New SHimano Ultegra R8000 in the house

[colker]

Originally Posted by sales guy

Yeah, the need for that tool was stupid. And yeah, when everything was faced perfectly and it was installed right it was great. It just wore out quick. I know a couple people who had them die real quick. I pulled mine and switched it to the Ultegra version right away to avoid the death of it.

And they did have self extracting bolts. Huge plus. But I always did a set of Syncros Self Extracting bolts on bikes. I used to work for a bunch of pros and it made my life easier to carry fewer tools.

the 950 kit, it was ok. I had a crank arm strip out on a jump during a mountain bike race. It was a common problem they said. The splines just ripped out on the arms. Really freaky landing and both arms slammed down at the same time. And I was out on the back side of the course about 5 miles out. Not fun getting back on one arm/leg.

One downside to that kit was the V-Brakes would chatter over time. the pivots would loosen up and you'd get chatter. Which sucked. But I did like that kit. But the 900/910 I think was still better. Oh and the 950 cranks looked like death after a bit of riding from shoe wear.

m900 xtr costs a lot more on the used market than the 950 series. m900 was flawless, classy looking, coveted by every one. 950 tried to reinvent the wheel.

[sales guy]

Originally Posted by colker

m900 xtr costs a lot more on the used market than the 950 series. m900 was flawless, classy looking, coveted by every one. 950 tried to reinvent the wheel.

Yeah, the price is stupid on M900/910. But if you check them out, even used ones, they look perfect! Finish and everything. They worked so well.

The 950 series, it was nice. I loved the ad campaign they did with the whole "it's in you, in your DNA". Very cool. They spent a ton on those ads. It was a leap forward. But it had too many issues in everything from hubs to bb/crank to brakes to shifters. Add into it the rapid rise, chainring bolts snapping, crank bolts dying. It had too many issues compared to the 900/910 even when that first came out.

[colker]

Originally Posted by sales guy

Yeah, the price is stupid on M900/910. But if you check them out, even used ones, they look perfect! Finish and everything. They worked so well.

The 950 series, it was nice. I loved the ad campaign they did with the whole "it's in you, in your DNA". Very cool. They spent a ton on those ads. It was a leap forward. But it had too many issues in everything from hubs to bb/crank to brakes to shifters. Add into it the rapid rise, chainring bolts snapping, crank bolts dying. It had too many issues compared to the 900/910 even when that first came out.

Shimano killed the square taper BB and chainring availability from 3rd parties on the 950 groupset while you could replace 900 crank stuff anywhere anytime w/ lots of brands.
Octalinks didn´t last and replacing any 950 rings is frustrating. Even when shimano stuff is top quality..
What did we gain?

[beeatnik]

Originally Posted by Dead Man

por qwhy?

Aesthetics alone?

Ultegra is such a great value, performance wise

It's mostly aesthetics. If I'm going to get cheap looking Shimano, I want to be as thrifty as possible, i.e, 105.

It's kind of a Campy guy thing. On my bika with Chorus, I don't lust for Super Record. But on a bika with Ultegra, I think, "I should have spent the extra 4 bills to make this thing look proper."

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by sales guy

See, i've never had an issue with the sealed bearing Octalink BB. The Dura Ace adjustable cup version, very different. Those sucked. But I would just use the Ultegra one and I had them last 5+ years.

Once they went outboard, especially on mountain bikes, way too many dead bearings. They feel like garbage even after a year. I have a few here that I replaced. I love showing them off as why you maintain your bikes.

Square taper still works. So does Octalink and yeah, outboard does too. But I still think DA 7700 was a high point and things went downhill for a bit there. 9000 DA isn't bad. I am not a fan of the hood shape.

But then again, I still love my XTR 900/910 kit. Again, a high point.

7700 and 900/910, they just worked. And they worked thru everything you could possibly throw at it. They just worked.

That's the one shimano wanted to correct the issues of. PLUS Ultegra had much smaller bearings than a standard ST BB. XTR octalink as bad as DA(more lash for guys jumping and landing with one foot backward)...and not intercompatible, length wise..Plus 2 different spline dimensions for road/XTR and XT..yes, we have all seen a road crank crammed onto a XT sppline and vice versa..XT crank crammed onto a v1 spline.

AND, octalink BBs never licensed to anybody...

[Big Dan]

Why don't you Campagnolo guys go beg them to make an MTB group?

[Davist]

Originally Posted by Big Dan

Why don't you Campagnolo guys go beg them to make an MTB group?

I had the campy mountain group, the 1st gen ?Centaur or whatever Cannondale supplied at the same $$ as their XT bike that year. Loved the canti brakes/levers, cranks, headset, seatpost and wheels, rear derailleur and shifters didn't work well. Rohloff chain at $100 replacement in '91 or so scared me, but $12 Sedis worked..

[colker]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

AND, octalink BBs never licensed to anybody...

Shimano plans of world domination w/ crankset standards. Didn´t they read Marvel Comics when kids? Those plans never succeed.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by Big Dan

Why don't you Campagnolo guys go beg them to make an MTB group?

Sure, jump into a shrinking market dominated by 2 really big companies. First gen Record OR, first 'micro drive', first with spline/lock ring small ring, really excellent brakes but as Suntour found out and sram is finding out, tough to compete with shimano.

Why don't you 'shimano guys' ask for some intercompatibilty within current groups? Or do you like chainrings that are more expensive than cranksets?

[dddd]

Now that Shimano's upper-tier big chainrings are hollow, does anybody else here notice how noisy they are while JRA?

Not that I'm cross-chaining or anything, and my bike has only 2k miles on it with regular chain lubing. But when the road is quiet I hear the chain hitting every tooth when I'm in the big ring, until sheer road speed takes over in the form of wind noise.

BTW, it's the 6800 group I'm riding, and by now I wouldn't have minded if the crankset had been cheaped out on my Colnago CX-Zero with a solid-ring FSA crankset like the subsequent 2017 model has.

[stien]

I agree. They are super loud even with a new chain or newly cleaned/lubed.

[Big Dan]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

Sure, jump into a shrinking market dominated by 2 really big companies. First gen Record OR, first 'micro drive', first with spline/lock ring small ring, really excellent brakes but as Suntour found out and sram is finding out, tough to compete with shimano.

Why don't you 'shimano guys' ask for some intercompatibilty within current groups? Or do you like chainrings that are more expensive than cranksets?

Don't buy them.
Get some Campagnolo or STFU.

[PaMtbRider]

Originally Posted by stien

I agree. They are super loud even with a new chain or newly cleaned/lubed.

This drives me and my wife nuts with her Dura-Ace 9000 equipped Spectrum. I've tried different chains but no luck. We have 2 other bikes with Ultegra 6800 and neither of them is as noisy as the 9000.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by Big Dan

Don't buy them.
Get some Campagnolo or STFU.

?? This IS about R8000 group, which has non compatible CRs..eh?

[R3awak3n]

I have to say, I like everything about this groupset but that RD, I just can't get used to it. Maybe looks ok on a carbon bike but I think any skiny tubed bike will look meh with that thing. I bet works great though.