Ultegra di2 vs duraace 9000 mech

Ultegra di2 vs duraace 9000 mech

Author
Discussion

PorkRind

Original Poster:

3,053 posts

204 months

Thursday 13th April 2017
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Speccing up a bike and was impressed by the ultegra, but would you go for duraace for the bling / smidgen of weight reduction Or stick to future tech?

Usget

5,426 posts

210 months

Thursday 13th April 2017
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I'd go for magic robot gears every time personally

anonymous-user

53 months

Thursday 13th April 2017
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Electric over mechanical every time since fitting eps

I'd go 105 di2 over dura ace mechanical if it came down to it

Marcellus

7,111 posts

218 months

Thursday 13th April 2017
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I had the same dilemma and went Di2 Ultegra and love it.... at my level I think i stand to gain more from having precise, slick, auto adjusting gear changes than a weight saving.

Gruffy

7,212 posts

258 months

Thursday 13th April 2017
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Di2 by a mile. You'll never notice the weight difference over DA. You'll also never want to go back to mechanical again.

BMWBen

4,899 posts

200 months

Thursday 13th April 2017
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Di2 every time. You won't notice the small weight saving. You will notice full power robot gear shifting.

AyBee

10,522 posts

201 months

Thursday 13th April 2017
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DA di2 > Ultegra di2 > DA mech > Ultegra mech IMO.

SoliD

1,112 posts

216 months

Thursday 13th April 2017
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Di2 everytime/

BMWBen

4,899 posts

200 months

Thursday 13th April 2017
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This thread seems fairly unanimous! biggrin

Rich_W

12,548 posts

211 months

Thursday 13th April 2017
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If you're a pro. Then yep. Di2

If you are a poser that rides once a week. Then Yep Di2

If you ride multiple times a week. Mechanical.

I guarantee if you are a frequent rider you'll run out of charge at least once and be stuck in a suboptimal gear for the remainder of your ride

mikecassie

608 posts

158 months

Thursday 13th April 2017
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Di2 every time.
If I was to upgrade my Enigma I'd want to fit Di2 to it over the mechanical Ultegra I have now.

BMWBen

4,899 posts

200 months

Friday 14th April 2017
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Rich_W said:
If you're a pro. Then yep. Di2

If you are a poser that rides once a week. Then Yep Di2

If you ride multiple times a week. Mechanical.

I guarantee if you are a frequent rider you'll run out of charge at least once and be stuck in a suboptimal gear for the remainder of your ride
What about when you factor in cable and cable guide degradation? A once every 2 month battery charge + might run out once every couple of years if you forget vs endlessly changing cables and fighting with sub-optimal shifting.

Marcellus

7,111 posts

218 months

Friday 14th April 2017
quotequote all
Rich_W said:
If you ride multiple times a week. Mechanical.

I guarantee if you are a frequent rider you'll run out of charge at least once and be stuck in a suboptimal gear for the remainder of your ride
Really, at the end of every ride I quickly check the level of charge anything other than solid green I plug it in!

Rich_W

12,548 posts

211 months

Friday 14th April 2017
quotequote all
BMWBen said:
Rich_W said:
If you're a pro. Then yep. Di2

If you are a poser that rides once a week. Then Yep Di2

If you ride multiple times a week. Mechanical.

I guarantee if you are a frequent rider you'll run out of charge at least once and be stuck in a suboptimal gear for the remainder of your ride
What about when you factor in cable and cable guide degradation? A once every 2 month battery charge + might run out once every couple of years if you forget vs endlessly changing cables and fighting with sub-optimal shifting.
The reports I'm seeing indicate between 250 and 1000 miles of use between charges. And apparently it can vary depending on prevailing weather. If its cold you get less.

But how many cables have you had fail in years of riding? I'm on a handful I would suggest in the last 20 years. And a new set of cables is a lot less than a Di2 battery pack! laugh

okgo

37,859 posts

197 months

Friday 14th April 2017
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Wrong on all counts. Weather makes little odds, I'll do 250 miles over 3 days this week and I bet it won't move off of the current solid green indication.

