Why are the Pros riding D/A 9000 over 9100?

[Satellite]

Been watching the Pro's ride the Tour de France, Tour of Utah and Colorado Classic. I can easily spot the D/A 9000 cranks it appears that a bunch of the teams are still riding the 9000 stuff.

I personally choose D/A 9000 for my newest build it was pure vanity because I think they look better than the all black 9100.

Why do you suppose the Pro's are still on the 9000?

[parris]

I haven't been following much racing these days but could it just be that they're using the 9000 cranks if they've got a number of them with power meters? Just a pure guess.

[R3awak3n]

I remember seeing a bike that has most 9100 but the crank was still 9000 because of the PM.

[raisinberry777]

Been watching the Pro's ride the Tour de France, Tour of Utah and Colorado Classic. I can easily spot the D/A 9000 cranks it appears that a bunch of the teams are still riding the 9000 stuff.

I personally choose D/A 9000 for my newest build it was pure vanity because I think they look better than the all black 9100.

Why do you suppose the Pro's are still on the 9000?

It's those using SRM power meters (which is a fairly significant amount of the peleton). There's no R9100 SRM meter yet.

[saab2000]

Shimano was supposedly coming out with a power meter of their own. Maybe it's not going as planned.

The release of 9100 has been a disaster as far as I'm concerned. The groups are incomplete at retailers and not all iterations are readily available. And pro riders, who are supposed to be the representatives of the stuff, have gotten it piece by piece, with mixed 9000 and 9100 groups.

I'd actually be interested in a 9100 groupset for a project I'm considering but availability is sketchy.

The power meter thing is a question mark.

It's been in the public eye for over a year now, and it's far from prevalent. Shimano should have done better prep for this release, IMHO.

[pasadena]

From what I've heard, the reasons are:

When Shimano announced integrated powermeters, SRM and others stopped supporting Shimano cranks.
9000 is the last one. Shimano has not brought out the 9100 pm en masse, so there is a delay.
Stopgap is to use the old stuff.

Also, some are using the 9000 brakes because they micro adjust the lever. The 9100 flips open or closed only.

[beeatnik]

9100>9000

End of Story.

[saab2000]

9100>9000

End of Story.

Why do you say this? I've had great success with my 9000 groups. Zero complaints and I've heard the 9100 doesn't actually change much.

Not that I'm against it, but it does seem like the rollout and product availability are a bit haphazard.

I've seen it and I think it looks much nicer in person than it does in photos.

[jwalther]

I'd actually be interested in a 9100 groupset for a project I'm considering but availability is sketchy.

I built up a bike using 9100 components, and found everything I needed was available from the usual British sites and Performance.

[abr5]

It's also worth noting that not all teams that ride Shimano in the world tour are officially supplied by Shimano, rather they buy and opt to use those components (Cannondale and astana, for example). So those teams don't have much incentive to upgrade mid season.

Sent from my LG-H872 using Tapatalk

[BdaGhisallo]

Why do you say this? I've had great success with my 9000 groups. Zero complaints and I've heard the 9100 doesn't actually change much.

Not that I'm against it, but it does seem like the rollout and product availability are a bit haphazard.

I've seen it and I think it looks much nicer in person than it does in photos.

Indeed. I wanted to upgrade to 9150 DI2 but I just don't see any justification for doing so. I have heard a few reports that the RD isn't as easy to use as was indicated, with rear wheel removal actually a pita if you don't have long chainstays. I have upgraded to the 9150 DI2 levers and there are a marked improvement in terms of ergonomics and the tactile feel of the buttons, but that's it and I think it's going to stay that way unless I am forced to by a failure when I can't replace like for like.

[54ny77]

because they think 9100 got beaten real bad with an ugly stick and refuse to be seen with it. ;)

[oldpotatoe]

Been watching the Pro's ride the Tour de France, Tour of Utah and Colorado Classic. I can easily spot the D/A 9000 cranks it appears that a bunch of the teams are still riding the 9000 stuff.

I personally choose D/A 9000 for my newest build it was pure vanity because I think they look better than the all black 9100.

Why do you suppose the Pro's are still on the 9000?

Depending on team and sponsorship deals and $, 'pros' ride a variety of 'stuff'. I saw one guy at the Colorado Classic, don't recall the team, using mechanical sram, one team using mechanical ultegra.....the first teir guys are on latest and greatest and some, as has been mentioned, older crank cuz of power meter reasons. BUT it isn't because 9100 stuff is a pooch..trucks full of spares, legion of mechanics..the stuff, regardless of what it is, is essentially brand new each race day.

