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Review: Wireless Shimano Dura-Ace Shifting is blazing fast, but brakes are just as impressive

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If you haven’t already heard, the new Dura-Ace (and Ultegra!) is here. It hasn’t exactly been a huge secret that Shimano would have something soon, but many of the details that make this new group special have been kept under wraps. Now that the news is out there, and we’ve had some time on the new drivetrain for ourselves, we can confirm—the new Dura-Ace is the one you’ve been waiting for.

Just like everything else for the past year and a half, the roll-out of Shimano’s new groups faced constant challenges. From factories shutting down, to lengthy shipping delays, and the transition to virtual collaboration rather than face-to-face contact, getting Dura-Ace 9200 and Ultegra 8100 to the finish line hasn’t been easy. But Shimano has never been one to shy away from a challenge, and the new product speaks for itself.

Along those same lines, how Shimano introduced us to the new gear changed as well. Typically, we’d be invited to a larger gathering of like-minded individuals, where we could all experience the products for the first time in the same setting. Obviously, thanks to COVID, a large gathering wasn’t wise, so instead Shimano hosted us on a limited, and fully vaccinated basis. That meant I ended up visiting with a handful of Shimano employees in California to see and ride my Dura-Ace equipped test bike for the first time.

Specialized Aethos Frameset

Specialized Aethos with Shimano Dura Ace 9200
All photos c. Shimano/ Kevin Fickling

The bike? That would be the new Specialized Aethos. Honestly, it was extremely difficult to track down a frame for this launch for obvious reasons. The supply chain has taken a huge hit due to both a product shortage and increased demand, but in the end Specialized came through for us—and I’m so glad they did. This thing is incredible. But more on that later.

As a framework for the new Dura-Ace 9200 group, the Aethos makes things pretty easy. Simple cable routing, threaded bottom bracket, a standard stem and handlebar. It’s just a beautifully efficient machine that just happens to match the Dura-Ace group extremely well in the Satin Carbon/Flake Silver finish of the standard Aethos Frameset. For those keeping track, this is the “more affordable” model with FACT 10r carbon fiber compared to the 12r carbon found on the S-Works model.

Built up as shown, the complete 52cm bike checks in at 14.84lbs with Dura-Ace pedals, two PRO carbon bottle cages, a K-Edge Wahoo mount, and plenty of Stan’s in both tires. That build includes the stock Roval Alpinist Carbon Seatpost, a PRO Vibe cockpit with carbon bar, the Dura-Ace 9200 group with an 11-30t cassette and a 52/36t chainring combo, and the new Dura-Ace C36 wheels with Continental GP5000TL 700c x 25mm tires (that actually measure 28mm on these rims). For brakes, Shimano outfitted it with a 160mm RT-MT900-S rotor up front and a 140mm rotor out back. The new PRO Stealth Curved saddle finishes off the build.

While this exact build won’t be available from Specialized due to the Shimano PRO build, Specialized will offer the S-Works Aethos Dura-Ace build for $14,000, and the Aethos Expert build with Shimano Ultegra Di2 for almost half that, at $7,700. Expect to see these in shops by the end of December, or early January.

But First, The Brakes

Shimano Dura-Ace 9200 brakes

It would be easy for the move to 12 speed and wireless shifting to steal the show. But to me, the brakes are just as important. Maybe more. Ever since disc brakes started being marketed for use on the road, they included promises of better performance and enhanced modulation. Yet most braking systems still have annoying little flaws that prevent the concept from living up to its full potential.

That is, until now. The new Dura-Ace stoppers are the best I’ve used on the road. Ever. And it’s not just about power and control. It’s about noise. Or lack thereof.

