Comments on: Dura Ace 11 speed

By: GIldas

GIldas — Sun, 13 May 2012 11:45:21 +0000

11 speed makes sense from a industrial point of view, simply because parts last less long.
11 speed makes no sense from a client point of view, simply because parts last less long.

For me, the high point of Dura-ace evolution was the last 8 speed. It’s been mostly downhill form a user/client point of view since. It’s been more and more marketing and less and less stuff you can depend on for 10 000km… Servive intervals in Belgium in winter on DA 10s is about 2000km. Campy 11s is about 1000. That’s 4 or 5 rides, then you need a new chain/cassette. I call that crap.

This leaves the door open for another manufacturer to offer a group-set with a “guaranteed 5000km service interval” with 9s or 10s. Are you listening FSA?

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 01 May 2012 21:16:27 +0000

I guess I haven’t been keeping up, that’s very interesting. Only Sora will have a triple, then, I’m assuming?

By: Nick F

Nick F — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 19:38:51 +0000

I agree there, I’m talking about the left-right asymmetry visible in the shot above. Maybe it appears more pronounced that it really is because of the camera angle though.

By: WV Cycling

WV Cycling — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 13:23:25 +0000

Oh, the freehub bodies are going to require ?4 or 5mm? more width. Many freehub bodies that need that spacer before the cassette is put on will be fine, but others will not be compatible.

By: Danilo

Danilo — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 08:40:44 +0000

2013 Ultegra will handle up to a 30-tooth cog, and 105, Tiagra and Sora will have medium cage rear deraileurs compatible with cogs up to 32-tooth, just like SRAM Apex…

By: Maarten

Maarten — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 14:35:22 +0000

Did Shimano reduce the manufacturing tolerances yet again to ensure that the shifter will actually find the gear the rider wants? Or have they finally come to their senses and make sure that shifting a gear requires the same cable-pull regardless of the gear you’re in? At least there is a non-electric version….

By: Adam

Adam — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 19:28:06 +0000

I just pray that they don’t start bringing 11 speeds into mountain biking. Mud already makes 10 speed enough of a pain.

By: art

art — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 13:01:17 +0000

I absolutely agree. If you’re going to blow off an existing standard, you need to go the whole Apple and convince your end user that owning your product is so life definingly important that compatibility is irrelevant. A new spindle diameter needs to be perceived as so perfect that there will never be a reason to use another kind of pedal with the crank.

By: James Thomas

James Thomas — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 12:32:46 +0000

OK…maybe pointless was an unfair word to use, but everyone assumed at the time that the larger diameter spindle was not going to be adopted as a new standard. As with any new design from Shimano, there was thought behind it, but bike shops didn’t want to explain the reason for it to their customers, and adapters to use standard pedal spindles appeared almost immediately.

I certainly don’t believe that standard dimensions for component compatibility should be set in stone, but there needs to be a compelling reason for a change that makes existing components obsolete. In the case of AX, those reasons (if they were valid) were not communicated well to retailers or end users.

By: art

art — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 12:21:57 +0000

The spindle change wasn’t pointless. It was used to move the bearings from the pedal body to the base of the spindle. The platform of the pedal was then able to sit below the spindle center instead of below it. The idea was that having the foot contact the pedal above the rotational axis (like on every other pedal) is unstable, and that moving the axis up into the middle of the foot improved efficiency. It made some logical sense, though I don’t think I’ve ever seen any strong data to support or refute the assertion.

The design was ultimately doomed because didn’t roll out far enough in advance of the first successful clipless pedals to be widely adopted. Of course now, clipless pedal manufacturers now market their products on how low of a stack height over the spindle they have.