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I have just bought a new 'best bike forever' frame. I stretched the budget to a Di2 frame. I bought Ultegra and changed the crankset to Dura Ace (for spangly looks alone).
I absolutely love Di2. After being a diehard Campag fan it was a tough decision but there was no way that I could afford Chorus EPS.
The shifting is great; it encourages me to use more of the gears more of the time. I'm now eying-up my winter bike and thinking "hmm, Di2".
Sometimes I wish I wasn't into MTBing, so I could afford a [i]really [/i]nice road bike or two.
And I'm not normally one for retro stylings, but that Rourke is delish. Shame they don't do Ultegra chainsets in silver eh?
I went for Campag on my MLC roadie (and Enigma for the frame). With hindsight, I think I should have ponied up for DI2. For me Campag is more comfortable and intuitive to use and I HATE the way Shimano brake levers wobble around when you're grabbing for the levers, but the 105 set up on a borrowed winter roadie does make the campag kit look a little bit silly in terms of shift quality. DI2 hoods are slimmer than mechanical shimano, and you get properly fitted brake levers that only move in the correct plane. Having ridden an XTR DI2 bike, the tech is just so cool too!
Going back to the original question (instead of posting random photos of handsome, yet unrelated bikes as I usually do) it depends whether you want to justify £500 for electric gears - one guy I know with Di2 loves it & would never go back to mechanical (on his best bike anyway) and another - who has several fantastic road bikes - is apparently not too keen on the light feel of the shift buttons & prefers something more tactile, ie. mechanical.
Having looked at both the frames you're thinking of, I reckon both would look great with either Ultegra di2/mech or DA to be honest - it'd be easier if one was completely different looking in fact, ie. Ultegra v Force... what wheels are you going for out of interest?
I'm in the middle of building a Moda 931 frame (looks like that Bowman frame in black actually) with silver Campag Athena (fancied giving it a bit of a retro look) and black Zondas, hopefully it looks the way i'm expecting when it's done or i'll be back on this thread to see what you ended up with for inspiration 😆
have you ridden them? the Bowman isn’t “a noodly steel frame”
Actually that was more aimed at the other frame which is only 250g hevaier than a carbon frame. I am being a bit of a cock anyway as i dont get the idea of such an expensive SS winter bike, although that is none of my business.
A possibly more useful view, a silver 5 arm crank would visually suit the frames way better than any of the wierd 4 arm or rotor stuff.
[url= http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobile/sg/en/shimano-ultegra-6700-double-10sp-chainset-silver/rp-prod149163 ]ultegra 6700 is cheap[/url] and works fine with 11spd stuff. The money saved could go towards blinging stuff up elsewhere.
Wheels wise, I have a set of RS81'S on the way.
i dont get the idea of such an expensive SS winter bike
Why do what everyone expects you to do? My steel pegoretti did 3 winters so I bought a slightly cheaper custom Italian frame set in the same tube set (Columbus spirit) to ride in the winter.
I have SRAM and DA on them not the campagnolo that the purists demand.
Life is too short to ride crap bikes, work dictates I have more free time in the winter so I can't see the point in riding a mediocre bike.
To the OP, mechanical DA will probably give less grief and last longer than any of the other options.
(And the Bowman)
It wouldn't be a winter bike, it'd be my only road bike. It's been known to rain in spring and autumn here so guard fitments are a nice bonus.
That Rourke up there is one of the nicest I've seen, they're just a bit too far over budget, I take it that it hasn't snapped or melted I'm the 2 years you've had it?
In the 2.5 years of summer / dry miles I've had it the frame is as new save a small scuff on the top tube I did within the first few weeks.
If you gave budget for DA then you have budget for a Rourke or Enigma with Ultegra. That build cost me £3k all in through some carefully component buying in the 6 months frame waiting time.
I wanted a [s]special 'bike for life' [/s] Sunday best road bike it having a custom paint finish was important to me
Me too. I bought a Deng Fu! Don't subscribe to the bike for life thing, but it's a great bike, rides nicely, light, well priced, and they'd paint it however I wanted. Was a bit overwhelming really. There are a lot of Pantone colours!
It wouldn't be a winter bike, it'd be my only road bike. It's been known to rain in spring and autumn here so guard fitments are a nice bonus.
They're essential; keep guards on mine all year round. Narrows it down to the Bowman; looks a far better bike than that Starley. 425mm chainstays would put me off. Dunno what your current bike is, but try a steel bike with long stays before you commit. You'd get used to them, but as soon as you get back on something with short stays, it feels so much better!
Much as I like Di2 I would go for DA mechanical
Looks like you've been chosen the Bowman frame, in black, with mechanical Dura Ace 😉
Personally I'd be tempted to look for folk selling off new DA bits on t'ebay & go with an Ultegra cassette - probably bring the cost down somewhere between mech & Di2 Ultegra... might be worth thinking about
Ghostly, that's my point. Shifting doesn't improve above chorus its weight and willy waving factor that improves.
I wouldn't say I'm a campag fanboy as such I switched from ultegra years ago to campag because I prefer the way it shifts and prefer its longevity and spares availability over shimano. SRAM was still Sachs or grip shift when I made that decision. I also like the fact free hub design hasn't changed for years and until recently neither had cable pull ratios giving the ability to easily fall off on a Friday and still have a bike to ride from rummaging through spares by 10am Saturday morning.
I prefer shimano on the mtb but have also had campag OR (google it) and suntour micro drive in the past too.
Every time I've ridden SRAM on road or mtb it's left me cold. SRAM shifting i.e. Double tap is just counter intuitive for me every time although the way it's use one etap could be a game changer for me at least.
I do want to ride the rotor group set though having used rotor bits and pieces for nearly ten years.
I just built my first 'expensive' road bike and after ummming and aaahing for ages I eventually went with Ultegra di2.
It's really rather good & now the new 105 group on my cx/lifestyle/niche of the week bike feels clunky and horrible, even though I know it's lovely.
I like the way there's virtually no effort about the shift, especially the front & the way it trims the front mech with a robotic kinda whirr still makes me smile. (I always wanted a Raleigh Vektar though, was gutted when I discovered how shit they were)
The cleaner lines of being pretty cable free & the way you don't have 4 full diameter cables under the bar tape is good.
Plugging your bike into a laptop to tweak the gear settings is a bit odd though, had to do a firmware update before all the bits of a groupset I bought together would talk to each other.
Wheels wise, I have a set of RS81'S on the way.
Save the money on the groupset, put the extra £450 into the wheels... Trust me! I'd rather ride 105/Rival/Centaur with my Reynolds Assaults than I would UDi2/DA/Red/Chorus with RS81's or equivalent.
I've just gone Ultegra Di2, the whir of the front mech trimming is quite a reassuring sound, it kinda makes me realise where my money's gone and after years of riding SRAM I can now see that the double tap thing was just weird and fantastic born at the same time.
I was told by a mate that I'd never ride mechanical ever again once I'd used Di2, of course I re assured myself he was talking absolute hollyhocks, I'm now looking at winter wheels for my fast bike.
Totally agree with mboy. I try to spend a third of my total budget on wheels. Far more important to the feel of the bike than the group-set.
Also hood shape. I can't get on with Shimano hoods. My ultegra kit was removed as I didn't like the shape or feel of the shift.
Is suggest getting a good feel of the hoods as a starting place, then decide on level of kit depending on budget.
Already got the wheels, so they'll go on to start.
I get on with shimano, had Ultegra on my last 3 road bikes and have 105 in my cx bike. So there's no argument over which brand I'll be using first the groupset.