Descending on Specialized Aethos in California

These brakes are wonderfully silent, which is apparently due to the 10% more room Shimano added between the rotor and pads. So each time you brake, after the pads are done squeezing the rotor, they pull back 10% more, leaving more room for any rotor wiggle that might cause that nagging rub, rub, rub. My first real test of these brakes included a near 2,000′ descent (that I had never ridden) with less than a mile warm up, on a just-assembled, never-ridden, new-to-me bike. Naturally, I was on the brakes far more than I typically would for that type of descent, but it gave me a chance to find out what would happen if you dragged the brakes for a while down a mountain… nothing. Instead, they just reassuringly whirred to a stop as needed, just as quietly as when the ride began.

I’d buy these brakes just for how quiet they are, but Shimano didn’t stop there. Thanks to the Servo Wave mechanism in the brake lever, the pads engage with the rotor faster, with a shorter lever pull. But once they do engage, the brakes offer actual modulation with impressive feedback at the lever. The whole system just delivers descending confidence in a way that most road disc brake systems can only aspire to. Which in turn, helps you go faster knowing you’ll actually be able to slow down in a panic-stop situation.

There’s one descent by my house that I’ve been trying to break 50mph on for some time now. It’s not that hard to build up speed, but the descent is short, and at the bottom there are some streets where you may need to be able to stop suddenly if a driver fails to stop at their stop sign (which is usually the case). Today, I smashed my previous best in damp conditions, and reached 54mph, and honestly could have gone faster. The difference was having brakes that I genuinely trust. That’s it.

Blazing Fast Shifting, too

Dura-Ace 9200 rear derailleur

So the brakes are sublime, but what about the shifting? It’s easy to think, “I don’t really notice the speed of my shifting.” But then you get on something like the new Dura-Ace, and you realize just how fast shifting can be. Shimano claims their 9100 group was already the fastest electronic shifting group on the market. Yet, the 9200 group is now 58% faster for the rear derailleur and 45% faster for the front?

To put that in perspective, most of the time, before you even let go of the shift button the new Dura-Ace drivetrain has already finished shifting. It’s that fast. It’s kind of silly how quickly it can accomplish a shift, which of course means you have a greater potential to be in the right gear at the right time. I’m not sure most riders need shifting this quick but they can certainly appreciate it. And it’s not just shifting up to an easier gear on the cassette. Just like we’ve found with the Hyperglide+ mountain bike drivetrains, shifting down the cassette to a harder gear is seriously quick even under full power—which is usually when you will want a harder gear as you wind up a sprint.

Dura-Ace 9200 hood shape

All of that shifting is of course controlled from the hoods, which I find to be very comfortable. They offer great support for your palms, while keeping plenty of room underneath to wrap your fingers around the hood behind the brake lever. The newly angle hoods look a little weird, but they feel completely natural in your hand. In spite of there being no physical connection from the shifter buttons to the derailleurs, the buttons offer a nice tactile feedback leaving little doubt if you have clicked to another gear or not. The increased offset between the buttons along with the ribbed texture on the forward button makes it very easy to tell them apart. It’s a big improvement over the previous button arrangement.

Dura-Ace 9200 hood

It’s been horrendously humid here lately, and my only concern comes from how slippery the rubber compound of the hoods seem to be in these conditions—but it will be interesting to see if this improves as the hoods wear. I also don’t wear gloves on the road, so for those that do, this seems like a non-issue.

I’m also super keen to check out the new satellite shifters. I love the Blips on my Force AXS eTap bike, so I can’t wait to mount up something similar on this. But the satellite shifters are one of those accessories which have been held up due to supply chain issues. It’s the same story with the power meter cranksets.

Backwards Compatibility and Shared (Existing) Components!

Dura-Ace 9200 cassette backwards compatibility
New 12 speed cassettes will work on existing HG freehubs (left) or the new Dura-Ace only 12 speed freehub (right)

Dura-Ace 9200 component list

We all know that there are way too many “standards” out there as it is. It probably would have been easy for Shimano to ignore this and create a new 12 speed road group with all sorts of specific parts. Instead, it seems like they’re actually listening to consumers. The cassettes fit existing HG spline freehubs. The chains and brake rotors are cross compatible with Shimano’s 12 speed MTB groups and readily available. Consumable parts like brake pads, hoses, barbs, inserts, and a few other small parts remain unchanged. Somehow, Shimano managed to create a drivetrain and brakeset that is truly improved without creating a bunch of additional skus or obsoleting existing road wheels that many consumers will already own.

