6/26/14 12:38 PM

Quick simple question, is it worth selling off a 10 Speed D/A for a 11 spd Ultegra?

Less simple, wheels/cassette body an issue.


The 36/52 and 11-32 with a mid cage alluring, one more gear as well.

6/26/14 2:48 PM

I have the new Ultegra 11 speed (50-36, 11-25) and like it. Don't know if it's worth upgrading from 10 spd, as I was still running DA 9 spd 50-36, 12-23. I like the extra range of the 11-25 11 spd cassette. Stock gearing with the bike was 50-34 and 11-28 which I think is pretty good for almost all situations, but I changed to the tighter gearing mainly for group rides (I missed the 50-16). YMMV.

6/26/14 3:05 PM

Well, I'd do it only because you get the tighter spacing ...but I'd not go to the 32, I'd stick with a 28. I love my 52/36. Do Di2 while you're at it. To simplify the wheel situation, anything that will take a Campy freehub will allow you to do that with a Campy 11 spd cassette, this works perfectly with Shimano 11 and saves the wheel. On a 28 and sometimes a 25, guys are having a machine shop mill 1mm off of the rear of a Shimano 11 cassette (photos of this here http://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=123742&start=15 in order to keep the 10 spd wheel /freehub. If its the only 11 spd bike you have and you have a dedicated wheelset or two, these are viable solutions.

6/26/14 3:23 PM

Thanks for the link to milling the cassette body.

I am wondering if I would not have to also put all the spokes heads out NDS. I am already close on 2 sets of wheels back there with 10 speeds, cage to spokes I mean, seems that is the issue too. 1mm is not much, but is that side of the cassette same as 10 speed as far as cassette flange and top cog alignment I wonder??

Gearing related, I popped of the 39/50 DA cranks from the Scott to try some 34/50 Ultegra cranks I had not in use. I am looking forward to hitting some hills. On the mostly flat ride I did I was all over the smaller side of the cassette, and many times found myself on the 12 looking for another shift while on the 34 up front. Just a matter of getting used to it I guess. But the Scott does NOT like a 28 tooth in the rear. My Strong used to have a 30 I put on top taking out a smaller and moving the spacer etc. I do not know if it is the 7800 rear derailleur, may try a 7700 I have. but also could be the rear DR hanger position. Always found the Strong had a placement conducive to a 30 tooth with a short cage DR no problems.

I ran a 36/48 on the Strong for a long while and liked it.

____
Sorta funny, one decent hill the other day on the 50/34 Scott setup. I had put a 11-28 on my old revo Arrowhead wheels, my lightest rotational mass wheels. Also put on some 170 gram Hutchinson and the R-Air Ultra light tubes thinking best climbing DUH that setup. Only when out on that hill I actually forgot I put back on the C2 w/Conti wheels with a 12-27 cassette and did not even try the 27 thinking it was the 28 on the other wheels. So I used the 24 and was low enough, and the the Scott stiffness climbed up the 3/4 mile hill at a nice steady double digit speed. I would have tried the 27 to see how it felt with the 50/34, but even 60 miles into the ride nice that I did not need it. Looking forward to hitting some long climbs, even though I was going to wait until I got to 200 lb. But decided not to wait in case I have another birthday waiting... ;O

6/27/14 1:04 AM

Been running mechanical DA 9000 for the last 15 months or so, love it.
Smooth, light shifting, front shifting is excellent, and brakes are very, very good too on carbon wheels.

Running mid-compact 52/36 and 11-28. Great compromise for flats and hills, although most of my riding is hills.

Haven't tried any cassette mods as running 11 speed Zipps.

6/27/14 2:14 PM

Will be switching over soon. Have new bars/stem and 6800 levers/derailleurs in boxes ready to be installed.

I am completely satisfied with my current DA 7800, which feels like it will last forever. But it will be nice going to tidier hidden cables.

7/1/14 2:13 PM

I also find nothing lacking in my 10-yr-old 7800-equipped Orbea, but cable maintenance frequency requirements are high for the rear derailer.

I just bought an 11sp 6800 derailer, the "A"-knuckle (at the cage pivot) is molded plastic it looks like, but also the actuation ratio is lower for longer cable movements so less sensitivity to friction-induced cable elasticity.
I also noticed the top pulley has little to no float now, something I often have done myself to extend cable service intervals with the 10-sp gruppos using the 11-28t cassette with the "B"-tension screw necessarily all the way in. The lower pulley from any Shimano 10sp derailer often improves shifting when installed to replace the floating upper pulley.

As a sort of perspective exercise, I used a 5x2-speed 1960's bike on our local Fondo ride on Sunday, and even with a 28-lb weight and downtube friction shifters the bike seemed hardly lacking. It did feel much more lively than the Varsity I have been training on, so in the company of racers on modern bikes I felt fully at ease since it wasn't actually a race.
So if/when I change to 11-speed on my Orbea, would I even notice? Likely not, since we ride hilly terrain here that suits wider ratio gaps, so a "missing" 18t or even 16t would hardly be an issue.