Shimano Dura-Ace 7900 Groupos
4.1
/5
REVIEWS
4.1
QIKRATE
4.8
WEB
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DESCRIPTION
The eight piece 7900 Dura-Ace upgrade kit includes the Shimano Dura-Ace 7900 front derailleur, rear derailleur, shifters, brakes, cranks, bb, cassette and chain.
USER REVIEWS
OVERALL RATING |
2 |
★★★★★
★★★★★
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VALUE RATING |
2 |
★★★★★
★★★★★
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Looks good. Front shifting, braking.
Rear shifting. Not good enough for DA. It sure makes Di2 feel like heaven.
Such a disappointment coming from 7800. Actually, before the bad, the good.
Brakes - great. Front shifting - spot on. Lever feel - nice. Looks - great.
The bad.
Rear shifting!
Think long and hard about getting this groupset if you have a bike with internal cable routing. Even on an externally routed bike in my opinion, shifting is sluggish and imprecise compared to 7800. On my Fondriest TF2 with internal routing, it was horrendous.
It is the first groupset I've ever had problems meching myself. Local mechanics had just as many problems.
I notice posters saying 'well if you mech it right, you have no problems'. Fair enough, but if I (a pretty handy mech) have to spend time on this groupo when I know I can have Sram Red or 7800 dialled in a quarter of the time, tell me why I need to bother? It's a simple decision for me.. the low maintenance, no crap groupo! DA 7900 is sadly neither of these.
I've moved on Sram red now, with 7800 on my other bike. I no longer have nightmares.
My opinion.. if you have an externally routed bike, this group is ok but not of 7800 quality when it comes to rear shifting. Same can be said for Ultegra 6700 vs 6600 in my opinion. Shimano just haven't done the hidden cables well!
If you have an internally routed frame, steer clear, just like Cervelo test team did.
Similar Products Used:
DA 7800
Ultegra 6700
Ultegra 6600
Campy Chorus
Sram Red
105 5600
OVERALL RATING |
5 |
★★★★★
★★★★★
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VALUE RATING |
4 |
★★★★★
★★★★★
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Really attractive, ease and fluidity of shifting and braking.
Price, but you get what you pay for.
With the little amount of riding I did on this groupo I was surprised to notice how crisp and smooth it shifted and braked over the prior Dura Ace groupo.
Similar Products Used:
Older gen Dura Ace.
OVERALL RATING |
5 |
★★★★★
★★★★★
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VALUE RATING |
5 |
★★★★★
★★★★★
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Performs faultlessly. Good value for money (with some ultegra parts). It just works. All I need it to do. I quite like the looks, but not really that important to me (rather be riding than admiring)
Cant think of anything.
Well, finally bit the bullet and upgraded from DA 9 spd shifters and ultegra/105 everything else, to DA 7900 shifters, front mech and chain/ultegra everything else (couldnt justify/afford complete DA). Well put it all on my bike last weeka dn then got sick, feeling better by racing on sunday. Did a monor fiddle with micro-adjust before start and then went racing. Thought it maybe a fatal error but WOW, what an improvement. I had no missed shift whatever (even though roads are rough as guts around here), much less force required to make shifts than previous setup. Front shifting is off the planet. So easy and quick, braking is awesome and rear shifting effortless. I cannot see what people are complaining about. I'm no expert mechanic, but I had no trouble doing setup to my normal method, and apart from the initial adjustment when i got on initially (i dont have a workshop stand, so have to do it with the bike upside down) to the rear shifting had no malfunctions of any kind. I havent tried Sram or Campag, have always run shimano on all my bikes (road and MTB) and have never had any problems with it whatsoever. Would highly recommend this setup to any one. The hidden cables are a nice touch, and I found the shifters to be very comfortable (much less numb hands than I normally get). The BB area is also noticably stiffer than before. I am also running Shimano DA carbon clinchers and find these unbelievably good.
OVERALL RATING |
5 |
★★★★★
★★★★★
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VALUE RATING |
3 |
★★★★★
★★★★★
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Precision, smoothness.
None.
Reading the above 10 "reviews" as a professional mechanic, makes me cringe. To say DA 7900 doesn't shift well (for you, on your bike) is ridiculous. Set-up, regardless of what gruppo you run, is crucial. Most people (mechanics included) don't get everything right the first time they assemble a bike. Add a bit of break-in time, and ALL shifting systems need adjustment and re-evaluation to work their best. If ANY aspect of the set-up is off even just a millimeter or two, the shifting precision is compromised. I would be willing to bet, if properly set-up, the negative opinions of at least half of the "reviewers" here would be altered for the better.
Before you slam the best component group money can buy, get a better mechanic.
Similar Products Used:
Everything.