Wheels, too

Dura-Ace 9200 C36 carbon wheels

To put all that shifting and braking to use, Shimano has a new line of carbon wheels too. This bike was outfitted with the C36, which is the shallowest of the three Dura-Ace Options, with a healthy 21mm internal width. That width allows the Continental GP5000TL 25mm tires to actually measure 28mm, and offers a planted ride feel. The new wheels weren’t ready for the California launch, so I have limited time on them at the moment, but first impressions are quite favorable. The classic cup-and-cone Shimano hubs are ridiculously smooth, and should only get better with age.

It was a little tight getting the Continental tires on the rims, especially since Shimano recommends against using a tire lever. But once the tires were on, they popped right into place and have remained impressively air tight, hardly leaking down at all with Stan’s inside.

shimano 12 speed specific freehub

These wheels of course have the new 12 speed-specific freehub, but that’s only an issue if you buy the Dura-Ace wheels and wanted to run something other than a 12 speed Dura-Ace or Ultegra cassette (to find out why Shimano did this, check out our wheel post here). If that’s the case, then the Ultegra wheels might be a good option with essentially the same rims but a hub with an HG spline freehub. Or just skip the Dura-Ace wheels all together—which you can do since all the new 12 speed cassettes are backwards compatible with existing HG splines.

The Whole Package

Dura-Ace 9200 ride

In a short period of time, the Specialized Aethos has gotten lot of attention. There’s a reason for that. It really is that good. In a room full of high dollar, rare, and exclusive road bikes, the discussion always seemed to land back on the (multiple) Aethos bikes at the Shimano launch. In a world of uber integrated aero super bikes, the Aethos stands out for its classic styling with reserved graphics. It backs up those good looks with an ethereal ride quality that is equal parts airy light, and razor sharp. Our ride in California started with a ride out of the driveway that had us joking that we were going to ‘shuttle’ the driveway because it was so insanely steep, with no run-up. But after the first pedal on the Aethos, I thought, “huh, I guess this won’t be that bad.” The whole ride was like that, with climbs disappearing under efforts that I perceived as being too easy.

Point the bike down the nearest hillside though, it almost telepathically responds to the smallest changes in line, slicing through tight corners with frightening speed. Yeah, it’s as good as everyone says it is. I’ll have a full follow up review on this bike, but I can already tell that this is certainly a bike I would spend my own money on.

Any Downsides?

Charging Dura-Ace 9200 rear derailleur

For the most part, I like the idea of a single charging port on the bike rather than multiple removable batteries. With a longer battery life, and only one to worry about, you’ll probably spend less time charging and more time riding. With that said, I think the charging cable should be longer (or at least an optional longer cable). At 1.5m (4.9′), the cable is long enough to reach from some outlets to the bike, but if you’d rather charge your bike where it’s stored rather than bringing it to an outlet, it seems like nearly everyone would benefit from a longer cable. It’s also a USB cable, and doesn’t include the required 5v/1a AC adapter. So you’ll probably end up with the charging cable plugged into an AC adapter, plugged into an extension cord stretched across your garage or basement whenever you need to charge your bike battery. At least it’s the same charging cable as the power meter will require, and it’s easy to access at the rear derailleur—though there is only one orientation to plug it in. At least I’ll never forget my battery on the charger…

Shimano Dura-Ace 9200 Initial Review

Dura-Ace 9200 riding in California on Specialized Aethos

You’d expect Shimano’s top level group to be great, and you wouldn’t be wrong. But Shimano has managed to exceed expectations with their latest group. Even more impressive is that Ultegra will offer the same level of performance, for a lot less money. We’re still waiting on the Ultegra test bike to confirm this, but if it’s anything like the new Dura-Ace, Shimano will have knocked it out of the park. As far as I’m concerned, this is true dream-build territory, only the performance gains of Dura-Ace 9200 are completely real.

