New Shimano Dura Ace review....from 1991...
 

Their conclusion? Heavy. Not cross compatible with other Shimano offerings. Convenient and an improvement, yes. But not likely to fully replace downtube shifting.

Sounds so much like the critiques for electronic these days.

http://campagnolodelta.blogspot.com/...tion-1991.html

Enjoyed reading :)
Thanks

It's amazing how revolutionary the levers were back in '89 and now we take them for granted. They even look similar to the 9000 series stuff we're riding today.

I love how they were worried that the extra weight on the brake levers was going to adversely effect the handling of the bike.

That's funny, I just took a full DA group from about 91 off my winter bike tonight. It works as well as new, unfortunately this bike doesn't get cleaned often and is better off as a SS.

I will save the group for a more deserving frame of the same era.

The next spring I acqired like the first ultegra kit in the us and promptly won the only crit of my life as a result. Lots of long faced sprinters as I may have weighed 130 pounds at the time. The next race? Everybody had sti, advantage lost. Huge tech leap at the time.

Anyone remember bumping a downtube shifter with a knee in a sprint? Picking a huge gear before a sprint and hoping you could wind it up? Times changed quickly,

One of the big reasons I switched to Shimano on my road bike is that I recently dug my 1997 Kona mtb out of the garage and dusted it off and the XT components worked like they were brand new. Even the bottom bracket was still smooth. I rode it for a season until I bought a new mtb and it now sits in my shed as a buddy bike.

I raced before STI's, but never used that technique. I just dropped it into the 13 1km out and hammered.

Mavic is already sending you the message that mail order is baaaad...:no:

I love the phrase 'trickleup' to describe the progression of dual pivot brakes from 105 to DA.