Dura Ace 9000 11 speed cassette- rubish product design

[uraqt]

The pros use ultegra

C

[mattr]

+1, there probably aren't as many D-A cassettes in the pro peloton as there are in the average sportive.....

[matty1000]

Haha! That is awesome. Because they are using...Ultegra! So, 2 days on the new cassette, started creaking. This is, indeed, my 6th one. I am now moving to Ultegra.

[hannawald]

everybody switching to ultegra, not Sram Red?

[beanbiken]

Hah, I'm not strong enough to make mine creak let alone break it .............. or I'm deaf some of both I reckon

BB

[matty1000]

everybody switching to ultegra, not Sram Red?

Well, I can't speak for everyone, but from what I have heard far and wide is that utilization of a DA 9000 RD (mechanical) with DA 9000 levers and a Shimano DA 11-spd chain...just works more superior with a Shimano cassette vs. SRAM.

[jwfinesse]

Tried Red 11-25 cassette with 9070 Di2 a couple years back. It never shifted like Shimano cassettes though, be it DA or Ultegra. Noise on either end of the cassette depending on the adjustment. Never bothered with it ever since.

[Vermu]

It is funny that we don't see these failing, or having any issues, in the pro races, wonder why...

Because most can just throw in new cassette between races? Even as shimano is sponsoring most of the WT teams, they can just ship new ones.
You can see that on pro-conti or lower level, the gruppo isn't DA anymore or a mix of ultegra level components.

It's us the mere mortals that are more than annoyed by the fact that creme de la creme product has a rubbish design and we need to warrant such a basic part that should
work for ages. True that it wears but considering how long this debate about DA cassette has been going - one could think that somewhere in Japan there would be an
engineer trying to fix it, alas it seems that this isn't the case.

[Conza]

I have just bought brand new 9100 11-30 cassette via ebay..after reading this thread I think I should resale it as a new..it seems to me that there is no single problem free dura ace cassette..

Or is there something I can do to minimise the risk of creaking/cracking? Lube rivets and apply anti-seize on the contact area between cassette and freehub?
Tighten to max or to min or something recommended?

Thanks..

Do it. I will be selling my temp bike (new build) with full 9100 groupset in a few months, I'll likely be warrantying the DA cassette before - then never using it, and taking a photo of the date with the cassette to further prove it hasn't been used.

Then warn the buyer that DA cassettes are crap; so when it starts to creak a few 100+ km's in; don't blame me - or the BB, or anything else but shimano design on this.

[Belisarius]

Quality rant.

Indeed, and I was ready to believe it all if only he hadnt included the BMW analogy at the beginning (not a brand that I respect).

Well, it is Oct 2020, a year in which I broke the 40 km hr averages on an endurance frame. SRAM cassettes lasted 15,000-20,000 kms per. Little wear. Campy Record 11 chains, 3200-3400 kms to that 132.6mm spacing (must replace). Accrued 40,000, kms on these systems, no issues. Well one- the Campy chains wear the front crankset teeth every 15,000 kms.

The bottom line is that the presence of high tensile steels and alloys in Campy and SRAM made this 9100 hybrid exceptional. Quiet.

I am now gettign ready for DA 12 speed, dreading the invariable complications.

[Belisarius]

Quality rant.

Indeed, and I was ready to believe it all if only he hadnt included the BMW analogy at the beginning (not a brand that I respect).

Well, it is Oct 2020, a year in which I broke the 40 km hr averages on an endurance frame. SRAM cassettes lasted 15,000-20,000 kms per. Little wear. Campy Record 11 chains, 3200-3400 kms to that 132.6mm spacing (must replace). Accrued 40,000, kms on these systems, no issues. Well one- the Campy chains wear the front crankset teeth every 15,000 kms.

The bottom line is that the presence of high tensile steels and alloys in Campy and SRAM made this 9100 hybrid exceptional. Quiet.

Same cables.

9000 crankset softened, turns out its lifespan, for my weight and effort, is 20,000 max. 9100 Crank, and gained 0.5. All and all, from when I postedn originally, I gained 2.5 km hour so that 37.5 becomes 40, and 30 becomes 32-33.

I am now getting ready for DA 12 speed, dreading the invariable complications.

[Belisarius]

I have two bikes with DA 9000 11-28 cassette (not sure if it's pertinent, but bikes are 2015 SWTarmac and a 2016 No. 22 Reactor). Didn't have any issues (noise) when brand new, but after about 6K miles, I started to hear a grinding/cracking- like noise as described on this thread...but only when in the 50-19, 21, 23 combination (e.g., 50-21 on a 5.5% grade). When in the 34-21...spinning more, the noise was nonexistent. So not sure if it's the cassette or something else. I brought the bike in for a quick tune up...adjusting front and rear derailleur settings, checking proper torque on the cassette, still noisy. In the end, I got tired of trying to figure out the annoying noise, and just went with an Ultegra cassette. Low and behold, quiet. Although this IS WW site, the slight gain in weight for a quieter drivetrain was definitely an okay trade off for me.

In Shimano's defense, the DA 9000 cassette was fine the first 4-5K miles however.

The creaking was caused by two factors- putrid torsional rigidity of the part (which holes weaken further), and a poor lifecyle design by Shimano. Rider effort relative, I had some of these casette exhibit fatigue in ONE week of riding, or after the first uphill session (40,000 kms later, NEVER on a SRAM cassette). So the SRAM material is superio, and Campy even more. but we are talking SRAM/Shimano here. So the material properties of the SHimano alloys is terible In 50 20-23, you angle the chain and pul a wider disk. Wider, with holes, it bends (something you can perhaps feel but not see-althouth seen it finger squeezed in a store). So the modulus and torsional rigidity of the disk worsens with area and load. So larger disk is softer, and under max load. Ergao, it begind deforming and pulling on its pins (SRAM monoblock no such thing).

I hope that you resolved it. I still run these systems (SRAM 1190, Campy chains, Yokozuna) on 9100 RDs and 9100 cranks, flawless at 8% gradient, or 45km hr flats.

[Dannnnn]

I'm glad this has popped back up.

i've recently had creaking with my 9170 groupset and assumed it was the BB (I'm using the wheelsMFG adaptor)

I never thought that it could be the DA cassette.

[petal666]

More likely to be your crank failing.