[beeatnik]

Why do you say this? I've had great success with my 9000 groups. Zero complaints and I've heard the 9100 doesn't actually change much.

Not that I'm against it, but it does seem like the rollout and product availability are a bit haphazard.

I've seen it and I think it looks much nicer in person than it does in photos.

Crisper, less vague shifting
Easier to set up front derailleur which doesn't limit tire size
Mid-cage rear derailleur
Best non-boutique brakes ever produced
Improved hoods (if you ride gloveless) and shifter ergonomics

[Gummee]

Word from Shimano is 'availability'

As in 'there ain't enough to go round and it goes: 'OEM sales, then big retailers, then small retailers, then everyone else'

Employees who want Shimano stuff for their own bike have to wait till everyone else has their parts 1st. AMHIK

M

[RudAwkning]

I'm still on 9000, but dumped the 9000 FD for the 9100. Holy crap. Game changer. It shifts so much better now. Like a light switch.

[Gummee]

I'm still on 9000, but dumped the 9000 FD for the 9100. Holy crap. Game changer. It shifts so much better now. Like a light switch.

I've set up one new new D/A derailleur. Less fiddly to set up than the old new 'long arm' front derailleurs.

I'm not going to change out all 6 of my old new fronts tho. Too much PITA

M

[PaMtbRider]

I'm still on 9000, but dumped the 9000 FD for the 9100. Holy crap. Game changer. It shifts so much better now. Like a light switch.

Did the same thing on my wife's bike with similar results. I haven't tried, but you probably can't give 9000 front derailleurs away at this point.

[dddd]

The long-arm D-A mech's seem to require a lot of initial force at the lever, to get the thing moving off of the low-limit position.
Many times now, I've attempted an upshift but was fooled into thinking that I was already in the big ring because of the resistance felt when I tried to upshift but effected no movement!
I found and bought a similar new take-off 6800 gruppo for $400 cheap today, so will be dealing with this same issue on my upcoming Blue build, but I don't consider it a big deal. It sure wouldn't be worth twice as much to have the newer version of either gruppo, so if anyone is "giving away" the older 6800 and 9000 parts, I'll be happy to absorb them.

[Gummee]

The long-arm D-A mech's seem to require a lot of initial force at the lever, to get the thing moving off of the low-limit position.
Many times now, I've attempted an upshift but was fooled into thinking that I was already in the big ring because of the resistance felt when I tried to upshift but effected no movement!
I found and bought a similar new take-off 6800 gruppo for $400 cheap today, so will be dealing with this same issue on my upcoming Blue build, but I don't consider it a big deal. It sure wouldn't be worth twice as much to have the newer version of either gruppo, so if anyone is "giving away" the older 6800 and 9000 parts, I'll be happy to absorb them.

Setting up the long arm derailleurs is a trick. Gotta have 'enough' cable tension, but not too much. That'll get rid of the initial hard pull.

I've been doing the 'crank the inner limit screw till the inner cage hits the chain' trick lately w decent results. I've also heard of 'stick a 6mm allen in the middle of the parallelogram' trick, but only tried it once with so-so results

HTH

M

[Gabuyo]

I'm still on 9000, but dumped the 9000 FD for the 9100. Holy crap. Game changer. It shifts so much better now. Like a light switch.

I am of the differed opinion. I think my 9100 doesn't shift as well up front as the old 9000 long arm design. There doesn't seem to be as much power in the derailleur action going up from small to big ring.

[dddd]

That seems likely, since they touted the easing of lever force over the final reach of the derailer's "upward" travel, so no doubt had to reduce leverage within the mid-stroke where the work is done moving the chain.
Oh well!

And as far as adjusting cable tension to ease initial "lift-off" force, I'm pretty much stuck with optimizing the cable tension adjustment for best chain-running clearances while in the big ring.
Like I said though, the lever force issue isn't a big deal even for a lightweight like myself. A rider whose bike suffers a dry or contaminated cable guide might complain more loudly, so perhaps "clean and lubed" is the best practical remedy for 8000 and 9000's hard lever feel.

I'm always happy to make some effort to be satisfied with the gruppo I'm riding, whether it's a new one or a simple, friction-shifted 5x2 with "crossover" gearing where I split each chainring move with a single back shift to create a total of seven sequential ratios.