"Raoul Duke" wrote in message
...
I am in the market place for a new bike and I am considering the
differences
between Ultegra and Dura Ace. I used to race road bikes (Cat IV) about
12-15 years ago, and my old bike was equipped with Dura Ace components. I
really loved Dura Ace compared to the old Shimano 600 (which I undertand
was
replaced by Ultegra).

It's sort of a matter of taste. I had the second set of DuraAce STI shifter
in the area and I thought that they were the cat's meow. I've since had
several bikes with Ultegra on them and although the quality is every bit as
good in my opinion, they feel totally different. Ultegra doesn't "click"
like DuraAce and I don't like that.

But more to the point - most of my bikes have been switched to Campy for
years. Campy levers feel better, shift at least as well (for a triple they
shift quite a bit better in my estimation) and the Centaur group is priced
about like an Ultegra group and I'd rate it better than Ultegra or even
DuraAce in operational characteristics. DuraAce is good stuff, no doubt, but
you don't gain much going to DuraAce.