Dura-Ace 7900

I don’t have time for a full post today, but I want to quickly mention the new 2009 redesign of the Dura-Ace group. Overall, I think the 7900 series Dura Ace group looks good; I especially like the new brakes. The new crank, which includes a compact option, looks nice as well. I like the way the crank arm flows into the chainring, but it might take me a while to get used to the new Dura-Ace crank, which looks like it took a few cues from XTR. I loved the 7800 series Dura-Ace crank when that design debuted about 5 years ago, so I consider that one a tough crank to improve on (speaking strictly about aesthetics).

The total weight of around 2000 grams is lighter than the previous Dura-Ace group, but still heavier than SRAM Red. I imagine the popularity of the Red group was a big consideration with this redesign from Shimano, which includes carbon fiber on the rear derailleur and shifter/brake levers. Speaking of the shifter levers, something else that I am happy to finally see is the rerouting of the shifter cables under the bar tape. That is one detail where Shimano has been trailing Campy and other competitors for quite some time.

If you are interested, read more about the new Dura-Ace group here, here, and here.


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10 responses to “Dura-Ace 7900”

  1. Robb Sutton (198) Avatar
    Robb Sutton (198)

    Coming from the mountain biking side of things…I really like the new design of the crank arms. It appears that they are using cues from the XTR line as well as their new SLX line that I covered earlier this year. That two tone look seems to be the theme they are going with.

  2. tbv@trustbut.com Avatar
    tbv@trustbut.com

    Hmmm, no triple. The compact is driving out high-end gear for humans who need lower gearing for their mountain-goat imitations, unless they do it on an MTB.

    Bummer.

    TBV

  3. Tarun Avatar
    Tarun

    The lack of triple is fine with me… DA is a racing group not a touring group and there are plenty of options out there for a decent triple…

    Not sure if the weight cuts are enough with 2009 Rival being such an insane deal.

  4. bikesgonewild Avatar
    bikesgonewild

    …i’ll go on “record” as saying that it makes me see “red”…d’oh !!!…

    …(this post is apropos of nothing but bad, cheap humor)…

  5. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    Yuck. Not a fan of the two-tone at all – looks Huffy to me. Maybe I’ll get used to the look in a year or two, but I don’t think I will ever like it. Hope this doesn’t trickle down to Ultegra.

  6. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    the 2 tone is fugly. keep it off road.

  7. bikesgonewild Avatar
    bikesgonewild

    …good point about the look, oh anonymous posters…

    …it would probably look at home on a cyclo-cross rig, but on a high end roadbike ???…

    …um, please rebuild my full zoot pinarello prince w/ record or red…that dura-ace just doesn’t cut it…

  8. jimmythefly Avatar
    jimmythefly

    I’ve been conditioned to see cranks with integrated ‘rings as non-replaceable, non-serviceable crap. So, based purely on looks, these at first turn me off.

  9. Olivier Blanchard Avatar
    Olivier Blanchard

    I’m not to sure I like the two-tone the way they designed it. I’ll keep my carbon S-Works cranks, thank you. (<-- Gear snob? Me? No!) 😀

  10. BG Avatar
    BG

    I’m hearing/reading from several reports that Dura Ace’s latest front shifting bests all competitors, but the rear shifting isn’t as nice as Sram Red (or Force/Rival). Never was an adopter of one manufacturer groups myself – I prefer to mix and match. Ho hum, life goes on.

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