I am looking to upgrade my older 105 road bike components to Ultegra. I have found everything I need on Performance.com and Bikesmart.com. My question is…crank length. Where do you measure them? Center to tip or center to pedal? Also, I have a 9 spd Dura-ace cassette, will the Ultegra 10 speed 6600 double crankset work with it? Any issues there that anybody knows about?
Mark
http://www.insidetriathlon.com/train/bike/articles/1875.0.html
BBcenter to pedal spindle center.
What are you doing about the chain? 9sp or 10sp?
What front and rear DR’s are you using?
Monk…great question…didn’t think about that one. I am guessing a 9sp chain to go along with the 9 sp cassette. Should I be looking for a 9 spd Ultegra crankset instead? I haven’t seen many of those online.
Mark
My new bike has ultegra 10 groupo. I was on 105 and I think the upgrade is significant in terms of smoothness and sound shifting. I’m not sure the bang for the buck is there from UL to DA, but the leap from 105 was definitely worth it to me.
Monk…forgot to address the Derailer part…According to the Performance website the Ultegra 6600 Front and rear Derailers will work for 9 or 10 speed. Since I already have a 9 sp Dura-ace cassette …can’t see spending the money on another cassette.
Mark
The crank length is usually stamped into the backside of the crankarm.
Is this a road bike or tri bike? Also, here is a site that lets you comparison shop for components without going crazy:
http://comparisonpricing.com/shimanoda3.htm
Well, just my thoughts:
Going DA is not that much more expensive. You can do with a UL Cassette, but get the rest DA. I would also mention that the most expensive parts-the Crankset and STI shifters, can be bought used or slightly used. I just bought a DA 10sp in the classified site here from a psychotic math professor, and there is another brand new set available on the same site. If it is a tri bike, or you are going to use bar-end shifters, you don’t need the STI’s so the other parts are just nickel and dime.
So I would build around DA 10 sp. Cassettes are not expensive and they do wear out, as do chains, so the cassette will be going at some point anyway. So I would not make that your limiting factor between 10sp and 9sp. UL Cassettes are not expensive.
I can say this: a 10sp DA chain will work with a 9sp RDR, but I have found–on TWO bikes–that a 9sp FDR will throw a 10sp chain off the big front chainring, most likely when you are in the 11-15 cogs. The 9sp cage )on the FDR) is just a few millimeters wider that the 10sp, and since the 10sp chain is narrower it falls through the crack. This is not what “everybody” said would happen, but not even my LBS could get it to work right, even though one of these bikes had worked fine for months. It probably doesn’t matter, unless chainstay length is a factor, but the bikes are both Cervelos P3 and P2k.
You will love your bike more and ride more if it shifts like a dream, and you will have these parts for years–amortize the cost over three years, and it is pennies a day. ANd if you ever want to get a new bike, you just need to buy the framseset, because you already have a kick-ass groupset.
You can get away with a 9sp RDR with 10sp cassette and 10sp chain, however, the jockey wheel cogs are a bit thicker for a 9sp chain, so the 10 sp chain will ride cause wear to the jockey wheels, but should not effect performance noticeably, at least to you and me.
A Retailer’s Dream Come True–
mmfred,
If you are going with 9 speed, Cambria bikes has the ultegra 9 speed rear derailure on clearance for US$50.
Good Luck,
RF
Monk, Thanks for the great reply and the price comparison website. I just added up all the components I need and you are right…Dura-ace is a couple of hundred bucks more for everything, I have Dura-ace on my tri bike and love it…so with this info its Dura-ace on my road bike too. My plan is to upgrade the frame down the road…and it will be great to just move over the Dura-ace to it. Thanks again! Slow-Twitch rocks!
Mark