Looking for more on the new Shimano Dura-Ace 9200 and Ultegra 8100 groups? Check out our complete technical overview here. And get the details on the new Shimano wheel line up here

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32 Comments
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Bryin
Bryin
3 years ago

If you bought Sram AXS, you really should be kcking yourself… although I don’t want these parts, they are so much better in every way than Sram (or Campagnolo) that it is a joke. A sick, cruel joke on the people that bought AXS.

Jaap
Jaap
3 years ago
Reply to  Bryin

@Bryin, not really a surprise right?

Chakotay
Chakotay
3 years ago
Reply to  Bryin

Ironic?

EM
EM
3 years ago
Reply to  Bryin

I’m not kicking myself at all. It works really well and NO wires is pretty cool. I prefer 1x and there’s nothing here that would really do that. No clutch on the rear derailleur, no wide range cassette, no derailleur range above the 34 tooth. It will be a long time before the GRX updates happen. Additionally, note how many reviews that dropped today mention the not having the entire build. If you they couldn’t get all the pieces to the most popular reviewers, I’m not feeling confident that they will be on shop floors any time soon. If a road focused 2x system is what you are looking for, this is an incredibly compelling option though (if this version of the power meter ever shows up and is accurate).

Kenny McCarthy
Kenny McCarthy
3 years ago

Is that first photo on Old Creek Road going into Cayucos, CA?

wallymann
wallymann
3 years ago

“With that said, I think the charging cable should be longer (or at least an optional longer cable).”

ever hear of an extension cable? get them as long as you like. problem solved.

ben
ben
3 years ago
Reply to  wallymann

I guess the point is that when you buy a +$4000 groupset,they could include a few etra inches of cable…

Dylan Sutton
Dylan Sutton
3 years ago

A USB power bank solves your problem of not having a wall outlet near your bike.

SK
SK
3 years ago

So, is this the end of Campagnolo…? Is this it, is it slowly coming to an end? They have been mercilessly left behind by Shimano and SRAM and and will not recover easily. It saddens me a lot, I’m a die hard Campagnolo fan but, let’s be honest, it’s high time I switched to Shimano or SRAM.

BrianJ
BrianJ
3 years ago
Reply to  SK

I just built a Cervelo Aspero-5 with Campy Ekar to use on gravel and roads with a second wheel set. I have been riding Di2 and AXS for the past decade plus and the Ekar build was the first mechanical bike I have put much time on in that period. I was blown away by it at SBT GRVL. The shifting was flawless after 100 miles of dirt and crud built up on it and the braking was fantastic. The drivetrain was completely silent the whole ride. I am not a fan of 1x drivetrains because of the big jumps between gears but the Ekar 1×13 has changed my mind.I’m not sure if this one group will be enough to keep Campy in the game but if they can come up with an EPS version it would be amazing.

typevertigo
typevertigo
3 years ago
Reply to  BrianJ

For Campagnolo’s sake, I’d like to see their Ekar thumb shift lever make it onto their other road gruppos.

By no means am I a fan of Campagnolo, but I don’t look forward to seeing them go out of business either. More competition is better for consumers. Ekar was a great first step towards competitiveness, but they have to continually step up their game as Shimano and SRAM aren’t standing still.

rapide1919
rapide1919
3 years ago

Apparently the chainrings are still 110BCD but the angles between the bolts are different – is this true?

typevertigo
typevertigo
3 years ago
Reply to  rapide1919

I’ve read elsewhere that it’s the tab placement (where the chainring bolts actually go through to connect to the crank spider) that’s different.

