Dura Ace v Ultegra derailleur

lloydmcilroy
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Dura Ace v Ultegra derailleur

Postby lloydmcilroy » Thu Sep 15, 2016 7:10 am

Hi

I have ultegra 6800 groupset and my front derailleur seems to grind a bit when I'm in the big ring at the front and bigger rings in back (not the biggest ring, I make sure not to cross chain). Someone mentioned to me that Dura Ace front derailleur are much better than ultegras but I'm not sure. I am trying to decide if I need to put a dura Ace front derailleur on or just put in new premium cables, keep the ultegra front derailleur and make sure it's correctly aligned and tuned. Can anyone tell me if there is in deed a big different between the two front derailleurs and if it's worth upgrading to Dura Ace front derailleur.

Thanks
Lloyd

macca33
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Re: Dura Ace v Ultegra derailleur

Postby macca33 » Fri Sep 16, 2016 10:25 am

You don't need the DA FD, just get the Ultegra one properly set-up and adjusted. Any decent LBS should be able to do it - I mean, I am no bike mechanic but have managed to set half a dozen or so of these ones up lately and they work very sweetly.

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g-boaf
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Re: Dura Ace v Ultegra derailleur

Postby g-boaf » Fri Sep 16, 2016 11:28 am

lloydmcilroy wrote:Hi

I have ultegra 6800 groupset and my front derailleur seems to grind a bit when I'm in the big ring at the front and bigger rings in back (not the biggest ring, I make sure not to cross chain). Someone mentioned to me that Dura Ace front derailleur are much better than ultegras but I'm not sure. I am trying to decide if I need to put a dura Ace front derailleur on or just put in new premium cables, keep the ultegra front derailleur and make sure it's correctly aligned and tuned. Can anyone tell me if there is in deed a big different between the two front derailleurs and if it's worth upgrading to Dura Ace front derailleur.

Thanks
Lloyd
I think you just need to get it tuned correctly and it'll be fine. Dura Ace can also do similar if not properly tuned. Dura Ace shifting however is quite lovely in general.

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biker jk
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Re: Dura Ace v Ultegra derailleur

Postby biker jk » Fri Sep 16, 2016 11:57 am

Are you trimming the front derailleur when in the gear combination you mention?

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rangersac
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Re: Dura Ace v Ultegra derailleur

Postby rangersac » Fri Sep 16, 2016 12:21 pm

A front derailleur is just a cage, a spring and a couple of screws to set the stop points. The only difference between a DA and an Ultegra one is the DA will be made of some uber metal which will save a whole 10 grams. You will lose a lot more weight from your wallet though.
Last edited by rangersac on Fri Sep 16, 2016 3:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Derny Driver
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Re: Dura Ace v Ultegra derailleur

Postby Derny Driver » Fri Sep 16, 2016 1:20 pm

rangersac wrote:A front derailleur is just a cage, a spring and a couple of screws to set to stop points. The only difference between a DA and an Ultegra one is the DA will be made of some uber metal which will save a whole 10 grams. You will lose a lot more weight from your wallet though.
hahaha so funny, so true :D :D

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g-boaf
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Re: Dura Ace v Ultegra derailleur

Postby g-boaf » Fri Sep 16, 2016 1:40 pm

rangersac wrote:A front derailleur is just a cage, a spring and a couple of screws to set to stop points. The only difference between a DA and an Ultegra one is the DA will be made of some uber metal which will save a whole 10 grams. You will lose a lot more weight from your wallet though.
Would the same apply for 105 versus its lesser brethren? ;)

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Duck!
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Re: Dura Ace v Ultegra derailleur

Postby Duck! » Fri Sep 16, 2016 2:18 pm

rangersac wrote:A front derailleur is just a cage, a spring and a couple of screws to set to stop points. The only difference between a DA and an Ultegra one is the DA will be made of some uber metal which will save a whole 10 grams. You will lose a lot more weight from your wallet though.
D-A is actually a better-built cage.

However, the issue at hand isn't due to derailleur construction; as others have pointed out, it's a tuning issue, probably considerably attributed to not trimming.
I had a thought, but it got run over as it crossed my mind.

jetglo
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Re: Dura Ace v Ultegra derailleur

Postby jetglo » Fri Sep 16, 2016 2:23 pm

+1 on the tuning.. I have both and find the DA a little easier and smoother in the change up but not big enough to replace the Ultegra.

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rangersac
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Re: Dura Ace v Ultegra derailleur

Postby rangersac » Fri Sep 16, 2016 3:47 pm

g-boaf wrote:Would the same apply for 105 versus its lesser brethren? ;)
I used an Orbea flat bar road bike for commuting for a couple of years before the frame cracked and died on me. It came with a DNP triple front derailleur, which is about the lowest spec Taiwanese mech you can find, frankly it looked like it had been constructed from remelted op-shop cutlery. Despite it's aesthetic shortcomings, I recall tuning it once in the time it had it, and it never missed a shift or dropped a chain.
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Duck!
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Re: Dura Ace v Ultegra derailleur

Postby Duck! » Fri Sep 16, 2016 7:12 pm

g-boaf wrote:
rangersac wrote:A front derailleur is just a cage, a spring and a couple of screws to set to stop points. The only difference between a DA and an Ultegra one is the DA will be made of some uber metal which will save a whole 10 grams. You will lose a lot more weight from your wallet though.
Would the same apply for 105 versus its lesser brethren? ;)
Ultegra and 105 are virtually identical, both a step down from Dura-Ace in durability. Tiagra and Sora are another step down, and again, almost identical. Both of these sets of twins suffer structural failures that don't afflict Dura-Ace.

D-A FD cages are made from two pieces of steel, pinned in three places (forward bridge, under the main body and tail bridge), all the others are pressed and folded out of a single piece and only pinned at the tail. There is an inherent weak point at the forward bridge of these one-piece units, quite prone to bending and subsequent breaking. The stronger pinned bridge of D-A suffer this weakness. Additionally, the spring retaining tab on the cast aluminium body of Tiagra/Sora has a tendency to break off, resulting in loss of spring tension, thus no downshifting. The forged bodies of the better models are stronger in that area, so again tend to not suffer this failure.
I had a thought, but it got run over as it crossed my mind.

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