the chain fits in the RD cage (you can just shim narrow pulleys); on one bike I have the 6500s shifting a 6400 RD, and on another I have 6400s shifting a Deore with a road cage.

AK404

Well, got the brifters, RD, and brakes onto the bike, and Good Lord, it feels so much better!

Now I'm rooting around for an Octalink 1 BB so I can get this crankset installed...

ivan_yulaev

BB-5500. Yeah, they're kinda expensive, about $45 shipped was the best I could do when I bought some spares a few months ago. But they last a long time - I've got 12K miles / 8 years on mine and it's still totally solid. BB-6500 does not exist anymore and was almost 100% identical to BB-5500. BB-7700 (the cartridge version) wasn't much different form BB-5500 other than price. The loose bearing version was kinda cool but they wear out very, very quickly.