Same diameter circle (110 mm BCD), but different points. Hence the incompatibility with older cranks.

Tom
Tom
3 years ago

sure it’s cool. But paying $15K for a bike is pure insanity, even $8K for a second tier bike is completely boffo. With prices like this, we’re gonna have to get insurance for our bikes!

JBT
JBT
3 years ago

So Zach – as a SRAM AXS Force user – which one do your prefer? Shimano’s semi wired vision or SRAM’s wireless? I’m a long time Dura Ace user, but I feel like come March, I may be swayed to go to SRAM on my next build with what will likely by a lighter, faster, more compact version of Red AXS. I wish Shimano had incorporated a clutch as well,I ride exclusively road, but looking at my chainstay, Dura Ace could definitely benefit from a clutch.

JBT
JBT
3 years ago
Reply to  Zach Overholt

Excellent – thanks for your take. Surprised by the AXS chain for sure. That’s disappointing. Yeah, if I had to choose today I’d definitely go new Dura Ace, if I had to choose in 6 months or longer, I’ll be very interested to see what the new updated Red AXS stuff will look like. Also be interesting to see where availability on any of this stuff will be next spring.

Eggs Benedict
Eggs Benedict
3 years ago

Zach,
Are the brake hoods longer than the 11-speed hoods? In other words do you need to compensate with a shorter stem or top tube to achieve the same riding position? The reason I ask is because I thought I read somewhere that the GRX hoods are longer. Thanks.

Larry Falk
Larry Falk
3 years ago

Hey Shimano – Where are your 100th Anniversary Groups? I hope we will see them soon.

alex
alex
3 years ago

That there are still cables in the system is a HUGE drawback. Running cables in a frame is a HUGE PITA. I also noticed there is no review of the rim brakes. How well do those work? There are big improvements in the group, no doubt. The biggest is probably HG+. But dropping the mechanical group tells me this is just a way for Shimano to make more money, not an improvement. If you have ridden both groups, you know Di2 does not work better than a mechanical group.

Tom
Tom
3 years ago

Hot ticket – Ultegra group with a high end crankset like Campy carbon. competitive weight with DA for a lot less money.

Tom
Tom
3 years ago

For those riding with integrated front end set ups, there is no debate that electronic will work better, and be easier to service.

Sergio Cruz
Sergio Cruz
3 years ago

Do you have any video showing the shifting speed of the new dura ace?

William Robinson
William Robinson
3 years ago

Is the new dura ace electric only? No mechanical option available anymore? Is this going to be the way for the lower groups as the next few years pass on?

Snoozer
Snoozer
3 years ago

@alex, you know most brands have been running brake hoses internally for years now right? Not much of a PITA routing 2 additional wires thru a frame…

Andrew Pooser
Andrew Pooser
3 years ago

A question about the compatibility chart in your article: Is the 9100 crankset compatible with the 9200 chain and front derailleur? It appears so, as the “current” grey box is in the same column as the “new” blue component graphic. Thanks for the clarification.

Ian Ezzi
Ian Ezzi
3 years ago

I was excited about the ‘no noise’ comment on the brakes, but it appears that you are only referring to rubbing under hard/hot braking.

Are you aware of any developments in reducing noise in cold and wet conditions? I’ve actually gone back to rim brakes on all my bikes as I just can’t bear the noise I get when riding in the cold and wet, especially on winter roads and gravel when the rotors never really get heated up. I know I’m not the only one either, I even saw a passing rider visibly wince when I had to slow down for a junction after a water splash last week!

It feels like an area no manufacturer has really focussed on, leaving consumers to continually fork out for new pads and rotors trying to find a sweetspot for wet weather peformance!

Thanks

Brad
Brad
2 years ago

Hi, This is an awesome article. I just bought that exact colorway frame (non S-works) and was wondering what tires are those? I see or think they are Vittoria but how are they looking so gray in color? It matches that shade of paint on the Aethos perfect…what are they? Thank you

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