Dura ace cassette 11-30

I wouldn't buy a DURA-ACE cassette period. If you're not racing at a high level, you're not the  target market. The titanium sprockets will wear faster than steel. You're paying £100 extra to save 60 grams (2 oz) and have to replace it sooner vs. an all-steel sprockets Ultegra cassette.

I've used 105, Ultegra and DuraAce cassettes over my time and I'd say that the Dura Ace is the hardest wearing of the three. I have had a dura ace cassette on my current bike since 2020 and it still has a good bit of life in it yet.  

Ultegra comes a close second on the durability front, whilst 105 is significantly behind the other two.

Having worn through a few dura ace cassettes, I can also confirm that its the larger of the steel sprockets that end up dying, in the 15-17 range and not the titanium sprockets. 

All that said, I don't think I could justify £240 for another one.

andystow wrote:

I wouldn't buy a DURA-ACE cassette period. If you're not racing at a high level, you're not the  target market.

and even if you are racing it might not be the best choice. Mark Beaumont went for Ultegra on his round-the-world ride, as he found it gave him better durability than Dura-Ace.

https://www.cyclinguk.org/cycle-magazine/mark-beaumonts-round-world-80-d...

HoarseMann wrote:

...even if you are racing it might not be the best choice. Mark Beaumont went for Ultegra on his round-the-world ride, as he found it gave him better durability than Dura-Ace.

A while back on Facebook I expressed surprise that Ribble's newly revealed flagship team bike was equipped with Ultegra Di2, not Dura Ace: Harry Tanfield (it was in the brief period that he was contemplating moving to Ribble Weldtite) told me "the only real difference between Ultegra and Dura Ace is that Dura Ace breaks more easily." Obviously he would be naturally inclined to defend his team bike but interesting to hear that from a pro.

Broken Ultegra crank? Can't think where I've heard of that before

hawkinspeter wrote:

Broken Ultegra crank? Can't think where I've heard of that before

With what we know now, he should have gone with 105 for the cranks!

Interesting comment from Rendel too. I can see how this would be the case. I once had a tour of an F1 team manufacturing facility. They were designing some parts to only last the length of the race. If they lasted longer, they were clearly too robust and there was some weight to be saved. I don't think Dura-Ace is engineered quite like that, but there's definately a weight/longevity trade off.

SRAM have a nice selection of eye-wateringly expensive cassettes that make Dura-Ace look like a bargain. As does a Campy Super-Record at £280 from CRC.

Jimnm wrote:

I just can't get my head around have they can charge so much. 

Expensive, hard-to-work-with materials, fettled to within an inch of their life to keep weight down.

If you're racing at the highest level and therefore must have a bike that's bang on the UCI weight limit, because so do all your competitors, then you're the target market for this cassette. If not, you're not.

 I think the bike industry are trying to take us to the cleaners.

If the only 11-30 cassette you could buy were the Dura-Ace one, that'd be fair, but as you yourself mention, it isn't. Not only can 105 cassettes be found for less than £50, but a bit of digging around Amazon and eBay turns up Chinese 11-30 11-speed cassettes for under £30, or if you'd rather deal with a UK source, there's this one for £33.

I just bought one of the Air Bike ones, as I seem to go through mine quickly (every 5000 miles).  Seems to be fine.