I'm with Jim on this one. I think higher price usually means parts are stronger and will last longer (though they may also weigh less). I used to believe the internet hype that the only difference between Ultegra and Dura Ace was weight, but after several Ultegra failures, I did some research. It turns out that (at least with the newer derailleurs) Dura Ace components are made with a higher quality alloy, and are cold-forged, which produces a much stronger product than the Ultegra parts, which use the traditional forging process. I was rather disappointed when my right shifter (Ultegra) failed after about 12K miles and then internet searches found hundreds of people who had experienced the same thing. However, Dura Ace failures don't seem so commonplace. After a couple more months, I had a catastrophic rear derailleur failure (Ultegra), where the inner cage plate simply broke in half. When I look closely at the metal where the break is, it almost looks like a cast part. You can tell the difference between the two metal processes by the level of polish on the parts, as well as the roundness of component angles when compared side by side. Both with Shimano and Campy, the more angular pieces, with various chamfers and detail indicate cold-forging, whereas the standard forging process seems to require bulbous pivot points, etc. I'm not in any way a metalurgist - this is just my perception from what I've read. I'm sure someone on the list can correct my assumptions.
Dylan On Feb 17, 1:00 pm, CycloFiend <cyclofi...@earthlink.net> wrote: > on 2/17/09 11:04 AM, Chris at fourf...@gmail.com wrote: > > > On Feb 17, 7:52 am, Mike <mjawn...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> On Feb 17, 6:29 am, clyde canter <clyde.can...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> Anyone following the Tour of California? It's been amazing to hear > >> about how many "mechanicals" riders are having due to the weather (I > >> guess). These are bikes that are maintained by professional mechanics > >> and they're crapping out in the neutral zone of a race? Yeah, go for > >> it, I'm sure electronic shifting will work much better. > > > Are most of these "mechanicals" not flat tires? Aside from that, it's > > pretty well known that the main difference between Dura Ace and > > Ultegra is weight...you have to reduce weight somewhere and there's a > > good chance it will make the piece of gear a little weaker. Now, most > > of use don't generate near the amount of watts to even come close to > > breaking Dura Ace derailures, so it's really not an issue for us. > > No amount of wattage increase is going to lead to a derailleur failure. It > simply is not stressed in that manner. > > Typically, the more expensive parts do not give measurably "better" > performance. Rather, they give good performance for a longer period of > time. > > Certainly, there are instances where the more expensive lighter parts wear > faster - the old XTR cassette with the Ti sprockets come to mind - which is > generally why it's not an optimum strategy to use lightweight race parts for > a more reliable-use purpose. > > - Jim > > -- > Jim Edgar > cyclofi...@earthlink.net > > Current Classics Bicycle Photo Gallery -http://www.cyclofiend.com/cc > Cross Bike Photo Gallery -http://www.cyclofiend.com/cx > Single Speed Garage Photo Gallery -http://www.cyclofiend.com/ssg > Working Bikes & Practical Hardware -http://www.cyclofiend.com/working > Work Shops of the iBob's -http://www.cyclofiend.com/shop > > Send In Your Photos! - Here's how:http://www.cyclofiend.com/guidelines > > "That which is overdesigned, too highly specific, anticipates outcome; the > anticipation of outcome guarantees, if not failure, the absence of grace." > > William Gibson - "All Tomorrow's Parties" --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