SomersetWestie

401 posts

179 months

Friday 14th April 2017
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okgo said:
Wrong on all counts. Weather makes little odds, I'll do 250 miles over 3 days this week and I bet it won't move off of the current solid green indication.
I plug mine in and charge it every couple of months or so. Not because i've checked it and it's run down, just because it's quick and easy and only takes half an hour or so :-) and i do lots of miles..... in all weathers.......

mikecassie

608 posts

158 months

Friday 14th April 2017
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Rich_W said:
BMWBen said:
Rich_W said:
If you're a pro. Then yep. Di2

If you are a poser that rides once a week. Then Yep Di2

If you ride multiple times a week. Mechanical.

I guarantee if you are a frequent rider you'll run out of charge at least once and be stuck in a suboptimal gear for the remainder of your ride
What about when you factor in cable and cable guide degradation? A once every 2 month battery charge + might run out once every couple of years if you forget vs endlessly changing cables and fighting with sub-optimal shifting.
The reports I'm seeing indicate between 250 and 1000 miles of use between charges. And apparently it can vary depending on prevailing weather. If its cold you get less.

But how many cables have you had fail in years of riding? I'm on a handful I would suggest in the last 20 years. And a new set of cables is a lot less than a Di2 battery pack! laugh
I'd get well over 1000 miles between charges and being a sissy I use the front derailleur lots so loads of gearchanges... Cables don't just fail they wear out, so I'd reckon every 3 years I need to change my Ultegra gear cables and lots of people would do many more miles than I so they'd change cables more. In the years I've had my Di2 bike I've changed zero components on the Di2 system so I'd say it's reliable, more so than cables IMO as I spend more time adjusting my gear cables than I do adjusting the Di2 system. You're obviously very anti Di2 and will have no good to say about it.
All batteries can be affected by cold temps, car batteries have been known to fail when the ambient temp drops, but that is usually the final sign that something else was failing.

Rich_W

12,548 posts

211 months

Friday 14th April 2017
quotequote all
SomersetWestie said:
okgo said:
Wrong on all counts. Weather makes little odds, I'll do 250 miles over 3 days this week and I bet it won't move off of the current solid green indication.
I plug mine in and charge it every couple of months or so. Not because i've checked it and it's run down, just because it's quick and easy and only takes half an hour or so :-) and i do lots of miles..... in all weathers.......
Question then

How much of a pain is it to carry a spare battery in a pocket/saddle bag?

mikecassie said:
You're obviously very anti Di2 and will have no good to say about it.
All batteries can be affected by cold temps, car batteries have been known to fail when the ambient temp drops, but that is usually the final sign that something else was failing.
I'm not anti, so much as unconvinced of a need. Seems an additional complexity for very little benefit. Plus the fact that more than once I've had a flat mobile phone when I need it, so what hope when I forget to charge the Di2 battery. laugh

And the fact that when it does run out, there appears to be no failsafe option to manually put it into a middling gear to get you home.

I see WHY people like it, but do I as a reasonable rider NEED it and the added costs?


Edited by Rich_W on Friday 14th April 17:40

SomersetWestie

401 posts

179 months

Friday 14th April 2017
quotequote all
Rich_W said:
Question then

How much of a pain is it to carry a spare battery in a pocket/saddle bag?
Probably none at all ! Best i buy one at some point i guess...... just in case it fails mid ride........


SomersetWestie

401 posts

179 months

Friday 14th April 2017
quotequote all
Rich_W said:
I'm not anti, so much as unconvinced of a need. Seems an additional complexity for very little benefit. Plus the fact that more than once I've had a flat mobile phone when I need it, so what hope when I forget to charge the Di2 battery. laugh

And the fact that when it does run out, there appears to be no failsafe option to manually put it into a middling gear to get you home.

I see WHY people like it, but do I as a reasonable rider NEED it and the added costs?


Edited by Rich_W on Friday 14th April 17:40
No Rich, you definitely don't need it. It's great to have, but so's a good 105 or Ultegra set up :-) I have all three on various bikes, and riding the Di2 bike never ceases to put a smile on my face..... and life's far too short not to enjoy whatever you want to, right ?!