Double take: new Dura-Ace and Ultegra in depth

We take an in-depth look at the new tech that will, in time, shape all Shimano groupsets

It’s not often Shimano’s two top electronic groupsets are compared to buses. Certainly, we waited five years and two came along at once, but there’s much more to it than that: just like the original ‘omnibus’, the launch of both the new Dura-Ace R9200 and Ultegra R9100 on 31 August will make Shimano’s latest generation of Di2 shifting accessible to all and not just pro teams or those with very deep pockets.

In last week’s magazine we looked in detail at the specifications of the new groupset based mostly on Shimano’s lengthy press release. Since then we’ve got our hands on a Dura-Ace equipped bike and are able to bring you our first impressions of the new semi wireless platform.

Over the next 10 pages, we also look at the story behind the development of the new groupsets and ask Shimano’s UK distributor some key questions about the thinking behind semi wireless, the rationale behind moving to a 54/40 chainset and dropping the classic 53/39, and why Dura-Ace is so expensive these days at £4K-plus. What will availability be like following 18 months of frustration?

And finally, we peer into our postCovid-19 crystal ball in an attempt to see what the future holds for Shimano’s groupsets. Can we expect to see 105 go electronic next? Where does that leave mechanical shifting?

The ultimate groupset?

We sat down with Mike Anderson, PR manager of Madison, Shimano’s UK distributor, for some background. We put to him questions that we knew prospective new users as well as longtime Shimano spotters like us would be asking.