Submitted by
Justin Seiferth
a Cross Country Rider
from Lincoln, MA
Date Reviewed: October 23, 2001
Strengths: Triple setup, reasonable price, nice range of casettes in rear, great brakes, sealed bottom bracket, easy to use, rugged QR levers. cassette maintenance easy. Comfortable hoods. Nice, neat appearance if Flight deck used.
Weaknesses: Side of cranks rub inside heel of shoes destroying Ultegra logo on cranks (cosmetic but annoying). Front shifting SUCKS as minimal trimming available, engagement mushy, positions vary on shift by shift basis and difficult to adjust (Ultegra 600 levers for front were better). Levers rattle unless you fix with silicon. RH shifter will stick if you don't flush regularly. Limited front chainring options. Flightdeck good idea but implementation needs work (no temp hold of data, no mileage set, hard setup, gear inch display, etc).
Bottom Line:
OK but front shifters REALLY spoil the triple setup. If they offered a trimming capability and they fixed the lever rattle (both like Ultegra 600) it would be awesome. As it is, for triple I'd recommend a Chorus/Racing T drivetrain. Rest of Ultegra group is fine but brakes, hubs are relative commodities- the shifting is what I do on a constant basis and that's where Ultegra falls down.
Strengths: I've got a dale r2000 (year2001) from my sponsor, with ultegra 6500 and the new 6510 shifters. The new shifters are way better then the old shifters. They rattle much less and shift more accurate and look and feel more solid. The dura-ace shifters with flight deck break down after about 6000km, when the large lever follows the little lever while shifting, then watch out!
Weaknesses: Fast wear and tear, i've ridden in about 2 months 4000 kilometers(2500miles) all weather and after 3000km my brake pads were totally worn and my chain was also to be replaced.
Bottom Line:
good price-quality, except the to fast wear. Buy the new shifters(model 6510), use the old shifters as toy for baby's because it rattles so nice:) I should give 4 chillis, but there are barely better groupsets... Campy is a little bit more durable, but because the "nice" shifter cable routing you should replace your shift cables every 2000km.
Similar Products Used: Old Ultegra group, Chorus 10sp(just stick to 9speed, the pro's don't ride more then 1000km with one chain and they still have many broken chains...
Bike Setup: stock cannondale 2000 model 2001
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Steve Feinstein
a Weekend Warrior
from San Antonio, TX USA
Date Reviewed: July 27, 2000
Strengths: Smooth shifting, high quality product, flight deck computer
Weaknesses: I have a few rattles, but only when the road is rough
Bottom Line:
The upgrade was definitely worth it. I lost some bike weight from RSX plus the great shifting, braking and performance. This is the group to get for the value. My riding buddy uses 105 and he wishes he has Ultegra 6500. Also, the flight deck computer is the best. I like the virtual cadence and knowing what gear I am in without looking back is an advantage as I head up the hills.
Strengths: Super Durable (see below) nice price to preformance ratio
Weaknesses: its not campy and its not dura-ace
Bottom Line:
got the group on a 2000 specialized allez comp. 8 days later a 40 mph crash into the side of a ford excursion destroyed my fork, frame and wheelset. the hoods got pushed 90 degrees on the bar and the plastic front plates pretty scratched up but i transfered the ultegra stuff to a new frame and it all still works great. have about 600 total miles 378 of them post crash. btw im okay just a broken collarbone and some lost skin. Helmet saved my life
Bike Setup: trek postal frame fork, kysrium with axial pros, flight thomsons seat/post, richey pro bars,
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
James Zehner
a Racer
from Grangeville, Id.
Date Reviewed: June 1, 2000
Strengths: Quite, never misses a shift, new 11 tooth rear cog makes for really fast downhill sprints. The STI levers don't rattle like the older 600 levers did. A noticeable weight savings over old 600 groupe. Much easer to trim front derailer while riding,usually isn't even required.
Weaknesses: None, there is some plastic feel to the shifters but, unless your a cat 1 or 2 racer there is now need to dump the extra bucks for dura-ace.
Bottom Line:
Anyone considering getting into road racing should start with this groupe. It shifts super and is much quieter than previous models. I've read a lot of post on how bad the shifter caps rattle but they must have made some changes with the 2000 model because nothing rattles on mine. I've only had it on 2 days and have already logged over 75 miles on it and have nothing to complain about.
Similar Products Used: 8 speed Ultegra STI, I've had since 1992. It worked nice but, it was time to upgrade to 9 speed.
Bike Setup: 1995 Specialized Epic carbon frame-set 56CM, Spinergy wheels, Turbo Team Tires, Sampson Stratics pedals and BB, Sella Flite carbon saddle, Dura-ace post, Prima 220 bars, Control Tech stem. Nice fast ride and it looks better than most new bikes, its one of the last Epic frames, ruby red with silver lettering.
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Steve
a Weekend Warrior
from Mountain View CA.
Date Reviewed: November 15, 1999
Strengths: I have the triple chainring setup, which offers a terrific range of gears. The 12-27 cassette keeps the shifts plently tight. Although there are many duplicate gears, it actually adds a degree of convenience. I didn't expect the chainrings to shift so quickly and easily. The rear derailleur was also much easier to set up than I expected - I thought the 9-speed might be finicky to adjust.Another surprise was how much the brakes are improved over the previous Ultegra. They are very powerful and very smooth.
Weaknesses: On really rough pavement, the cables can rattle on headtube. It would be cool if they routed the cables along the bars like Campy does.
Bottom Line:
The shifting is very impressive. With the double click on the center ring, I can hit any reasonble gear combination with no noise. Overall, it's pretty cool having gears from 30 to 117 inches. The 30 inch low gear is great for really radical grades (another 10% lower than a Campy triple), while the 117 inch allows one to actually pedal at 40 mph. It's just too cool.
Strengths: Light, Crisp Shifts, Smooth, Good looking
Weaknesses: Small cog / Small chainring rub
Bottom Line:
this is a great group set. I have also had the rubbing problem in my 11x39. I think I will try some spacers but I wonder if it isn't a Bottom bracket mix up? Anyway, other than that it is a great set and I would highly recomend it.
Submitted by
Billy
a Weekend Warrior
from Castle Rock, Co
Date Reviewed: July 27, 1999
Bottom Line:
Shifts very well and little grab in the brakes. However there is the nagging chain rub. When in the small chainring and smallest cogs the chain rubs on the large chainring. I was advised by one shop employee to use spacers in the chainrings of the cranks. So far as long as I stay out of the little chain ring and small rings on the cassette I'm fine. Nine Speed? more like 7, unless you can stand that annoying sound. If anyone has a good solution please post. So far as I understand this is normal
Submitted by
David Bullock
a Racer
from Hertfordshire, UK
Date Reviewed: June 24, 1999
Strengths: Very well thought out and assembled component set
Weaknesses: None that i have found so far except when I am using the large chain ring and the lowest 3 sprockets, the chain rubs a little on the front mech. This is probably to be expected with a 9 speed cassete. It could on the other hand just require a little fine tuning.
Bottom Line:
Very pleased with them - Nice stuff like this makes my conversion from off-road to road that little easier.
Similar Products Used: This is the first road bike component set I have tried - I have know idea how it compares with say Compagnolo components, but comparing it with the LX / STX range I would say that the Ultegra set were much better made.