OVERALL RATING |
3 |
★★★★★
★★★★★
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VALUE RATING |
2 |
★★★★★
★★★★★
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Precise shifting when working well. Brakes are superb!
Takes more force to actuate levers for shifting. Because of close shifting tolerances, cable routing is very critical, almost requiring the precision of rocket design. Not a lot of room in cabling slop to get the drive train to function well. I'll be swapping this out for SRAM Red on one my bikes. Shifting will not be as quick/precise with Red, but at least it'll shift when I want it to. Brakes on SRAM Red aren't quite as nice, but close enough to get the nod over the 7900 groupset. I also don't need an iron fist on Red to work the shifters.
This groupset works shifts very precise, smooth, and quick, although actuating the levers takes more force than the 7800 groupset.
The close tolerances are a blessing and a curse. I have this groupset on two different bikes (same make but different geometry), but on one, it acts very tempermental as it hangs on a couple cogs while shifting to lower gears. On the same bike I have problems, the front derailleur rubs on the chain in spite of adjusting it every which way possible. Trim on the front derailleur would've been nice.
The brakes are EXCELLENT! Cosmetically, I have no issues except for the black anodized part of the cranks which can get nicked up with dings becoming more visible.
Similar Products Used:
Dura Ace 7800, SRAM Red, and lots of junk dating back to the late 70s.
OVERALL RATING |
5 |
★★★★★
★★★★★
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VALUE RATING |
4 |
★★★★★
★★★★★
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Strong, smooth, efficient, high-quality feel.
Initial break-in took about a month for the system to become stable.
I have the entire Dura Ace 7900 group on my Trek Madone 6.9 Pro, including the standard 53/39 rings on the crank. The bike came set up with a 25/12 rear cassette, and initially, I could not seem to get everything to work smoothly. I would have to make minor adjustments every couple of rides to be able to use the top two gears. Once the cables stretched out a bit, it ran more smoothly. However, since San Diego has a lot of up and down terrain, I bought a 28/11 cassette and suddenly everything was perfect. The ratios just seem right and the shifting is smooth, fast, and positive--every shift pops right into gear. The ergonomics are very nice. The hoods are broad and flat on top and the hands fit very comfortably around them. I would describe the action as "light", and the whole feel of the group is about fluid action. Front crank feels light but strong and the chainrings are very stiff, making shifts very positive. Whether one likes the look or not is subjective, but the way everything works is very efficient. Braking is good, but it requires a strong hand. This probably has more to do with the carbon rims and the cork brake pads than with the design of the brake arms and levers. Speaking of the levers, they are carbon, so they feel very light compared to the prior Dura Ace or Ultegra I've had in the past, but they don't feel cheap even though they are light. The cage is smooth and the chain runs through the gears very cleanly. The narrow chain runs up and down the cassette very smoothly, but upshifts on the front are not as quick on my bike as I read in other reviews. It shifts fine, just not outstanding.
I love the hidden cables, as it gives the bike a much cleaner appearance and I don't notice any reduction in efficiency over the 7800 Dura Ace.
I have not ridden bikes with Campy or Red recently, so I won't make any comparisons, but I can't see any benefit from a lighter group and I can't imagine either Campy or Red being more efficient or reliable. If Campy has stayed true to its roots, it always had a very positive feel with each gear change, whereas Shimano put a premium on smoothness.
In summary, I believe the 7900 Dura Ace shows incremental improvements in most every way over its predecessor, but some might prefer the more substantial feel of the 7800 group over the lighter, quicker feel of 7900.
Similar Products Used:
Ultegra, Dura Ace 7800
OVERALL RATING |
5 |
★★★★★
★★★★★
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VALUE RATING |
5 |
★★★★★
★★★★★
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Price (it is now the cheapest of the premier groups.) Brakes (while none are bad these are noticeably better.)
No trimming required if set up carefully.
Front shifting leaves others for dead.
Cranks (while I can't tell if the arms are stiffer, the chainrings definitely are.)
Great range of sizes for cranks and cassettes.
Upgradeable to Di2 later on. (I won't bother though.)
I really don't think any of the top tier groups have weaknesses, they just have quirks which make them more or less appealing to some people. Just get what feels comfortable or you like the look of and ride like hell.
This is a strange review for me because I've long been a Campag fan. Before I go any further I just want to say I respect the opinion of all the other reviewers here and I don't want to start any arguments about DA vs Red vs SR, I simply want to convey my experiences with this groupset.
I've ridden Campag on my favourite bikes for years and so has my wife. Our "best bikes" have had Chorus 11 on them for about 18 months. My brother bought a SRAM Red group about 6 months ago and I've been able to play with his bike for most of this time as he works away. About 1 year ago I bought a Cannondale CAAD 9 with DA 7900 and FSA SLK crank (which uses the BB30 system). I didn't need it but it was 50% off and I've always wanted one so the wife gave me the nod. I always had the intention of fitting the Chorus 11 to it if I preferred the frame but a strange thing happened...
