Just as the new 12-speed Dura-Ace R9200 groupset starts to actually turn up in bike shops and on the occasional top-tier bike, CeramicSpeed is ready with an OSPW upgrade to make your new 12-speed Di2 rear derailleur faster. Apparently, they’ve been running around like crazy since the new semi-wireless 2×12 groups were introduced just over two months ago, leaning on their deep industry connections to actually get ahold of the new derailleur, then complete groupset for development and full-scale lab & road testing. And now, it’s ready…
CeramicSpeed OSPW upgrade for Shimano Dura-Ace R9200
CeramicSpeed continues to promote their Oversized Pulley Wheels System, saying it’s been proven to be the fastest pulley system in the world.
As in past OSPW upgrade kits for Dura-Ace, this new generation uses a 13-tooth upper and 19-tooth lower pulley wheel spinning on CeramicSpeed’s own ceramic bearings mounted to a tweaked carbon composite derailleur cage. CeramicSpeed says the new Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 9250 derailleur required small but key functional tweaks to their cage for full compatibility and the reduced spring tension that goes a long way towards reducing drivetrain drag…
Free Watt gains (well not really free)
CeramicSpeed again makes pretty bold performance claims for their OSPW system, offering 30-60% power savings vs. the stock Shimano 9200 derailleur, “or more in some cases“. They also promise their “oversized pulley wheels have 3-5 times longer lifetime than the commonly used standard pulleys on the market“, although that doesn’t specifically refer to Dura-Ace’s own standard pulleys.
CeramicSpeed OSPW Dura-Ace – Pricing, availability & options
Technically, CeramicSpeed has now launched the Dura-Ace 9200 OSPW upgrade, but you’ll have to wait another two weeks to fork over your hard-earned cash for one. And it will cost you… 500€ extra for the “standard” ceramic bearing version with hardened steel races or 590€ if you want to the even-faster “Coated” version that adds a long-wearing, low-friction metallic coating to those steel bearing races. Either way, it includes the easy-to-swap complete OSPW System with red or black pulleys, and a 15ml bottle of low-friction CeramicSpeed bearing oil.
All on top of the Dura-Ace derailleur itself, which we’ve seen advertised for anywhere from 699-815€ (actual retail of $815 / 870€.)
As of now, this new CeramicSpeed OSPW setup is only compatible Dura-Ace R9250, not with the equally new 12-speed Ultegra 8170. But, word is that some additional tweaks are in the works for a separate new Ultegra version, as well.
