jimatbeyond wrote:
Shimano bar end shifters are only made as Dura-Ace.
8-speed SL-BS64 levers are considered an "Ultegra" part.
jharris wrote:
Reality also is that since the 9 speed revelations in bike technology, there has been little major advancements except for Di2 electronic shifting and hydro disc brakes, if those are things that interest you. 9 speed parts were introduced I think around 1998. It offered STI shifting built into the brake levers, hollow spindle bottom brackets to save weight, and dual pivot brakes. Those were major breakthroughs.
Shimano launched their first nine-speed road group in 1996. But I'm not sure I so much significance in that launch.
Integrated shifting was a big deal, but it came to Dura Ace 7400 in 1990, six years earlier.
Shimano's dual-pivot brakes were also introduced prior to nine-speed, for instance the BR-7403 from the early 90s.
Shimano's dual-pivots also weren't the first dual-pivot sidepull calipers, just the first to
really take off. The earliest that I'm aware of are Altenburger Synchron brakes, from (I think) the late 1960s.
And dual-pivot calipers in general go back even farther, since the centerpulls popularized in the mid century were dual-pivot. The better ones are actually pretty darn good brakes, albeit less convenient to cable up than sidepulls. Single-pivot brakes possibly wouldn't have made a resurgence to popularity if it weren't for Campagnolo choosing them for their first brakes.
Splined three-piece BBs triggered a design revolution (and a standards war), but I'm not sure that their immediate benefit was very earth-shattering. Octalink cartridges aren't
that much lighter than square-taper cartridges of similar purpose and price, maybe a few tens of grams or less. The spindle can be stiffer, but there's not much evidence that square taper flex is a problem in the first place.