Roughly a year ago, Shimano announced its new Dura-Ace R9200 and Ultegra R8100 groupsets at the same time. The top-end Dura-Ace drew most of the attention at launch, but this latest update brings Ultegra closer to Dura-Ace’s performance than ever before. With the same servomotors, internals, electronics and ergonomics, the two groupsets are indistinguishable in performance, function and feel. The only notable differences between Ultegra and Dura-Ace is 300 to 400 g (depending on configuration) for the former, and a matte grey finish on the second-tier group’s parts compared with the glossy black of the top set. With such minor differences, Ultegra is clearly the smarter buy of the two. Only the most dedicated weight weenies will opt for Dura-Ace. After six months of riding Ultegra, here’s what I’ve found.
Faster? Possibly. Smoother? Definitely.
For both of the new groups, Shimano has eliminated mechanical shifting. Battery-powered shifting only. The company touted its new derailleurs as the fastest yet, but the previous version of Di2 was already very fast and consistently so. Even with a stopwatch, one would be hard pressed to find a difference. On my rides, what I can feel is smoother shifting compared with the previous Ultegra. More powerful servomotors and updated shift ramps on the cassettes and chainrings mean the chain moves seamlessly from cog to cog. I don’t have to break my cadence or back off the power. Another minor benefit I quickly got used to is the ability to downshift at the last minute as I come to a stop. You only need half a pedal stroke to get into a lower gear.
Wide-range gearing is not just good for mountains
The Ultegra rear derailleur’s 34-tooth capacity opened my eyes to the benefit of wide gear ranges. The extra low gear allowed me to stay in the big ring more, improving efficiency. The 12 cogs keep the steps small between gears despite the range. The few times I encountered short yet steep pitches, I was happy to spin past my ride companions who were over-geared. With the 50/34-tooth chainrings at the crank, I won’t have to worry about swapping cassettes or rings the next time I travel somewhere mountainous. I already have a 1:1 low gear.
Easier-to-live-with brakes
A major focus of this update for Shimano is the brakes, not just in terms of performance, but user-friendliness. Shimano claims an additional 10 per cent clearance between the pads and rotor. The space, combined with rotors that are less…
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