DA 9100 mechanical vs Ultegra Di2 R8000 - Build Advice

[SilentDrone]

Is there a consensus about which way to go on this question?

I’ll soon be ordering a P1 Trek Domane SLR Disc and the price difference between these two groups is the same [edit: the cost of the two is the same when building a P1 they trek]. I tend to want to go with the DA 9100 mechanical because it works well, it’s lighter, and it’s the top tier group. But many have told me that I should go with the the Ultegra Di2 R8000 because the electric shifting is pure awesomeness and “it’s just as good as Dura Ace”.

What would you recommend and why?




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[dudemanppl]

Di2 because the mechanical hydro levers are fat, ugly, and bulbous.

[madik]

Yeah di2 Ultegra will be the better option. The overall weight wont be very different between the mechanical DA and Ultegra di2, the tie breaker would be crankset which can be replaced relativelly easily to DA or something else lighter.

[SilentDrone]

Yeah di2 Ultegra will be the better option. The overall weight wont be very different between the mechanical DA and Ultegra di2, the tie breaker would be crankset which can be replaced relativelly easily to DA or something else lighter.

Why?

[SilentDrone]

Di2 because the mechanical hydro levers are fat, ugly, and bulbous.

I thought they fixed that with the 9100 group. Hydro and disc shifters are close in size, no?

[dim]

Yeah di2 Ultegra will be the better option. The overall weight wont be very different between the mechanical DA and Ultegra di2, the tie breaker would be crankset which can be replaced relativelly easily to DA or something else lighter.

Why?

because it looks a lot nicer and adds the bling bling ....

I'm looking at upgrading, but I may mix and match if I find a good price on 2nd hand components on ebay

I'm looking at Dura Ace 9000 crankset, front deraillier, shifters, and a longer cage rear derailler (might be ultegra), so that I can fit a 11-32 cassette, and M5 Ligfietsen CNC Caliper Brakes tune zero gravity. (I'm still researching, and hope that the combo will work fine)

I'm buying 2nd hand on Ebay and wll do it in stages on the cheap

[madik]

Yeah di2 Ultegra will be the better option. The overall weight wont be very different between the mechanical DA and Ultegra di2, the tie breaker would be crankset which can be replaced relativelly easily to DA or something else lighter.

Why?

Electronic shifting is more awesome, ST-R8070 are circa 180g lighter than ST-R9120. Go figure.

[Titusrider]

Di2 because the mechanical hydro levers are fat, ugly, and bulbous.

I thought they fixed that with the 9100 group. Hydro and disc shifters are close in size, no?

Not the r9120, they are better than the previous generations but still significantly bigger the the rim brake or the hydro di2

I'm going with r9120 for my build as I am determined to have mechanical but see my build thread for the weights, it is not weenie!

See this pic - bottom left is the ultegra equivalent and gives a good impression of size


This is a bike with them on, looks fine to me but I can see how it might not to others
https://www.toykyo.be/case/rapha-x-parlee

[SilentDrone]

Electronic shifting is more awesome, ST-R8070 are circa 180g lighter than ST-R9120. Go figure.

Overall the DA mechanical group will be around 300 grams lighter than the ultegra Di2 group.


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[SilentDrone]

because it looks a lot nicer and adds the bling bling ....

I would never consider an ultegra group to have more bling than a dura ace group.


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[fromtrektocolnago]

Comparing di2 to mecanical is apples to oranges. preferences are personal. Really depends if you prefer the simplicity of mechanical or the techiness and shifting ease of di2. personally i like mechanical. electronic is anathema to what cycling should be in my book. others will of course differ. But in any response you are inviting that bias.

[pdlpsher1]

Comparing di2 to mecanical is apples to oranges. preferences are personal. Really depends if you prefer the simplicity of mechanical or the techiness and shifting ease of di2. personally i like mechanical. electronic is anathema to what cycling should be in my book. others will of course differ. But in any response you are inviting that bias.

+1. I have both. And I could live with either system. I get occasional mis-shifts on my mechanical group but it's not like it ruined the fun of the ride.

I think what makes the decision so difficult for the OP is that he's comparing two systems that roughly costs the same, and each system has its pluses and minues

[fromtrektocolnago]

Comparing di2 to mecanical is apples to oranges. preferences are personal. Really depends if you prefer the simplicity of mechanical or the techiness and shifting ease of di2. personally i like mechanical. electronic is anathema to what cycling should be in my book. others will of course differ. But in any response you are inviting that bias.

+1. I have both. And I could live with either system. I get occasional mis-shifts on my mechanical group but it's not like it ruined the fun of the ride.

I think what makes the decision so difficult for the OP is that he's comparing two systems that roughly costs the same, and each system has its pluses and minues

i was biking in france this sept and someone on a new di2 bike had a shifting failure nobody could figure out for a few hours. turns out a connector got loose. i'll stick with my 9000 mechanical. you can laugh at this , but this stuff does happen

[adilosnave]

Be careful combining the DA 9000 crankset with the latest Di2 front derailleurs. They aren't made to work perfectly together. Different spacing.

[pdlpsher1]

Comparing di2 to mecanical is apples to oranges. preferences are personal. Really depends if you prefer the simplicity of mechanical or the techiness and shifting ease of di2. personally i like mechanical. electronic is anathema to what cycling should be in my book. others will of course differ. But in any response you are inviting that bias.

+1. I have both. And I could live with either system. I get occasional mis-shifts on my mechanical group but it's not like it ruined the fun of the ride.

I think what makes the decision so difficult for the OP is that he's comparing two systems that roughly costs the same, and each system has its pluses and minues

i was biking in france this sept and someone on a new di2 bike had a shifting failure nobody could figure out for a few hours. turns out a connector got loose. i'll stick with my 9000 mechanical. you can laugh at this , but this stuff does happen

I have to laugh because the same thing happened to me! The problem is that no one reads instructions manuals anymore. The Shimano instruction specifically tells you how to eliminate a loose connection. See the attached photo. This is the wrong way to install a wire. Shimano says you need to leave a little slack of wire just before it goes into the shifter. One day I was on a ride and hit a big pothole. All of a sudden I lost shifting on the RD. It turned out that the force of the impact cause the shifter to move 1-2mm, and that force was enough to pull the shifter away from the wire which was tightly taped to the handlebar. By leaving a little slack in the wire solved the problem for good. Unfortunately most Di2 bike are installed like the one shown in the photo.