After having them all at my disposal I quickly worked out I didn't like the Red. It is ruthlessly efficient but the hood shape doesn't work for me and although it shifts fast, you need to use a lot of force at the lever.
My Chorus 11 is on a Scott Addict frame and I put it aside for a while I did the 60km commute to work on the CAAD9 a few times a week. The weather changed and I started doing more group rides (I'm notoriously lazy when it's cold). I dragged the Addict out and to my shock I found I had started to prefer the DA 7900 gear on the CAAD9. While I always liked the Campag 11 stuff, I suddenly found myself frustrated by constantly altering my grip on the hoods to reach the thumb lever, enduring the lazy shift onto the big ring and the need to do a lot of trimming to get decent use of the 11 speed cassette.
Hmm... I deliberately started riding all of them so I wouldn't be affected by the cycling condition known as "newitis" where whatever is newest seems best.
In the end I just couldn't deny the DA 7900 was most enjoyable for me. I bought 2 complete groupsets for $1380 AUD each and put them on the Addict and my wife's bike. I've never looked back. On a side note my wife is very small and light (44kg) and she loves the DA too. She likes the option of a 165 crank and the shift to the big ring is easiest for her. Red offers the 165 crank but needs strong hands to operate. Campag's smallest crank is 170 and the amount of lever travel needed to shift up front was a problem for her small hands.
I can honestly say I've had none of the issues mentioned by other reviewers and this goes for all three of the groups we've got.
I will concede a few things though:
The exposed shifter internals is a bit weird and worried me at first. After several thousand kilometres though it has not gotten dirty or caused problems. Don't know how it would go for Cyclocross though?
A previous reviewer commented on up shifting only 2 gears at a time. True but the speed with which it shifts makes it a non issue. I agree with another reviewer though that the down shift can seem vague in so much as it is very smooth and quiet. Mine never miss-shifts but it sometimes makes you wonder.
Chains do wear quicker than others but I am prepared to accept this for the quality shifting on offer.
The DA cables are the best of the lot. They are very good quality and do not seem to stretch as much. My DA groups have needed less tuning than the others but they are all ok in this regard.
People draw comparisons between 7900 and 7800 shift action. Yes 7800 was a fraction lighter in feel. What are you really comparing though? 7900 has hidden cables and so it must be compared with other hidden cable systems. 7800 was always going to be a tad smoother but 7900 is much smoother than Red or Campag 11. You have to compare apples to apples.
Despite the marketing hype from SRAM the weight difference between the Red and DA groups was less than 50g.
DA doesn't need ceramic bearings. I've felt the derailleur wheels and bottom brackets when swapping out chains and the DA bearings are the smoothest.
Similar Products Used:
Chorus 11. Red. DA 7800. Chorus and Record 10 speed.
OVERALL RATING |
2 |
★★★★★
★★★★★
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VALUE RATING |
2 |
★★★★★
★★★★★
|
Brakes are spot on, just the right lever feel and engagement points. Group is light, but at what expense?
The shifting is wooden, a lot of lever travel loss and missed shifts. Exposed shifter mechansim
7900 is the new 2004 105! Having ridden my wife's ill-equipped 105 triple bike from 2004 vintage, I can say it is on deck with it in terms of feel, and overall sub-DA performance. I too was wooed away from the 7800 set I have loved for six years to be part of the latest hook. I have shunned SRAM, not even considered Campy, and am now flabbergasted at the poor 7900 setup. Di2 rocks though, so my faith is only tarnished...FOR NOW. And for reference I have two 7800 sets left in my stash that will not ever be sold.
Stupid cost aside - press on dear reader before you step into 5700/6700/7900 too.
Brakes are wonderful, the 7800 was too. So not much to write home about, I can lock up the wheels when needed on both sets, or modulate my way around anything. Work well in wet and dry and much better on carbon clinchers.
I use a BB30 Hollowgram crank and love it. Never had issue with a 7800 crank, so I am sure 7900 works just fine with it's matching chain. Have also used the Easton EC90SLX crank, no issues there either.
Front derailleur is very nice and is improved from the 7800 for a more rapid engagement. Impressed.
Rear derailleur is a bit flexy it seems, but shifts along at it's lumbered pace. I cannot really blame it for anything but following what the lever indicates it should do along it's parallelogram path.
