DA 9100: any issues?

[weaponsgrade]

I’m still on Campy Ergo 10 and am thinking of moving to DA 9100. I like that they’ve got an 11-30 cassette, light shift, and short throw. Has Shimano fixed the cable snapping and cassette cracking issues?

How does the reach of the hoods compare to Ergo 10s? I tried 7800 way back and the length of the hoods felt much longer than Ergo 10.

Any other issues?

[berserk87]

Shimano fixed the cable snapping issues with the 9001 shifters. I don't recall any such issues with 9100. The only piece of 9100 that I am running is the front dr. It's a significant improvement from the 9000 model.

[FlashUNC]

Not a functional issue, but it's hideous in person.

[11.4]

It's pretty damned near flawless. There are isolated cases of Dura Ace cassettes still breaking and the reason is still unclear. However, the narratives usually run in a pattern of people who have gone through four or five cassettes and then hundreds of people who have had no problems at all. Those with breakages say that because Shimano has warrantied the breakages, they know they have a problem. Well, it's cheaper to send a new cassette than to re-engineer a product that isn't definably failing. Personally, after reading lots of posts and having seen only one broken cassette in the flesh (and it was reproduced as a photo example of bad cassette design on three forums by at least five different people), I think it's pilot error. Now there are arguments that it should be durable enough that wrenches wouldn't break it, but users want ultra lightweight. You avoid the problem entirely by using Ultegra cassettes, and you can get more combinations as well.

You said 9100 but if you were thinking of electronic, there's an art to wiring Di2. You can do a lot of things within the rules and a lot off-the-record. Be sure to allow a loop of wire just outside the shift lever so if anything gets bumped, it doesn't pull out of the socket. Always use the insertion and removal tool that comes with it. Many bikes have rear derailleur cable routing that pops the wire out in a weird place that can get caught when changing wheels; it doesn't have to make big loopy curves so just use a zip tie to keep it neat and tight. And you can run the wiring in all kinds of ways using extra junction boxes and using the new bar-end junction which is long overdue. Check all the YouTubes and read all the tech threads on WeightWeenies and other forums.

The rest of installing 9100 is just the usual set of issues about Shimano in general. Tighten the cranks only hand tight -- no torquing with a spanner. Installing the front shifter, read the directions word by word because Shimano means every bit of it. And so on. It's a beautiful, reliable group.

[beeatnik]

Make sure you use the 9100 RD specific housing as it's more flexible than the standard SP41 (which you use everywhere else). If you buy the group from some sites in the UK, the housing will more than likely not be included.

https://glorycycles.com/shimano-ot-rs900-rear-derailleur-housing-240mm-length-black/

Also, wheel changes can be complicated. From Calnago's post on Weight Weenies:

3) What makes the rear wheel more or less easy to remove is a combination of the new derailleur design and the frame it's attached to. With long chainstays, a reasonably sized road tire, and good frame clearance between the rear tire and the Bottom Bracket shell, there should be no problem with rear wheel removal. For road bikes with nice tight road race geometry, which means relatively short chainstays, one can run into problems with the new setup. Here's the "perfect storm" scenario where you're likely to have issues with the new derailleur design regardless of whether you're using a DM hanger or a regular hanger:
- Short chainstays
- larger tires
- a frame with a lot of material behind the center of the Bottom bracket.

http://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=149460&p=1372479&hilit=9100+shimano+rear+derailleur#p1372479

[enr1co]

9100 mechanical provides excellent, light, precise shifting. Caliper brakes also provide light effort, good modulation. The fat crank arm design goes well with latest fat supersized modern carbon bikes but a bit overpowering aesthetic on traditional or even mildly oversize tubed frames.

If you are moving from ergo 10, the Shimano hoodshape will feel huge overall.

Tried the 9100 for a few months but still not a fan of the Shimano floppy, moving shift/brake lever design. and hood ergonomics so ended up selling it off and re installed my Campy SR. Personal preference still goes to the good ol' Campy ergo thumb buttons, single plane brake lever and 11 speed ergo hood shape.

[Jeff N.]

9100 is perfect in every way, IMO. FD setup is a little weird, but no biggie.

[berserk87]

One way to get around any cassette issues is to go with an Ultegra cassette. Most folks that I know do this anyway. An Ultegra cassette will set up back about $50 to $75 usually. Dura Ace is like $200+? For saving a few grams and quicker wear time (due to a few Ti cogs), it's one purchase to question.

Forgive me if I have the exact prices off. I haven't looked at 9100 prices in a while. I do know that Dura Ace cassettes are typically about 3x as much as Ultegra.

[newellbt]

You're gonna like the way it shifts

[saab2000]

I went to 9000 after many satisfied years as a Campagnolo user. I loved the change and I wouldn't hesitate to buy a 9100 groupset. It's an evolution of the 9000 and I've had zero issues with cable breakage or cassette breakage with my 9000 groups. I don't know why people have had issues. I haven't babied mine at all and as far as I know, they are not 9001 shifters or cassettes.

I think 9100 looks very nice in person. It looks more premium in person than it does in pictures.

[dddd]

Cable breakage seems to me usually an issue with the lo-limit screw intruding on the rear derailer's travel as defined by the indexing (cable) adjustement.
There needs to be free movement as the derailer shifts to the largest cog, or else the peak tension that the cable sees just went through the roof so to speak and the cable's fatigue life at the shifter just went way down.
Often the limit screw becomes intrusive into the derailer's travel after the cable is adjusted to a different rear wheel, that's when many riders and "mechanics" often as not fail to re-set the lo-limit screw to allow unimpeded indexing motion at the rear derailer.

As for the 9100 gruppo, and the 8000 gruppo, it seems like the big ring is definitely further outboard of the bike's centerline, causing more severe cross-chain friction and wear when using the largest cogs.
I note that Campagnolo offers two different crankset widths suiting frames with 130 and 135mm axle spacing, but Shimano does not AND uses a wider-than-ever chainring spacing.

I centered up the 9100 crankset on a Cervelo R5 so that the chainrings were centered with the cassette, then discovered that the left pedal sat several mm further out from the rear tire than the right pedal. And this wasn't because BB-Right "forced the issue", but rather that I wanted perfect chainline.

Then, on a Argon18 road model, I centered the 8000 crankarms/pedals to the rear tire but then noticed how noisy that the transmission was when cross-chaining to either of the largest sprockets. Chainline was off. That's not good!

So it seems that Shimano is compromising chainline on 130mm-spaced frames for the sake of disc brakes and perhaps for the sake of clearances sought by "gravel" frame designers.
With no bb width choice and with priority going to disc and gravel bikes, I will use a different crankset myself, then deal with a perhaps-slackened FD cable when riding in the small chainring.

[BdaGhisallo]

As for the 9100 gruppo, and the 8000 gruppo, it seems like the big ring is definitely further outboard of the bike's centerline, causing more severe cross-chain friction and wear when using the largest cogs.
I note that Campagnolo offers two different crankset widths suiting frames with 130 and 135mm axle spacing, but Shimano does not AND uses a wider-than-ever chainring spacing.



According to Shimano, the change to the chain ring spacing on 9100 vs 9000 cranksets was to move the inner ring 0.4mm inward toward the bike center line. The outer ring position has not changed.

[Ralph]

If you don't make the move, just put a Campy 12-30 10's cassette on your current set up. Top 3 large rings pinned to together and on aluminum carrier. I have one...a surprisingly light cassette for the cog size.

[weaponsgrade]

Thanks all. I've got a 9100 group on the way.