Here’s my new resolution – I’m not going to use road (or ‘cross) bike parts other than Shimano Dura-ace. Honestly in the last decade, if I made a pie chart of how much time I spent dicking around with parts that creaked, failed, busted, shifted like crap, created headaches, etc., I know it would look like an infinitesimally small slice dedicated to Dura-ace “problems”, and the rest emanating for “component groups other than Dura-ace”. It’s not so much as a bike parts snobbery thing as it is a headache reducer. I bike to reduce stress, hence this conclusion. For fulfilling lack of stress reducing riding, I will spend my beer tokens, err money, to buy such stress reducing parts.
SRAM stuff is light, and it has become quite inexpensive. But for a few grams lighter per gruppo, I’ve had maintenance beyond what I want. Non-drive side cranks coming loose, then coming off 100km from home in the winter, cause no multitool has a hex key that big, is not cool. Shimano chainrings last inordinately long, as do cogsets. I’ve never snapped a Dura-ace chain, which I can’t say for others. The bikes I have with Dura-ace on them feel immensely pleasurable to shift every time I get on them; the contrast is stark to my other bikes.
Some things in life are certain – death and taxes come to mind. Some are certain, and happiness inducing – such as the sun rising in the east every morning, and Shimano Dura-ace.
That’s it, that’s all.
With you, although I think a shout-out to Dura-ace's younger brother Ultegra is in order... Sure it weighs a little more, but for the cost it can't be beat (in my humble opinion).
ReplyDeleteHoop is right. I had a set of Ultegra that did 7 years of 4 season use here. It's now via ebay in Peurto Rico for only a couple bucks to be rebuilt onto other bikes.
ReplyDeleteBut from day one to present, it didn't shift quite as nice as Dura-ace. Robust? Yes. Just as luxurious? Close... but not quite.
Electronic has the chance to change all that.