Ah, the shifting. Remember this is Dura Ace right... And I even waited more than a year post-release so the engineers could quietly fix any population-unknown issues at the initial huzzah into production. Levers are nice, the carbon does not get as cold or hot as alloy. Levers feel a bit slippery. Could have used some texturing or similar surface finish update. The nubs that used to be grippng points are gone. I cannot wrap around the tops of the body and TT away. Miss that dearly. The travel loss is large and the shifting imprecise. By this I mean sometimes (which means too often) it misses an upshift (taller gear) and has me guessing what is next. Downshifting gives you only two per sweep. On my setup if you are on the third cog down and downshift (going for two) all the way it will engage the top cog, then drop to the second. Yet it gives a click, click, indicating two shifts made. Then you have to shift AGAIN to get into first. Numerous attempts to dial this out are unsuccessful. Now having routed my cables to the inside, I may have caused this issue? Why would it be offered then? Unsure. The shifting has a dull, friction induced yawn that only begs to be put down and covered with rocks. If this were given to me in a field-test situation, I would have said the same thing. I think Shimano must have had a group of yes-testers that could not bare their soul to how blaise the top-drawer groupset is. My hope is for 2011 or 2012 there is a cheaper Di2, wireless Di2 and a 8000 groupset that takes all that is awesome from the 7800 and few goodies from 7900 and gives us Shimanophiles another reason to not jump brands.
Similar Products Used:
DA7800, DA7700 Ultegra SL, 105 triple (ugh)
OVERALL RATING |
3 |
★★★★★
★★★★★
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VALUE RATING |
3 |
★★★★★
★★★★★
|
lighter than 7800, stiffer crank no longer the stiffest.
Go out and ride Campy super record that is properly tuned and you will agree. Shifters are heavier than sram rival, front derailleur is heavier than red, and so is the rear. price is higher than red. Shimano still has to many moving parts, does not work like 7800
I have three bikes, all of them are cannondale super six, an 08,09 and 2010. They all have the same ride, 2010 is a little stiffer. One is equipped with campy super record, another Sram Red, and the last with Dura Ace 7900. Super is the smoothest, Sram is clunky yet responsive, and Dura Ace has gone backwards, the internal cable routing does not work for them, tell me why were some of the guys in the tour still riding 7800. It sometimes does not shift up when you click the lever. All shimano showed me when they came out with the 7900, they are the followers. The electronic shifting is exceptional, I tried it and is out of my price range. Sram took the lead three years ago, and Campy came out with new levers and a smooth shifting 11 speed. 7900 was a side thought for shimano, the electronic is their new baby, time to rape the consumer!!!! If you ever have the chance to ride them one right after the other you will agree.
Similar Products Used:
Campy super Record 5 Stars
Sram Red 4.5 stars
Shimano 7800 4 stars
Shimano 7900 3 Stars
OVERALL RATING |
5 |
★★★★★
★★★★★
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VALUE RATING |
5 |
★★★★★
★★★★★
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The GOOD:
The shining ray of light of the group is the crank. This crank is STIFF. You can tell. i use it with a Chris King BB. We know there is no need to replace that in a year. SMOOTH. The front Derailleur shifting is nirvana. The brakes are off the hook-- very well modulated. They reduced group weight by a lot. I think about 150g or so. Sram no doubt got Shimano off their ass.
The BAD:
The shifters have a really ugly exposed cut-out spot on the inside where sweat and grime can get in. Also, sometimes I can feel the cut-out with my thumb when I am tired. It occasionally bugs me.
The shift up paddle is a thin, small plastic cheesy Walmart part. Shimano needs to increase the size and texture it. Sometimes the small size allows my index finger to slide off easily. Oh ya, you can only downshift 2 gears at a time with the big lever -not 3 like on 7800.
The 7900 is a nice group but with definitely pros/cons. It shifts nice just like 7800 but you have to set it right. Run the shift cables behind the bar where the bend radius is shallower. This has less friction. Also, use good lubricated cables and don't make tight bends. Yes, 7900 is more sensitive to get right. In the stand, set your end stops. Then, set the chain on the #2 cog gear from the bottom. While turning the crank at a normal speed, adjust the tension barrel counter-clockwise until you just hear the chain start to get noisy. Then back it off a couple notches until it goes away. Now your tuned. It will go out again after the new cables stretch. Do it again. Now you shouldn't have to touch it. Don't get lazy and spoiled by Sram's huge adjustment window.
All the groups are within 100g of weight. So, I think Andy from Competitive Cyclist said it right--They all work well-- Go with the group that has the most comfortable hoods for your hands since you spend most of time on the hoods. I could not agree more. I have large hands. The DA hoods fit them like a glove as they are a bit longer than Campy and Sram.
This group is not without pitfalls however. See below.
In conclusion: Shimano could have made it better finished. Standby for 7900 version II next year. I still give it a 5 for the highlights Shimano has done.
Similar Products Used:
All high end road groups