Price Paid:
$200.00
at ebay! Favorite Ride:
murray river around mildura in summer Bike Setup:
Omega matrix frame, ultegra 9spd groupset, crappy alex wheels, thomson masterpiece seatpost, modolo kx bars Summary:
I bought these second hand on ebay a year ago, and they have worked flawlessly ever since. These work great, but like any mechanical component require servicing. For some reason, cyclists seem to think shifters with all their moving parts can just keep working into infinity without proper care.
I am writing this because I think the 9spd ultegras are fantastic shifters, and a fantastic groupset, and if you're like me, building a bike on a budget, you can get them for a great price on ebay.
These shifters clog up with dirt quickly and easily. Twice a year, more depending on how much you ride, you need to disconnect the cables, buy a can of teflon based lube with a narrow nozzle, and thoroughly flush out the entire innards with the lube. That means every single crevice, pull the brake levers down, flush behind them etc, it's easier if you take the shifters off first. While you flush you will see dirt running out. Keep flushing until it's 100% clean. Use half a can if you have to, we're not lubing so much as cleaning. Then dry them as best you can with a clean rag. If you do this, I bet you they will never seize.
As far as functioning, when properly maintained and set up, these are amazing. Rear shifts are spot on, only a tiny movement of the lever required to go up a gear, or you can go up 3 in a big sweep. Front shifting is incredible IF you have it set up properly. I installed these myself and spent ages getting the trim working properly, and now it works flawlessly, only the tiniest movement of the lever is required to go from the small to big chainring. If yours doesn't do this, it's not set up properly.
I can't recomend these enough. Nowadays they are very cheap on ebay, and provided you service and set them up properly, they will perform on par with any other shifters out there. Strengths:
(when set up properly) - awesome shifting. Only a tiny movement required to jump from small to big chainring. Trim allows me to use the 12tooth cog in the small chainring with no rub, and something like 23tooh cog in the big chainring with no rub. Shifting is smooth and precise, although due to the fact that you can go up 3 shifter on the rear with one sweep of the lever, sometimes you accidently go up too many gears, although this applies to all the other road shifters out there too.
As brake levers they are great, very solid and reliable. I find the hoods comfy, although some people seem to find the campy hoods better. Use whatever fits your hand best. Weaknesses:
requires more maintenance than campy, but come on, what bike part doesn't require maintenance? If you want a "set and forget" bike, then a high end road bike isn't for you.
Getting the trim set up can take some experimenting, although this isn't a weakness, just my lack of knowledge.
The only serious weakness is that it's too easy to accidently go up too many gears sometimes on the rear, although this is really just a matter of getting used to it. Similar Products Used:
shimano sora
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